Since 2003, Public Achievement has been working with partner organisations in Northern Ireland and around the world to look at the ways in which various kinds of 'youth workers' try to make a difference in the lives of young people in violently divided and post-conflict societies.
The first project was a partnership with the Youth Council for Northern Ireland and the University of Ulster community youth work team, and funded by the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister under the EU Peace Programme. This project saw as series of international conferences held in Northern Ireland, as well as a series of exchanges and visits between youth workers, youth policy makers and researchers in the regions involved. These regions were primarily the Middle East (Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan), the Balkan States, South Africa and Northern Ireland. The project produced an important textbook that brings together the thoughts of many of those involved in the project as well as others more widely involved in the field.
In early 2007 Public Achievement received a new grant through the Community Relations Council for an extension to this work. In particular we wanted to test a model of practice - Away from Violence - that we had developed in Northern Ireland with our partners in other areas. This project has seen the creation of pilot projects in Palestine, Israel, South Africa, Serbia and Jordan. The first major event of the project was in June 2007 when 20 or so active youth workers came together at the Corrymeela centre in Ballycastle, to shape the collaboration with support from PA staff assisted Professor Mike Baizerman from the University of Minnesota and Tareq Bakri, currently studying for his PhD at Queens University, Belfast. In October 2007 the Basque Government sponsored a contested spaces international seminar outside Bilbao. In April 2008 the partners in the project came together again to share their learning, and to work on the creation of a common practical resource to support the further development of this work. Public Achievement and several of our international partners are currently seeking funding to further develop and extend this vital work. Check out our Contested Spaces network website here.