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: [email protected]. Registration will close on Thursday September 14th at 5pm.