01.02.2024 Online simulation on the Cyprus conflict successfully completed
Pilot event of the Erasmus+ project SHARINEPEACE focused on the interplay between human rights and peacebuilding
The initial iteration of 'The Peacebuilding Dilemma' has been successfully concluded. The pilot event explored the role of peacebuilding and human rights, and their complex relationship, in sustainable conflict management, using Cyprus as an example. To introduce students to these various approaches and the Cyprus case, we employed a range of methods. In six lectures, we introduced the topic and its context and discussed the role of NGOs and the media in a peacebuilding context. The input came from academic experts from the six organizing universities of the SHARINPEACE project, as well as practitioners in the field.
The lectures were followed by a two-day online simulation game. The fourteen students from five different universities in Serbia, Germany, Poland and Sweden were assigned roles from eight different organisations. The students prepared for the simulation by researching their organisation and writing their own role card outlining the position they would take during the simulation.
The (imaginary) setting of the simulation was an initiative of the European Union to negotiate a settlement of the conflict in Cyprus after fifty years of division. The European External Action Service played a mediating role in the negotiations, which alternated between round-table and informal discussions. However, after eight hours of intense deliberation, the participating students were unable to reach an agreement.
Two debriefing sessions are planned to allow students to reflect on and further develop the knowledge they gained during the simulation on the link between peacebuilding and human rights.
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Simulation Human Rights in Peacebuilding (SHARINPEACE)
Erasmus+ Cooperation Partnerships, 2021-1-DE01-KA220-HED-000031133
Contact
Stéphane Voell
Mail: konflikt@uni-marburg.de
