Peace department works close to home

Citation

(2003), "Peace department works close to home", Education + Training, Vol. 45 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2003.00445dab.006

Peace department works close to home

Peace department works close to home

Bradford University's Peace Studies department – which has a reputation for its international work analysing, preventing and resolving conflict – is helping to build a peaceful Bradford. Academics from the department have teamed up with university colleagues, former students and associates working in various organizations in the city, to develop the Programme for a Peaceful City. Professor Jenny Pearce, who took part in the Lord Herman Ouseley Commission on Racial Inequality in Bradford, said: "The programme aims to develop the links between the university and city, and to contribute practically and intellectually towards how the problems facing the district can be resolved. This could be through academic research, training courses or offering a safe space for discussion around sensitive issues."

The programme has a clear set of ethical principles that the individual members have agreed to, and its members use their skills and knowledge to contribute to peace building, debate and research. They also aim to ensure good practice on diversity and equality in the university. As part of the programme, staff and students teamed up with the interfaith team from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds to run a joint workshop for Greenhead and Holy Family schools, Keighley, West Yorkshire. The former is composed mostly of Asian and Muslim pupils and the latter mostly of Roman Catholics. The pupils examined what the young people could do to contribute to a peaceful Keighley, and presented their proposals to local MP, Ann Cryer, in a lively closing session.

The programme is involved in the Diversity Exchange, which takes up Lord Ouseley's recommendation for a centre for diversity, learning and living in the city. Professor Pearce said: "The Diversity Exchange is not intended to be a new institution, but a space for sharing good practice and ideas, discussing difficult issues and developing new thinking around diversity and equality in Bradford. It will be an attempt to overcome the fragmentation that seems to characterize the many initiatives in the city and to encourage people to find common interests and to learn from each other."

Peace Studies staff and students have also: received training in ways of dealing with conflict creatively; explored, with West Yorkshire Police, the potential impact of the events of 11 September 2001 on the situation in Bradford; helped to develop a citizenship-education programme for Bradford; and worked with Bradford Cathedral and the Council of Mosques to organize a lecture series with the university on religion and politics.