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Cyprus Civil Society Dialogue
Situation and Context
The political climate in Cyprus is not the most desired one, two years after the failure of the Referendums in Cyprus. The fact that Turkish Cypriots said yes to the Annan plan while Greek Cypriots rejected it has damaged the atmosphere of rapprochement after the opening of the checkpoints on the Green Line. After the Referendums, Turkish Cypriots feel rejected by the Greek Cypriot population, whereas Greek Cypriots feel misunderstood.
Although there are a few attempts from both communities to show their goodwill such as the missing persons committee, the Talat-Papadopolous declaration and proposal to set up technical and other committees, very little, if any, improvement in this atmosphere has taken place. The old game of ‘them’ and ‘us’ is back on the table, everybody blaming the other side at the political level with minimum involvement from civil society. There were attempts to bring the communities back together and discuss what actually went wrong with regards to efforts to unify the island based on the Annan Plan, no public debate has actually being held to this end. The north civil initiative that came up with the idea of creating a civil bi-communal initiative where the points that would comfort Greek Cypriots without discomforting Turkish Cypriots would be discussed and worked could not be extended to the south of the Green Line to include Greek Cypriot opinion.
At the same time, Bi-communal meetings are now not as widespread as they used to be years ago, even when crossings to each side were very difficult. Although there is hearsay evidence of cooperation between Cypriots, these most of the time go unnoticed. There are a few joint projects going on here and there, all of which are uncoordinated, unrecorded and without publicity that might bring more people into the dialogue and exchanges. Hence, it is obvious that there is a need to try to revitalise Cypriot society and creating a citizen’s dialogue which will act as a platform to affect the decisions affecting the future of the island and therefore the citizens.
Project Summary
The Civil Society Dialogue project will bring together civil society organisations from both sides of the island to share experiences and work to create a Citizens’ Platform where ideas are discussed and an Action Plan is devised to build the new reunited Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot citizens having years of bi-communal experience will come together with others who are not very experienced in that field but that are young, well educated and motivated individuals to share experiences and ideas and generate their vision of the island.
The project will consist of three phases. During the first phase a knowledge management team will be formed, that will train, manage and supervise the processes. Phase one is being conducted by the International partner of the project; the Institute for 21st Century Agoras over the Internet for five days using a special software called Webscope[1]. In this way, bi-communal veterans and young individuals living abroad will also have the opportunity to participate. Participants will need a computer and an internet connection to participate in the first phase. Three computers, will be set up at Cyprus EU Association’s premises for those not having IT access. After the current situation is analysed, problems and the ways of managing these problems are defined, a basic action plan will be derived by the group to reach others having different perspectives and political views within the respective communities. During the second phase, physical workshops, called co-laboratories, will take place where the future vison will be defined, together with the opportunities it presents and obstacles it poses for the realization of the ideal state of the island.
The long term goal of this project is to build a bi-communal think tank which will continually generate ideas and policies and will take part in shaping the future of the island within the European Union. The Cyprus EU Association will host the Think-tank and will support its activities by organising seminars, conferences, workshops and fund raising activities. Other partners will also help supporting the think-tank with their expertise and experience.
Methodology
The president of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras, Dr. Alexander N. Christakis, will be a part of the knowledge management team and co-manage and supervise the first phase using the Technology of Democracy approach.
In this way the project will take advantage of advances in systems science and the participative design of social systems, as described in two recent books, by Christakis; and by John Warfield.
Earlier peace building efforts between the two communities were based on the theory and models of conflict resolution. The difference of this approach is that it will be based on the transformative paradigm adapted from the work of the great systems thinker Hasan Ozbekhan, as described here.Every effort will be made by the project team to engage the requisite variety of perspectives and voices. Without the authentic participation of the stakeholders, the plausibility of a successful outcome from this project is diminished. We recognise, however, that this is a long range project requiring the normative perspective of the transformative paradigm, as conceptualized thirty-five years ago by the visionary systems philosopher Hasan Ozbekhan.
The approach will engage the stakeholders in designing peace building action plans, as compared to having others designing the action plans for them. There is sufficient empirical evidence that the "Technology of Democracy" approach, which has a history of 35 years of research, development and testing, works. (Refer to examples of reported successful applications).
Visit the article by Vigdor Schreibman for an update on this project:
http://loversofdemocracy.org/loversofdemocracy/CyprusCivilSociety.htm
And see Dr. Benjamin Broome's 2002 article on the Cyprus problematique: Participatory planning and design in a protracted conflict situation: applications with citizen peace-building groups in Cyprus
Check out the Convention A Co-Laboratory process for Cyprus Civil Society Reconciliation has been underway since December 2006, and we share some of the documentation of the SDD process for others to learn from. Please also see the following pages: Cyprus Dialogue Timeline Co-Laboratory Process Dialogue Team / Partners Bi-communal Expert Workshop Facilitator Training First Lecture on CSD and Technology of Democracy Second Lecture on CSD and Technology of Democracy Seminar on Media Literacy with Prof. Gumbert and Drucker Economic Integration co-laboratory Famagusta co-laboratory Cypriot's Voice co-laboratory Training on using Virtual Co-Laboratories Interviews with Dr. Aleco Christakis Environmental Symposium |
The political climate in Cyprus is not the most desired one, two years after the failure of the Referendums in Cyprus. The fact that Turkish Cypriots said yes to the Annan plan while Greek Cypriots rejected it has damaged the atmosphere of rapprochement after the opening of the checkpoints on the Green Line. After the Referendums, Turkish Cypriots feel rejected by the Greek Cypriot population, whereas Greek Cypriots feel misunderstood.
Although there are a few attempts from both communities to show their goodwill such as the missing persons committee, the Talat-Papadopolous declaration and proposal to set up technical and other committees, very little, if any, improvement in this atmosphere has taken place. The old game of ‘them’ and ‘us’ is back on the table, everybody blaming the other side at the political level with minimum involvement from civil society. There were attempts to bring the communities back together and discuss what actually went wrong with regards to efforts to unify the island based on the Annan Plan, no public debate has actually being held to this end. The north civil initiative that came up with the idea of creating a civil bi-communal initiative where the points that would comfort Greek Cypriots without discomforting Turkish Cypriots would be discussed and worked could not be extended to the south of the Green Line to include Greek Cypriot opinion.
At the same time, Bi-communal meetings are now not as widespread as they used to be years ago, even when crossings to each side were very difficult. Although there is hearsay evidence of cooperation between Cypriots, these most of the time go unnoticed. There are a few joint projects going on here and there, all of which are uncoordinated, unrecorded and without publicity that might bring more people into the dialogue and exchanges. Hence, it is obvious that there is a need to try to revitalise Cypriot society and creating a citizen’s dialogue which will act as a platform to affect the decisions affecting the future of the island and therefore the citizens.
Project Summary
The Civil Society Dialogue project will bring together civil society organisations from both sides of the island to share experiences and work to create a Citizens’ Platform where ideas are discussed and an Action Plan is devised to build the new reunited Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot citizens having years of bi-communal experience will come together with others who are not very experienced in that field but that are young, well educated and motivated individuals to share experiences and ideas and generate their vision of the island.
The project will consist of three phases. During the first phase a knowledge management team will be formed, that will train, manage and supervise the processes. Phase one is being conducted by the International partner of the project; the Institute for 21st Century Agoras over the Internet for five days using a special software called Webscope[1]. In this way, bi-communal veterans and young individuals living abroad will also have the opportunity to participate. Participants will need a computer and an internet connection to participate in the first phase. Three computers, will be set up at Cyprus EU Association’s premises for those not having IT access. After the current situation is analysed, problems and the ways of managing these problems are defined, a basic action plan will be derived by the group to reach others having different perspectives and political views within the respective communities. During the second phase, physical workshops, called co-laboratories, will take place where the future vison will be defined, together with the opportunities it presents and obstacles it poses for the realization of the ideal state of the island.
The long term goal of this project is to build a bi-communal think tank which will continually generate ideas and policies and will take part in shaping the future of the island within the European Union. The Cyprus EU Association will host the Think-tank and will support its activities by organising seminars, conferences, workshops and fund raising activities. Other partners will also help supporting the think-tank with their expertise and experience.
[1] This is a five step Web-based dialogue. More information can also be found at Lovers of Demoracy.
Methodology
The president of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras, Dr. Alexander N. Christakis, will be a part of the knowledge management team and co-manage and supervise the first phase using the Technology of Democracy approach.
In this way the project will take advantage of advances in systems science and the participative design of social systems, as described in two recent books, by Christakis; and by John Warfield.
Earlier peace building efforts between the two communities were based on the theory and models of conflict resolution. The difference of this approach is that it will be based on the transformative paradigm adapted from the work of the great systems thinker Hasan Ozbekhan, as described here.Every effort will be made by the project team to engage the requisite variety of perspectives and voices. Without the authentic participation of the stakeholders, the plausibility of a successful outcome from this project is diminished. We recognise, however, that this is a long range project requiring the normative perspective of the transformative paradigm, as conceptualized thirty-five years ago by the visionary systems philosopher Hasan Ozbekhan.
The approach will engage the stakeholders in designing peace building action plans, as compared to having others designing the action plans for them. There is sufficient empirical evidence that the "Technology of Democracy" approach, which has a history of 35 years of research, development and testing, works. (Refer to examples of reported successful applications).
Visit the article by Vigdor Schreibman for an update on this project:
http://loversofdemocracy.org/loversofdemocracy/CyprusCivilSociety.htm
And see Dr. Benjamin Broome's 2002 article on the Cyprus problematique: Participatory planning and design in a protracted conflict situation: applications with citizen peace-building groups in Cyprus
Latest page update: made by TatjanaInCyprus
, Jun 24 2008, 8:01 AM EDT
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About This Update
Edited by TatjanaInCyprus
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Edited by TatjanaInCyprus
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Keyword tags:
dialogue
Peace
Structured Design Dialogue
Webscope
More Info: links to this page
| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aleco | The Miracle of Cyprus | 0 | Mar 18 2007, 5:50 AM EDT by Aleco | |
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Thread started: Mar 18 2007, 5:50 AM EDT
Watch
I find the article by Vigdor Schreibman, "The Miracle of Cyprus," as a very interesting and comprehensive account of the evolving situation in Cyprus. I would like to invite other members of the Cyprus team to comment on the implications of this article for the future of the peace revitalization project in the context of the Civil Society Dialogue intitiative of the European Union Associates.
It would be great if we can engage in some conversation on this topic using the Blogora as the platform for our interactioins as compared to the e-mail medioum. |
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Cyprus CSD TEAM TRAINING FRAMED.pdf (Adobe Portable Document Format - 218k)
posted by peterjones Apr 2 2007, 11:37 AM EDT
Cyprus Team Training
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