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Creating Safer Space Exhibition in Nairobi

The Creating Safer Space Exhibition was on show at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, from 24 – 26 January 2024. The exhibition was part of the Creating Safer Space final regional conference for Africa and the Middle East, hosted by Strathmore University Business School.

The travelling exhibition, which has also been on show in Nairobi (Kenya), Aberystwyth (Wales) and New York (USA) explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence. The objects, images, and voices originate from a selection of 26 research projects funded by the Creating Safer Space network, which have been conducted in collaboration between academics, self-protecting communities and nonviolent civilian accompaniers. The exhibition draws on experiences from Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand, where civilians are harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces and work towards alternative presents and futures.


Film Festival in Colombia

As part of the Creating Safer Space project “Community Strategies for Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) in South-West Colombia” the research team, under the leadership of Dr Natalia Campo, organised the 1st International Festival of Participatory Video and Community-based Cinema at the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente (UAO) in the city of Cali, Colombia, between 15 and 16 November 2023.

The festival received 178 applications from 25 countries and its academic agenda included a series of in-person workshops on UCP strategies with community members from the three sites of the project: Buenaventura, Caldono and Lerma, as well as a conversation with Prof. Beatriz Arias about art-based strategies for UCP.

A massive thanks to our UAO-based colleagues and generous hosts of the festival: Prof Jesus Alfonso Florez, Dr Campo, Jimena Andrade and Dr Adrian Alzate; and to the students of Dr Campo’s module Participatory Video and Community-based Cinema, who made a tremendous contribution to the festival. A well-done to our local partners from Buenaventura, Caldono and Catatumbo, whose films were shortlisted. To the winners of the festival, a massive congratulation. You can read more (and see pictures) about the Festival and the winners here:

https://www.instagram.com/festivalcineando/?hl=es
https://www.facebook.com/festivalcineando
https://filmfreeway.com/IFestivalInternacionalCineAndoconmigenteVideoParticipativoyCineComunitario


Pilot Projects in Participatory Evaluation and Learning

We are very pleased to announce three new Creating Safer Space projects. These projects will pilot a new participatory evaluation and learning methodology for Unarmed Civilian Protection and Accompaniment (UCP/A).

Creating Safer Space is aware of the sensitivities connected with UCP/A and how traditional methods of evaluation are often top-down or output-focused and therefore risk missing important nuances connected with civilian protection efforts. A group of practitioners and scholars have therefore discussed good practice approaches to evaluation, and developed principles that should inform evaluation design. More information is available here: https://creating-safer-space.com/participatory-evaluation-and-learning/

Creating Safer Space held a funding competition in Summer 2023 to pilot this approach to evaluation and learning, and we are happy to announce the three projects that received funding:

Contributions of grassroots organisations to the implementation of unarmed civilian self-protection strategies in violent urban contexts

Masterpeace Cali received funding for the project Contributions of grassroots organisations to the implementation of unarmed civilian self-protection strategies in violent urban contexts: Towards the security of diverse and vulnerable populations in socio-segregated environments. This project investigates the impacts of actions carried out by grassroots organisations in violent and socio-segregated urban contexts in the city of Cali, Colombia.

Assessing the impact of unarmed civilian protection in the South Hebron Hills between 2018-2023

Operation Dove / Operazione Colomba received funding for the project Assessing the impact of unarmed civilian protection in the South Hebron Hills between 2018-2023. This project aims to assess the impact of the ongoing collaboration between international volunteers and the Palestinian community in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank.

UCP and Migrants in the US / Mexico Borderlands

Meta Peace Team received funding for the project UCP and Migrants in the US / Mexico Borderlands. Using a participatory action research design, this project will engage with organizations serving migrants at the United States/Mexico border to develop tools for evaluating the impacts of unarmed civilian protection and accompaniment to protect migrants in the North American border region.


Toolbox for a Decolonial Perspective in UCP

We are very pleased to announce the publication of ‘A Toolbox for a Decolonial Perspective in UCP’. This toolbox seeks to highlight key aspects that can support decolonization processes advocated by Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) practitioners. It’s not a definitive or closed document, but rather a dynamic and open proposal intended to expand through discussion and exchange within our community of practice.

This toolbox was developed in the context of the meetings of the Decolonization Working Group of the UCP Community of Practice, led by Nonviolent Peaceforce. The elaboration of the toolbox was supported financially and by team members of the Creating Safer Space network. The toolbox is available in English and Spanish:

https://creating-safer-space.com/resources/toolbox-for-a-decolonial-perspective-in-ucp/


Art Exhibition on Colombia and South Sudan

The Creating Safer Space project ‘Strategies for Safety and Solidarity: Understanding protection through creativity in South Sudan and Colombia’ hosted an exhibition at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia from 24 – 27 October 2023.

The exhibition is a collective work between artists and researchers, displaying photographs, embroidery, music, cartoons and artistic installations to create a dynamic conversation between Colombia and South Sudan.

More information about the exhibition is available here and more photos are available here.


Assessing the impact of unarmed civilian protection in the South Hebron Hills between 2018-2023

This project aimed to assess the impact of the ongoing collaboration between international volunteers and the Palestinian community in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank. With the Palestinian residents facing violence from Israeli settlers, particularly towards school children, Operazione Colomba (OC) has provided essential support by accompanying them through UCP. It was crucial to evaluate how this partnership has influenced safety and well-being. The project focused on understanding OC role in creating a sense of security between 2018 and 2023, aligned with the nonviolent resistance efforts led by the Palestinian community, and the ability in remaining responsive to the needs.

The project pilots the participatory evaluation methodology developed by the Creating Safer Space network in a workshop series with academics and practitioners.

Project Team:
The project is lead by Association Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII (Operation Dove / Operazione Colomba), Italy, in collaboration with Youth of Sumud, Palestine.

Website:
https://www.operazionecolomba.it/en/projects/middle-east/palestine/

Project report:
The project has produced a report with their findings, Assessing the impact of unarmed civilian protection in the South Hebron Hills between 2018-2023.


Booklet about artists and strategies for safety in Colombia and South Sudan

The Creating Safer Space project ‘Strategies for Safety and Solidarity: Understanding protection through creativity in South Sudan and Colombia’ has produced a booklet about their research, artmaking and solidarity actions.

Their work invites us to consider how the arts and heritage can contribute to our understanding of safeguarding and survival in a fragile context, but also how protecting the arts could be essential to creating a safer society.

Artists and keepers of cultural traditions from South Sudan, Sudan and Colombia have worked with researchers to investigate the ways we seek out protection and how those strategies for safety are narrated.

The booklet is available here.


Contributions of grassroots organisations to the implementation of unarmed civilian self-protection strategies in violent urban contexts

Towards the security of diverse and vulnerable populations in socio-segregated environments

This project investigated from a participatory methodological design the impacts of actions carried out by grassroots organisations in violent and socio-segregated urban contexts in the city of Cali on these territories and on the perceptions and realities among the diverse populations that are settled there. Specifically, it focused on how actions and perceptions of security and protection relate to identity and territory among these populations.

The project pilots the participatory evaluation methodology developed by the Creating Safer Space network in a workshop series with academics and practitioners.

Project Team:

  • Luisa María Colonia Zúñiga, Masterpeace Cali (principal investigator)
  • Gustavo Suárez, Masterpeace Cali (investigator)

Final Report:

The final report on the project findings is available here (Spanish only):

Metodología participativa de evaluación y aprendizaje en protección civil desarmada (UCP) de Creating Safer Space: una herramienta poderosa para comprender y abordar los desafíos y estrategias de seguridad y protección pacífica de civiles en contextos urbanos violentos y
socio-segregados


UCP and Migrants in the US / Mexico Borderlands

Using a participatory action research design, this pilot project will engage with organizations serving migrants at the United States/Mexico border to develop tools for evaluating the impacts of unarmed civilian protection and accompaniment (UCP/A) to protect migrants in the North American border region. Meta Peace Team has been working since 2018 with US/Mexican organizations attempting to protect migrants increasingly exposed not only to violence by militarized border security on the US side of the border, but also by both police and gangs as they waited in Mexican communities. The UCP/A initiatives aim to protect migrants through accompaniment, humanitarian relief, and documentation aimed at advocacy. The pilot evaluation will assess the impacts, successes and challenges of the UCP efforts through participant observation and guided conversations with UCP/A organizers, delegation participants, and migrant leaders.

The project pilots the participatory evaluation methodology developed by the Creating Safer Space network in a workshop series with academics and practitioners.

Project Team:

  • Stephen Gasteyer, Meta Peace Team / Michigan State University (principal investigator)
  • Kim Redigan, Meta Peace Team (team member)
  • Mary Hanna, Meta Peace Team (team member)

Booklet about artists and strategies for safety in Colombia and South Sudan

The Creating Safer Space project ‘Strategies for Safety and Solidarity: Understanding protection through creativity in South Sudan and Colombia’ has produced a booklet about their research, artmaking and solidarity actions.

Their work invites us to consider how the arts and heritage can contribute to our understanding of safeguarding and survival in a fragile context, but also how protecting the arts could be essential to creating a safer society.

Artists and keepers of cultural traditions from South Sudan, Sudan and Colombia have worked with researchers to investigate the ways we seek out protection and how those strategies for safety are narrated.

The booklet is available here.