INCORE stands for Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity. It was instigated in 1992-93 as a joint programme between the University of Ulster and the United Nations University (Tokyo). INCORE’s aims are: (a) to conduct research and training on conflict resolution and conflict management; (b) to encourage interactions between research, training, policy, practise and theory; (c) through research, training and other activities to inform national and international organisations working within the field of ethnic conflict. PSEP funds have been used to refurbish a headquarters building at Aberfoyle House (adjacent to the Magee Campus), and to support core services. In its work on ethnic conflict and conflict resolution, INCORE always keeps one eye on issues and experiences arising from the Northern Ireland troubles. INCORE brings an international perspective to bear by comparing local events and developments with ethnic conflicts overseas. An example of this approach is a current research project entitled "Progressing Towards Settlement". This project is a major academic study into the Management of Peace Processes. It builds on a previous INCORE research project, Coming Out of Violence which examined five contemporary peace processes in South Africa, Israel/Palestine, Sri Lanka, the Basque Country and Northern Ireland. The Progressing Towards Settlement project takes a thematic approach to the study of peace processes. It identifies major themes in peace processes (both CONTENT and PROCESS issues) and ASSESSES their contribution to peacemaking and stabilisation efforts in contemporary peace processes. INCORE’s International Workshop on Researching on Researching Violent Societies brought together over thirty participants, including academics, journalists and field workers from countries as diverse as Australia, Bosnia, Cambodia, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Kyrgysztan, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Palestine, Rwanda, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Spain and Switzerland. The aim of the workshop was to gain a better understanding of an issue that should be of concern to those involved in peace and conflict related research: the methodological and ethnical challenges involved in conducting research in societies divided by conflict and violence. INCORE is to the fore the new technology of the Internet. You can view the range of services and information at the URL (http://www.incore.ulst.ac.uk). At the local level INCORE is home to another Internet project, entitled CAIN, which puts archive material on the Northern Ireland troubles on the NET (http://cain.ulster.ac.uk) INCORE has hosted a variety of conferences, meetings and seminars on topics as varied as mediation techniques, the impact of war on women and LTN Peacekeeping. It has organised a summer school on research methods for young researchers, again from both Northern Ireland and overseas. The Chair in Peace Studies announced by US President Clinton during his historic visit in 1995 is based at Aberfoyle House. In 1997 INCORE acquired a new Director, Professor Mari Fitzduff, whose was formerly director of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council.
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