Additional insights into joint projects are offered by Beyond Intractability project participants.
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What Joint Projects Are
Joint projects are positive, usually local, activities performed by members of two or more groups that are or have been in conflict with one another. Such projects allow individuals from opposing sides of a conflict to encounter one another in a conflict-free zone of cooperation. One example of a joint project is Croats and Muslims in Bosnia, former enemies, jointly rebuilding houses destroyed during their conflict. Other examples of joint projects are:
- the Galilee Bilingual School for Arab and Jewish Children, in which all classes are co-taught by an Arab and a Jew
- a Philippine bakery that employs Muslims and Christians
- a project to rebuild Albanian mosques in Kosovo by Jews, Protestants, Serb Orthodox, and Albanian Muslims, all former enemies
- the JAMAA project in Burundi, which encourages soccer games with teams composed of both Hutus and Tutsis
- Some even consider the European Union to be a kind of joint project, since it came about following World War II and has served as a galvanizing focus for former enemies.[1]
The Goals of Joint Projects
The goals of joint projects are three-fold. First, they lead to the construction of specific structures, organizations, relationships, and institutions that will be useful to those on both sides of a conflict. Secondly, joint projects are also intended to lead to grassroots reconciliation and conflict transformation that can then spread to society as a whole. And thirdly, once a joint project is completed, it is hoped that the manifestation of the joint project, for instance a home, a school, or even a coalition government, will serve as a symbol of peace and cooperation.
Why Joint Projects Matter
This type of cooperative effort encourages reconciliation between opposing parties on various levels. One of the greatest impediments to reconciliation during or following a conflict is that enemies are separated from one another. This separation inevitably leads to negative stereotypes on both sides. Joint projects necessarily bring enemies together, which in turn can lead to the breakdown of stereotypes as people on one side get to know people on the other.
Because the focus of joint projects is building institutions that have positive meaning or use for both sides, such as houses, schools, parks, and hospitals, the parties are able to see that they share common interests. Participants who help each other in such simple ways as carrying heavy objects can develop shared work ethics. Through the process as a whole, participants have the potential to begin or continue communication and create lasting relationships or even friendships. Joint projects allow enemies to realize some cooperative accomplishment that may eventually lead to conflict de-escalation and transformation. Joint projects are often seen as one of the key ingredients in peacebuilding, especially at the grassroots level.
The Potential Negative Side of Joint Projects
Joint projects may seem entirely positive; however, there are potential negatives to working closely with one's enemies. While the separation of opposing parties usually leads to negative stereotypes, working in proximity with opposing parties can lead to first-hand verification of such stereotypes. In addition, joint projects can potentially further separate opposing parties if one side feels that the resulting structure or institution will benefit the other group more. Also, joint projects are often conceived of and organized by third parties, such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) sometimes leading to a lack of the important feeling of ownership that a successful joint project must have.
Who Organizes Joint Projects
Ideally, individuals who are members of conflicting groups cooperate to organize joint projects. For example, academics, religious leaders, or parents who have lost children to the conflict have begun joint projects. These joint projects begun by individuals close to the conflict tend to have the most promise of success, due to the sense of project ownership and the direct transformation that tends to occur as the projects are undertaken.
Larger institutions such as NGOs, third-party foreign governments, local women's groups, and churches have also begun successful joint projects. In fact, joint projects often need the assistance of outside parties, for funding organizations, and the initial unbiased push needed to get people involved. Once initiated by outside third parties, ideally such projects should be transferred to the participants themselves, at least to some extent, so they feel as if the project is their own, not something they are doing for someone else. Funding and other constraints, however, often make this difficult to do.
Conclusion
Although joint projects are certainly not a panacea for highly escalated, intractable inter-group conflicts, they are one element in a variety of peacebuilding activities that are absolutely essential to bring about eventual conflict transformation and stable peace. But they need to exist within the context of many other peacebuilding, peacemaking, and sometimes peacekeeping activities, which together can bring about constructive change.
[1] Centre for Conflict Prevention. People Building Peace: 35 inspiring stories from around the world. Utrecht, The Netherlands: European Centre for Conflict Prevention, 1999.
Use the following to cite this article:
McMorran, Chris. "Joint Projects." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/joint_projects/>.
Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic
Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
Joint Projects.
Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/jointprt.htm.
This page offers a brief overview of joint projects and how they can serve as effective tools for peacebuilding and reconciliation. If adversaries in a conflict can be brought together in a cooperative endeavor, they tend to get past negative stereotypes, begin to understand one another and develop positive personal relationships. The page also includes suggestions for further reading on the topic.
Glaser, Tanya. "Peace-Building and Conflict Transformation -- Summary." University of Colorado: Conflict Research Consortium, 1900.
Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/articlesummary/10507/.
This page is a summary of Stephen Ryan's chapter, Peace-Building and Conflict Transformation, in the book Ethnic Conflict and International Relations. Ryan discusses peace-building strategies which focus on the attitudes and socioeconomic status of ordinary persons.
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Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Yevsyukova, Mariya. Bottom-Up Peacebuilding in Bosnia - Summary.
Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/articlesummary/10276/.
This page is a summary of the article Bottom-up Peace building in Bosnia, by Bruce Hemmer. Hemmer emphasizes the need for empowerment and building civil society in the Bosnia region. Parallel to this there should be efforts directed at reconciliation of the ethnic groups, including reduction of prejudice built up by propaganda and the healing of psychological war traumas. United together, these efforts constitute grass-roots peace-building, "a long-term grassroots cultural change project."
Prendergast, John and David R. Smock. NGOs and the Peace Process in Angola. United States Institute of Peace (USIP).
Available at: http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/early/angola.html.
This report explores how Angolan and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can promote reconciliation in Angola as part of the postwar peace process. Recommendations include: organizing joint training programs and development projects that bring together local groups from the two opposing sides; using the media to promote peace, in part by training journalists; undertaking policy analysis of constitutional, economic, and educational issues to ensure that future government policies promote reconciliation; and developing a corps of trained mediators to mediate local and national disputes.
Demichelis, Julia. The Success of Small Grassroots Programs in Divided Communities: The Case of Gornji Vakuf. United States Institute of Peace.
Available at: http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/early/BosniaNGO.
This USIP article charts the success of a community center in Bosnia that is jointly run by the multi-ethnic community it serves.
Offline (Print) Sources
Hemmer, Bruce. "Bottom-Up Peacebuilding in Bosnia." PARC News Spring, 1997.
This article argues for empowering Bosnians with the means and tools to build a democratic civil society. It also maintains that peace building and reconciliation processes need to support these empowerment initiatives. Click here for more info.
"Bringing Croats and Muslims Together." Peace Watch 2:2, 1996.
The Croatian Democratic Project (CDP) in Washington, D.C. opened two Centers for Ethnic Reconciliation in Bosnia in the towns of Livno and Travnik. The goal of the project is to bring Croatian and Muslim communities together to work on a shared future." -Mariya Yevsyukova Click here for more info.
Garber, Randi. "Health as a Bridge for Peace: Theory, Practice and Prognosis, Reflections of a Practitioner." Journal of Peacebuilding & Development 1:1, 2002.
This article explains how members of both antagonistic parties in Haiti, Israel-Palestine, and the Balkans, collaborated on health care programs, and thus, opened up avenues for peacebuilding efforts in their embattled communities.
Shapiro, Ilana. "New Approaches to Old Problems: Lessons from an Ethnic Conciliation Project in Four Central and Eastern European Countries." Negotiation Journal 15:2, April 1, 1999.
This is a case study of Partners for Democratic Change's Local Ethnic Conciliation Programs in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. The piece examines a number of aspects of resolving inter-ethnic conflicts, including: various social-psychological processes and perspectives for resolving ethnic minority-majority conflicts; the adaptation of a western conflict resolution model in Central and Eastern Europe; challenges and opportunities for strategic organic development of citizen-based initiatives; and the role of conflict resolution efforts in social change and civil society development in these Central and Eastern European countries. The study offers a framework for evaluating interventions into ethnic conflicts as well as recommendations for future research angles.
Love, Mervyn T. Peace Building Through Reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Aldershot: Aldershot, 1995.
This book looks at the center sponsors activities for young and old in Northern Ireland, but its main aim is to be a conflict-free space for reconciliation for parties of all denominations.
People Building Peace: 35 Inspiring Stories from Around the World. European Centre for Conflict Prevention, June 1999.
This book has 35 stories about peace, ranging from peacebuilding in Northern Ireland to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Click here for more info.
"Rebuilding Communities Devastated by War." Peace Watch 11:6, October 1996.
This article describes some joint projects in Bosnia. Click here for more info.
Matthews, Dylan. War Prevention Works: 50 Stories of People Resolving Conflict. Oxford: Oxford Research Group, 2001.
This book offers concise descriptions of half a dozen joint projects from around the world. Notable examples include the coalition government that was formed in order to rally voters and vote out Slobodan Milosevic. Instead of competing with one another and potentially splitting the vote among themselves, they chose to join together in support of one candidate to oppose Milosevic. Another good example is the rebuilding of homes by joint Hutu and Tutsi groups in Burundi. Click here for more info.
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Audiovisual Materials on this Topic:
Offline (Print) Sources
The Road to Peace: Israelis and Palestinians. Directed and/or Produced by: Fernea, Elizabeth and Yaron Shemer. First Run Icarus Films. 1995.
The final section of this three-part film examines a number of groups, some that are working in tangent who are building peaceful relations between Israelis and Palestinians. Click here for more info.
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