On April 25-26th the Build Peace Conference 2015 was held in Nicosia (Lefkosia), “the last divided capital in the world,” Cyprus. The conference brought together like-minded individuals and organisations to learn from each other how contemporary technologies can be used for peace building.
The setting for this amazing function was to be within the UN administered zone Ledra Palace, on the Turkish Occupied side at the Bedestan and Buyuk Han and within some very modern centers in Greek-Cyprus at 10:10 and CVAR.
There were individual talks, short talks, Q&A sessions, working labs, panel discussions and multiple receptions and the 250 participants were able to interact and gain knowledge on the various projects happening in different contexts, under extreme technology constraints, including: how to use social media to the most benefit; how to entice Users to participate; and how not-for-profit organisations can achieve maximum success to attain their peace outcomes.
From All Together Now’s perspective the discussions and talks on social media, Peacebuilding: A Hands-On Experience presented by Derek Gildea from PeaceTech Lab and issues about changing behaviours through ICTs was particularly useful. Another area of interest and indeed the most surprising and astonishing was during the Build Peace Conference artist space Together Separate: Contesting Space. The art project run by Jason Meek and Roseline de Thelin used movement and dance to interpret and understand what living divided can mean for either side of the divide. It encouraged participants and watchers to see the importance of culture and what it means to a community. This engagement made not only the situation in Cyprus clearer but also to understand migrant communities and cultural interaction on a larger social scale.
The conference also saw All Together Now accept the PEACEApp award for the Everyday Racism mobile phone app, which was sponsored by UNAOC and Build Up.
All Together Now would like to thank PEACEApp, Build Up, UNAOC, UNDP and Games for Change for their support of the Everyday Racism mobile phone app and the continued support and mentoring they will give in the months and years to come. All Together Now cannot wait to release the next version of the Everyday Racism app and we will ensure to keep you updated on the development of this new educational app for primary schools.
All Together Now would also like to congratulate the other winners and wish them the best of success in their peace building efforts.
For anyone within the field of peace building who would like to apply for this award in 2016 you can do so through their PEACEApp website: http://www.unaoc.org/peaceapp-blog/peaceapp-now-open-for-submissions/
