PSEP funds assisted the development and completion of this action research programme. Subsequently a three year programme with major agencies in different sectors has evolved: 'A Worthwhile Venture ?' Serious community relations in Northern Ireland is a search for practical ways for people of different identities, backgrounds and goals to live and work with one another with mutual respect. The real and expensive effects of the division and the tensions associated with it across many areas of life are undeniable. Better working relations therefore constitute one of the most important political and social tasks. Community relations needs to become embedded in public and private institutions, encouraging and supporting change in organisational structure and practice. 'A Worthwhile Venture ?' has evolved out of practical work and action research ongoing since 1980, initially under the auspices of the Corrymeela Community, and then supported by the Understanding Conflict Trust. The need for 'A Worthwhile Venture?'
This research programme was therefore established to : * Assess the impact of inter-cultural and inter-community thinking on community relations training provision over the last ten years (1986-95) through a sample of people's experiences on courses and their use of the training subsequently. It is our hypothesis that this relationship infects the practices of all agencies in Northern Ireland and that finding ways of acknowledging and releasing this tension, and understanding the very practical problems it causes need to be addressed. We argue that an 'equity, diversity and interdependence' approach informing three different levels of change - policy, structures and procedures, and training - is a crucial step in addressing the divisions in this society. With an eighteen month time frame we sought to employ a variety of methods which would enable us to get beyond the polite and illuminate the scale and nature of learning opportunities in a wide variety of adult settings. From the outset we deliberately combined quantitative and qualitative approaches. In an area subject to social taboo, quantitative approaches are notoriously unreliable as indicators of preferences and context. Nonetheless, qualitative methods, especially within the short time scale of this project, can easily degenerate into anecdotal studies if they are not supported by a more objectively structured quantitative study.
Publications: Eyben, Morrow, Wilson (1997) : Executive Summary of Research Findings of a Worthwhile Venture - Practically Investing in Equity, Diversity and Interdependence in Northern Ireland.
A paper on Diversity to the IPD Conference at Newcastle, June 1997 A paper on Diversity Training to The Permanent Secretaries Committee, NICS, Stormont, June 1997
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