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The PEACE IV Programme is an EU funded cross-border initiative designed to support peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the border region.
The primary objective of the programme is to promote positive relations characterised by respect, where cultural diversity is celebrated and people can live, learn and socialise together, free from prejudice, hate and intolerance.
The programme is financed through the European Union and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB).
The Belfast PEACE IV Local Action Plan has been designed to address local needs, to be inclusive in nature and provide opportunities for all citizens across the city to be involved in peace building and reconciliation activities.
Since 2018, we have secured over £14 million of PEACE IV funding to deliver our plan to support peace and reconciliation in Belfast across three main themes:
Belfast City Council's Shared City Partnership oversees the implementation of the Belfast PEACE IV Local Action Plan.
The focus of this theme is to enhance the capacity of children and young people to form positive and effective relationships with others from different backgrounds and to make a positive contribution to building a cohesive society.
We have developed a range of age appropriate, creative and innovative activities for children and young people that will be fun, interactive and engaging. The activities also provide opportunities for sustained, purposeful interaction, with others from a different background so every child can reach their full potential.
Our aim is that by the end of the PEACE IV Programme, 2,772 children and young people will have taken part in projects that develop their soft skills and respect for diversity.
| Children and young people | Description | Target age groups |
|---|---|---|
| Technology project | This project will use gaming, social media and coding at after-schools, summer and Easter camps and other events to challenge attitudes about children and young people from other communities | 6-10 11-16 18-24 |
| Playing our part in the city project | We will use creative activities and play as a way of exploring identity and culture, as well as identifying and addressing community issues. This project also engages with parents to address inter-generational attitudes and to break down barriers. | 11-13 and parents |
| Young advocates (link opens in new window) | Young advocates is a citizenship intervention model for young people to equip them to be leaders of the future and advocates for peaceful change by championing issues across the political divide. Youth-led grassroots and rights based campaigns will run across Belfast to create positive social change. | 16-24 |
| Local area networks | We will work with the NI Housing Executive to establish six local level networks to deliver a range of community planning activities including exchange visits, environmental clean ups, storytelling, personal development, civic leadership and active citizenship training. | 0-24 |
| On the Right Track! | This is a new sports development programme which will create opportunities for young people and sports clubs to learn, share and play together. | 13-16 |
This theme aims to create a more cohesive society by providing shared spaces and services in the city.
We will play a leadership role in creating a necklace of shared civic space in the west of the city by convening partners, engaging with citizens – we will transform land into a shared civic space which will improve connectivity between the city centre and outlying communities and neighbourhoods.
This project aims to promote positive attitudes towards shared public space, help address post conflict issues, improve connectivity in the city and build on the city’s wider potential.
By the end of the PEACE IV Programme, we will have engaged directly with 600 citizens who will be involved in creating an exciting shared space.
| Project | Description | Target audience |
|---|---|---|
| Capital | An exciting shared space project focusing on 12 interlinked sites comprising of a core project located at the Springfield Road interface incorporating Springfield Dam, Springfield Park, the Invest NI site and Paisley Park. | All |
| Programming | We will work with residents to make sure they are kept up to date with project developments, how to engage with the project and participate and use the shared space. | All |
The focus of the building positive relations theme is the promotion of respect, cultural diversity and an environment where people can live, learn and socialise together, free from prejudice, hate and intolerance.
Projects in this theme will encourage interaction between residents and groups from divided neighbourhoods, explore history in a sensitive manner, build mutual understanding and promote inclusion and integration of minority ethnic communities.
These projects will improve relations between different communities with 1,400 people taking part in various projects. The projects will also give marginalised groups more opportunities to participate in peace and reconciliation.
| Project | Description | Target audience |
|---|---|---|
| Creative Communities | Throughout the PEACE IV Programme we will work with partners to deliver a range of culture, arts and heritage projects to address issues such as flags, parades and shared space. The projects will include capacity building training, professional development of the artists and a showcase event. | Community and voluntary groups |
| Decade of Centenaries (1918 - 2021) | The Decade of Centenaries project will explore significant anniversaries which occur from 1918 to 2021. It will involve delivery of workshops, shared learning, exhibitions, exchanges, study visits and community led events. | Community and voluntary groups |
| Supporting communities | This project will support minority ethnic communities, including Traveller and Roma in Belfast. It will develop localised solutions around migration changes and provide diversity awareness and engagement opportunities. | Ethnic minorities and Traveller and Roma communities |
| Transform for Change | This is a citywide project across 15 clusters (neighbourhoods) in identified interface areas in Belfast. It aims to develop new, innovative and collaborative approaches to peace building and reconciliation, as well as, addressing prolonged social and economic disadvantage as a result of living in segregated communities in the city. It will build the leadership skills of citizens, policy makers and public and statutory service providers to work collectively at addressing issues of segregation, prejudice and hate. Transform for Change focuses on building capacity and skills development through collaborative working in the co-design and delivery of joint projects within neighbourhoods. This includes engagement, best practice and networking events to gain community buy-in, as well as exploring cross border best practice through study visits. For more information, email peace@belfastcity.gov.uk or NICVA directly: helen.mclaughlin@nicva.org Partners Transformative Leadership Programme (TLP) For information on the programme, email: peace@belfastcity.gov.uk or NICVA directly: helen.mclaughlin@nicva.org Programme dates Register for the programme |
Community |
| LINCS | Local Initiative for Networks, Connections and Support The ‘Supporting Connected Communities’ project is delivered by NI Alternatives in partnership with CRJ Ireland. The project aims to welcome people from black, Asian, refugee, asylum seeker and minority ethnic communities recently arrived or living in Belfast and to:
For more information on the LINCS project, contact NI Alternatives by email: denise@alternativesrj.co.uk |
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|
Traveller Support Programme |
This new support programme for the Traveller community in the city will include a hub offering support services including:
The programme also includes heritage and cultural workshops providing Travellers and the wider Belfast community the opportunity to explore, celebrate and get involved in discovering their shared and varied cultural identities. As a result of these workshops, participants will also get to develop their own Traveller Storytelling Exhibitions, which will be showcased around the city. For more information, please email peace@belfastcity.gov.uk. |
Community |
| Roma Support Programme |
This project will engage with the Roma community in the city providing support through:
|
Community |
Our ‘Progressing Peace’ report charts the progress of the Belfast PEACE IV Local Action Plan and provides an overview of our PEACE IV projects. It gives detailed information on ongoing projects PEACE IV projects in Belfast to support peace and reconciliation.
As part of our PEACE IV programme, we held a number of Culture Café events – online and in person - from 2018 to 2022.
These events showcased and celebrated Belfast’s rich cultural diversity. Working closely with different communities, the Culture Cafés shared the traditions, life, food, cultural artefacts, and language of diverse cultures that call Belfast their home.
Among the different cultures who took part in our Culture Café series were residents from our Indian, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Polish, Arabic, and African and African-Caribbean communities.
Our Grand Culture Café event on Friday 15 June 2022 was the final event of the series.
At the event, we also launched two publications entitled ‘Belonging to Belfast’ which featured interviews and information on all the cultures that took part in the Culture Café series.
One publication is targeted at adults and the other at children. You can request a copy of these free publications by emailing peace@belfastcity.gov.uk.
We want as many people as possible to take part in PEACE IV You can get involved in PEACE IV in Belfast by:
To get involved email peace@belfastcity.gov.uk
Past PEACE IV pre-market engagement sessions include:
We have developed protocols for any organisation delivering PEACE IV projects on our behalf. Our delivery partners must make sure they meet the communications requirements of both the council and SEUPB and must ensure Belfast City Council sign off on all communications materials before publication. For a copy of our PEACE IV Marketing and Communications protocols and logo banners, please email: peace@belfastcity.gov.uk.
Crisis communications
To enable Belfast City Council to respond promptly, accurately and confidently to an emergency or crisis associated with the delivery of the PEACE IV Programme, the funder, the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) must be informed and provided with information specific to their interests. The council, in the event of a crisis associated with PEACE IV will contact the SEUPB representative.
Contact SEUPB Communications Team:
Call: 028 9026 6660
Email: communications@seupb.eu
Address: The Clarence West Building 2 Clarence Street West Belfast BT2 7GP
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