SAVE Northern Ireland Activities
SAVE working with Anne Carr
Vienna, April-May 2010
SAVE regularly works with dialogue practitioner and pioneer Anne Carr, who has decades of experience working in reconciliation and healing projects in Northern Ireland. She uses dialogue and storytelling processes to create safe spaces in which people can talk about their experiences, express their grief and fears, and start to rebuild their lives and look to the future. Anne’s expertise, gained through work with a range of organizations and programs such as “Towards Understanding and Healing,” “Healing Through Remembering,” and “Community Dialogue,” is invaluable to SAVE.
SAVE collaborated with Anne Carr on its Train the Trainers workshop in Austria in May 2010 (read more about this workshop here) and also on SAVE India’s storytelling workshops in April 2010 (read more about this project here) Anne designed flexible, interactive, and culturally sensitive storytelling and dialogue processes for the participants of these workshops.
Anne Carr also established the first integrated school in Northern Ireland, which led to a chain of new establishments along the same lines. She is therefore perfectly placed to spearhead SAVE’s educational campaigns in Northern Ireland.
SAVE visits Belfast
Belfast, April 2009
May da Silva, director of the organization “Women into Politics” agreed to coordinate SAVE’s first visit to Belfast in April 2009. SAVE participated in numerous conferences, individual briefings and meetings on the ground to learn about the activities in Belfast and its surroundings. These activities included “The Business of Peace” conference organized by the Community Relations Council and the presentation of the “Pilot Women in Conflict Project” project, a cross community initiative for women. SAVE was welcomed at an official reception at the Parliament Buildings Stormont in Belfast, hosted by the Cross Party members. The SAVE agenda was presented to a group of 19 female leaders – junior ministers, politicians, community workers and reconciliation activists.
SAVE Northern Ireland plans to prepare a sensitizing and de-radicalization campaign for the young Irish generation. Many young people are still haunted by the experiences of intercultural conflict, which has not only shaped their family lives and upbringing, but also led to the loss of loved ones, relatives and neighbours.
The post-”Troubles” generation has not yet learned to deal with the past and with the violent, sectarian undercurrents in their communities.
Our partners will explore the possibility of shaping a de-radicalization campaign with male youngsters which will be led by male activists and role models.
Sprayer in Belfast
Participants of the reception at the Parliament Building in Belfast
A so called peace wall in Belfast