Event Category: Publication or Report

Research Launch – the link between segregation and the environment

Here’s how you could link this research to Good Relations Week 2024:

In support of Good Relations Week 2024 and its theme of ‘OpportUNITY,’ Belfast City Council has recently conducted research on the impact of segregation on our environment and climate goals. The findings emphasize that addressing continued segregation is crucial for Belfast to achieve its climate targets. The research highlights issues such as physical barriers, duplicated services, car dependency, and limited access to green spaces as barriers to environmental progress.

Central to the research is the role of improving Good Relations in reducing division and fostering city-wide cohesion. By working to overcome segregation and enhance community integration, we can support both environmental sustainability and social resilience. This research underscores the importance of our collective efforts to build a more inclusive and united city, aligning with the week’s focus on transformative action and collaboration.

Peace Builds at the Speed of Trust? Exploring the development of ‘trust indicators’ for school-based reconciliation

On the International Day of Peace Thursday 21st September, as part of Good Relations week, research undertaken through a partnership between the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations (Coventry University) and Community Relations in Schools (CRIS) will be launched. The research examines the role of trust building in school-based reconciliation initiatives. Trust, while taken for granted as important, has not been deeply unpacked or examined to better understand its more particular role in facilitating a move towards reconciliation.

This research examined as a case study, CRIS’s model of peacebuilding Good Relations and Collaborative Education (GRACE) which is operationalized through CRIS’s whole school approach working with children, teachers, principals, parents and carers. One research outcome was the development of a set of ‘trust indicators’ which have the potential to be useful to practitioners but also for policy initiatives aimed to support social cohesion outcomes such as reconciliation and good relations, equality and inclusion, and to chart the impact of initiatives such as shared education, and collaborative approaches within education.  The launch event will feature highlights from the research with a panel discussion to follow.

Advance registration for the event required through Community Relations in Schools. For more information contact: emily.stanton@crisni.org. Registration will close on Thursday September 14th at 5pm.

Launch of Captain Crozier book

Banbridge High School and St Patrick’s College Banbridge in association with Clanmil Housing are hosting the Captain Francis Crozier book launch on Wednesday 21st September.

The Captain Crozier book entitled “Captain Francis Crozier – Banbridge’s Artic Voyager” was produced by pupils from Banbridge High School & St Patrick’s College, Banbridge.

The project was funded through Clanmil Housing and supported the project as part of a Good Relations Plan within Hawthorn Gardens in Banbridge which is a shared neighbourhood development which opened in 2019.

This event is open to all!

The other division in Northern Ireland: public attitudes to poverty, economic hardship and social security

Rising prices and the cost of living crisis have had a strong impact on all our lives over the past year, but especially for those already struggling to make ends meet.

In this Research Update, Goretti Horgan, Ann Marie Gray, Sabrina Bunyan and Mark Simpson (Ulster University) use data from the 2021 Northern Ireland Life and Times survey to explore public attitudes to poverty, income inequality and social security.

T:BUC Good Relations Ambassadors Update Report 2021-2022

The T:BUC Good Relations Ambassadors Update Report showcases the work of the Good Relations Ambassadors Programmes.

It is the second to be produced by the T:BUC Ambassadors Working Group co-chaired by senior officials from both Departments that includes representation from TEO, Department for Communities (DfC), Education Authority and Co-operation Ireland.

The Group meets regularly throughout the delivery cycle and acts as a forum to share best practice, and provide opportunities for both sets of T:BUC Ambassadors to meet and participate in shared activities.

The Working Group represents a model for collaborative working between Departments leading to positive outcomes for individual good relations projects and collective Programme goals.

Feedback from the Ambassadors themselves is used to inform the future development of the Group, and the collaborative work between TEO and DfC is scheduled to continue alongside the delivery of the 2022/23 Ambassadors Programme.