Author: lagente


Berit BLIESEMANN DE GUEVARA

Photo of Berit Bliesemann de Guevara

Areas of expertise:

  • The CSS Model
  • Research and evaluation
  • Facilitation
  • Coaching and mentoring
  • Exhibition

Berit is professor of International Politics at Aberystwyth University, UK, and a teacher and researcher with over 20 years of experience in conflict and peacebuilding related research and analysis. She has carried out fieldwork-based research in the Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo), Latin America (Colombia and Peru), and Southeast Asia (Myanmar).

Berit’s areas of expertise include research and analysis, research design and management, qualitative research methodologies (including creative and arts-based methods and participatory action research), research ethics and safeguarding, design and delivery of university and school courses and workshops, and meeting/ workshop facilitation (she is trained in Technology of Participation-ToP methods).

Berit has carried out facilitation work with Nonviolent Peaceforce and the UCP/A Community of Practice and research with NP Myanmar, among others, and leads the Creating Safer Space network. Other research has involved work with demobilised guerrilla fighters in Colombia.

More information: https://research.aber.ac.uk/en/persons/berit-bliesemann-de-guevara

Contact: beb14@aber.ac.uk


Rachel JULIAN

Photo of Rachel Julian

Areas of Expertise:

  • The CSS Model
  • Research and Evaluation
  • Facilitation, coaching and mentoring
  • Education and learning
  • Policy and implementation advice

Rachel is professor of Peace Studies at Leeds Beckett University, UK, and an internationally recognised researcher working on Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping/Protection and the way we recognise the lives and voices of those affected by violence and crisis. She has worked with community partners in Southeast Asia and East Africa to explore how civilians protect one another from violence, increase their capacity and agency to act, the voices of survivors in influencing policy and how a nonviolent feminist analysis generates creative approaches in the midst of complex challenges.

Rachel’s expertise includes research and analysis, creative, arts- and technology-based qualitative methods, research ethics, evaluation, and design and delivery of university and school courses and workshops.

Rachel has provided expertise to the UN and a German Parliament sub-committee and is always interested in new and exciting projects and methods.

Launch of the UCP Research Database

The Creating Safer Space network is pleased to launch the UCP Research Database.

This is a user-friendly way of finding the latest research on Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP), community self-protection and related topics. It contains information on academic research publications, working papers and NGO documents, which you can easily search using keywords or browsing specific regions and countries. Users can also contribute to the database by uploading information not yet featuring in it.

http://ucpresearch.uk/resourcespaceTo find out more about how to use the UCP database, have a look at these instructional videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDRfIX2tBwmK_9XK2xFCVyycur9-mlrcu


Research Training Workshop Videos

Last spring, the Creating Safer Space teams at Strathmore University in Kenya and Chulalongkorn University in Thailand organised a series of training workshops on research methods.

These covered both standard research skills, such as academic writing skills, as well as innovative research methods, such as arts-based, creative, participatory and digital research methods. 

Videos of the workshops are now available online on our YouTube channel:


Workshops on Security and Protection for Researchers

The Creating Safer Space network warmly invites you to two workshops on security and protection for researchers.

Over the past few years, a growing number of incidents and events have highlighted both the need for researchers to reflect on their own security and protection, and for organisations to have responsible security practices and policies in place. Conducting field research has become increasingly risky in some contexts, particularly in settings characterised by violent armed conflicts, or in countries where repressive regimes impose limits on what researchers can do.

The workshops are relevant for all researchers who conduct fieldwork in conflict settings or authoritarian countries, and are free of charge. The workshops are offered in English and Spanish. 

English workshops

7.00 – 10.30 am UTC on Wednesday 16 June: Risk analysis and protection plans

7.00 – 10.30 am UTC on Wednesday 30 June: Digital security 

Spanish workshops:

2.00 – 5.30 pm UTC, miercoles 9 de junio: Análisis de riesgos y planes de protección 

2.00 – 5.30 pm UTC, miercoles 23 de junio: Seguridad digital

The workshops are organised by the Creating Safer Space network and delivered by Sylvain Lefebvre from Protection International. The workshops are funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF).