The INCORE Summer School provides a structured learning opportunity to analyse the dynamic and constantly changing field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Focusing on the latest research and concepts in peace and conflict studies and practice; participants are invited to compare, contrast and learn from different perspectives.
The School offers a unique opportunity to create links between theory, practice and policy. Special attention is given to how the experience and research of both practitioners and academics can impact upon policy makers within the field of conflict resolution, peacemaking, peacebuilding and reconciliation.

Previous participants have included USAID, European Union DG External Relations, UK Department for International Development, World Food Programme, UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and others.

The INCORE Summer School is recognised by the Peace Operations Training Institute, and may form part of The Certificate-of-Training In Peace Support Operations (COTIPSO) Programme. Visit http://www.peaceopstraining.org for further details. This event is furthermore co-sponsored by the Sustainable Peace Building Programme of the European Commission’s Marie Curie Actions

                

The 2012 International Summer School will run from 18th - 22nd June.

We are offering four courses:

• Evaluation in Conflict Prone Settings
  Dr Kenneth Bush (INCORE) and Colleen Duggan (IDRC)
  This course seeks to attract early to mid-level professionals who are facing evaluation challenges in conflict prone settings and are involved in commissioning, managing, or conducting evaluations in a programming or policy-making capacity. The focus of the course is not limited to “peacebuilding initiatives,” but to the broadest spectrum of projects and programmes (development, humanitarian, private sector, community development, etc.), with a view to integrating conflict sensitivity principles into evaluation practice.  Using a combination of case studies, role plays, group work, presentations, and electronic media, the course content aims to build a range of evaluation knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to understand the practical, methodological, ethical, and political challenges of use-oriented evaluation in conflict-prone settings.

• Learning from a society in transition: the case of Northern Ireland
  Grainne Kelly (INCORE) and Dr Duncan Morrow (University of Ulster)
  The beginnings of the Northern Ireland peace process are normally dated from the paramilitary ceasefires of 1994. Northern Ireland can, therefore, be seen to be in transition for the past 18 years. This summer school module, designed for those with some background knowledge of the Northern Ireland conflict, will explore the practical and policy challenges associated with the management and transformation of a society from conflict to sustainable peace. The module will be framed around three key components: a theoretical and academic analysis of the conflict; insights from local policymakers and practitioners with immediate experience of the opportunities, challenges and risks of dealing with the transition; and the shared learning of the participants enrolled in the module, both local and international. The aims of the module are: to assess the degree to which transition in Northern Ireland has been successfully accomplished; to explore and examine what can be learned from the painful process of transition so that solutions and practical ideas can be brought to bear; and to identify specific areas of good practice and ongoing areas of challenge which have resonance and transferability to other societies emerging from violent conflict.
  

• Language, Truth and the Politics of Memory in Conflict
  Dr Stephen Ryan and Ariel Sanchez Meertens (INCORE)
  This module examines the role of language and memory as important elements of conflict, peacebuilding and reconciliation. It will investigate the challenges of dealing with disputed truth claims by multiple conflicting actors regarding the past, the Other (the enemy), the conflict situation  and themselves.  A number of areas will be explored including: inquiries, memorialisation and museums,  textbooks,  community interaction and reconciliation,  and conflict transformation. This module will also include input from Professor Brandon Hamber (INCORE) and Graham Dawson (University of Brighton). 
  

Alongside these modules we also run the Northern Ireland programme to provide participants with an opportunity to network with others, gaining a deeper insight into into the causes and consequences of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Contact Details
Email: school@incore.ulst.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 28 7167 5500 Fax: +44 (0) 28 7167 5510
INCORE
University of Ulster, Aberfoyle House, Northland Road, Derry/Londonderry
Northern Ireland, BT48 7JL