1

The story of the Derry~Londonderry

Forum for Cities in Transition Conference
23 26 May 2011
Bridging the Gap
3
Derry~Londonderry was the rst member city of the
Forum for Cities in Transition (FCT) to have its city
council ofcially endorse its membership.
Derry~Londonderry was the rst city to volunteer
to hold the 2010 conference, following the founding
conference at the University of Massachusetts
Boston in April 2009, but gave way to Mitrovica.
Derry~Londonderrys commitment at the 2010
conference to have the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) host a ten person delegation of
Kosovo police ofcers ve Kosovars and ve
Serbian was the most far reaching in scope and
indicative of the citys willingness to assume a
leadership role - a city on a higher step on the ladder
of transition helping a city on the lower rung.
This booklet is also a rst. It encapsulates an
understanding of the conceptual underpinnings of
the FCT and how it works in practice.
Most importantly, it articulates the core meaning
of the FCT, that it is not about annual conferences
in one city after another, but a vehicle for action.
It lucidly describes how implementation of the
commitments every member city is required to make
at the nal plenary of each years conference is what
gives the FCT its special niche in the eld of post
conict healing and reconciliation.
Each city has to give an accounting of how it has
implemented the commitments it made the previous
year. Accordingly, each conference is linked to
the next, and the commitments of member cities
becoming instruments of implementation dene the
FCTs ongoing purpose.
For without outcomes being implemented, the
FCT is stillborn. Without member cities stepping
forward and making commitments that are actually
translated into action - oriented outcomes, the FCT
will cease to exist.
Foreword Contents
Prof. Padraig OMalley
2
Chapter Title Page
Foreword 3
Introduction 5
1 A Journey Begins 6
2 The 2011 Derry~Londonderry Conference 9
3 From Indaba to Action 13
4 The Journey Continues 16
In Conclusion 19

Appendix 21

3
Derry~Londonderry was the rst member city of the
Forum for Cities in Transition (FCT) to have its city
council ofcially endorse its membership.
Derry~Londonderry was the rst city to volunteer
to hold the 2010 conference, following the founding
conference at the University of Massachusetts
Boston in April 2009, but gave way to Mitrovica.
Derry~Londonderrys commitment at the 2010
conference to have the Police Service of Northern
Ireland (PSNI) host a ten person delegation of
Kosovo police ofcers ve Kosovars and ve
Serbian was the most far reaching in scope and
indicative of the citys willingness to assume a
leadership role - a city on a higher step on the ladder
of transition helping a city on the lower rung.
This booklet is also a rst. It encapsulates an
understanding of the conceptual underpinnings of
the FCT and how it works in practice.
Most importantly, it articulates the core meaning
of the FCT, that it is not about annual conferences
in one city after another, but a vehicle for action.
It lucidly describes how implementation of the
commitments every member city is required to make
at the nal plenary of each years conference is what
gives the FCT its special niche in the eld of post
conict healing and reconciliation.
Each city has to give an accounting of how it has
implemented the commitments it made the previous
year. Accordingly, each conference is linked to
the next, and the commitments of member cities
becoming instruments of implementation dene the
FCTs ongoing purpose.
For without outcomes being implemented, the
FCT is stillborn. Without member cities stepping
forward and making commitments that are actually
translated into action - oriented outcomes, the FCT
will cease to exist.
Foreword Contents
Prof. Padraig OMalley
2
Chapter Title Page
Foreword 3
Introduction 5
1 A Journey Begins 6
2 The 2011 Derry~Londonderry Conference 9
3 From Indaba to Action 13
4 The Journey Continues 16
In Conclusion 19

Appendix 21

4 5
As the FCT evolves, member cities themselves must
take full ownership of the process, become more
condent of their ability to manage the relationships
among themselves and create an ambience in which
the sum of their collective endeavors is greater than
what a single city does on its own. Only through such
a dynamic process will relationships be cemented as
well as the public space created for further sharing
and a deeper understanding of the problems each
city faces. At some point the FCT must nd its own
legs.
In this regard a city - driven FCT will push its sister
cities to the limits of the capabilities within their
means, encourage and lead the way in the use of
social media networks to create togetherness with
the bonding that as a group makes you unique.
It is my hope and that of the Secretariat Allan
in Belfast as well as Nancy in Boston that
this booklet, capturing the experience of
Derry~Londonderry 2011, will be widely distributed
not just among member cities but also throughout
Northern Ireland. Our hope is that it bears fruit not
only within the connes of Northern Ireland, but that
it nds an audience in cities that have undergone
or may still be in the throes of post communal
conict, spreading the message that one city in
transition from such situations is the best position
to help another city, also in the process of similar
transitions.
We hope, too, that among cities unaware of the FCT,
this booklet becomes a tool convincing them of the
benets of membership.
You are opening frontiers of communications and
interaction that will enable each member city to
grow itself into a single community, not remaining
forever trapped in the detritus of its divided past.
Again, this booklet is a rst for a member
city setting out its experiences, in this case
Derry~Londonderry, in a way that educates,
promulgates the possibilities the FCT presents and
how many of these possibilities are already being
realised.
On behalf of the Secretariat Nancy, Allan and
myself, we feel privileged to have witnessed
Derry~Londonderry take shape over many months
of hard work, seeing that work nd expression in a
conference that few will forget and all will remember
when the commitments made by member cities
become realities in their own right.

Padraig O Malley
Moakley Professor of Peace and Reconciliation
Director, FCT
University of Massachusetts Boston
Transition the process or a period of changing
from one state or condition to another
In May 2011 a major international conference took
place in Derry~Londonderry. The event brought
together seventy delegates from cities around the
world. Each of these cities shared something in
common. They had all experienced violent conict
arising from deep communal divisions. The cities
included Beirut, Belfast, Derry~Londonderry, Haifa,
Jerusalem, Kaduna, Kirkuk, Mitrovic / Kosovska
Mitrovica, Mitte, Mostar, Nicosia and Ramallah.
The international conference was part of the Forum
for Cities in Transition (FCT) process. As outlined in
its Mission Statement the essence of this initiative, is
threefold:
That People from divided societies are in the
best position to help people in other divided
societies. Former protagonists are best
equipped to share their difcult journeys to
abandon violence as the instrument to achieve
their political aims and open the gateways to
recovery, reconstruction, and reconciliation.
That Cities which are or were at the epicenter
of the conicts in their countries are in a
special position to assist each other because
they are often a micro-representation of their
societys fault lines.
That securing the initially established peace
can be fostered by citizens of divided cities
working together
The delegates from each city were deliberately
chosen to reect all sides in their conict. Delegates
included Mayors, Councillors, Municipal Ofcers,
Business Representatives and Representatives from
the community and voluntary sector.
Derry~Londonderry is one of the founding cities
for the Forum for Cities in Transition. The 2011
conference was an opportunity to tell the story
of our own conict, reect on the challenges and
achievements of our city, and to help other cities in
their efforts to build a lasting peace.
The Forum for Cities in Transition Conference was
remarkable not only because it brought together
delegates from many troubled cities around the
world. It was also remarkable because of the range
of people that came together in Derry~Londonderry
and Belfast to make the event happen.
Centuries old political, tribal and religious divisions
often nd their expression in violent conict. The
experience of each of the participating cities is that
our ability or inability to live with difference is no
theoretical exercise. Its impact has been felt in many
lives. That is why transition - the process or a period
of changing from one state or condition to another
is always worth the journey.
Bridging the Gap tells the story of the Forum
for Cities in Transition its birth and underlying
philosophy. It also describes what the 2011
conference sought to do and reects on the
difference that it has made in the journey to peace
both locally and internationally.
INTRODUCTION
Prof. Padraig OMalley with John Hume
4 5
As the FCT evolves, member cities themselves must
take full ownership of the process, become more
condent of their ability to manage the relationships
among themselves and create an ambience in which
the sum of their collective endeavors is greater than
what a single city does on its own. Only through such
a dynamic process will relationships be cemented as
well as the public space created for further sharing
and a deeper understanding of the problems each
city faces. At some point the FCT must nd its own
legs.
In this regard a city - driven FCT will push its sister
cities to the limits of the capabilities within their
means, encourage and lead the way in the use of
social media networks to create togetherness with
the bonding that as a group makes you unique.
It is my hope and that of the Secretariat Allan
in Belfast as well as Nancy in Boston that
this booklet, capturing the experience of
Derry~Londonderry 2011, will be widely distributed
not just among member cities but also throughout
Northern Ireland. Our hope is that it bears fruit not
only within the connes of Northern Ireland, but that
it nds an audience in cities that have undergone
or may still be in the throes of post communal
conict, spreading the message that one city in
transition from such situations is the best position
to help another city, also in the process of similar
transitions.
We hope, too, that among cities unaware of the FCT,
this booklet becomes a tool convincing them of the
benets of membership.
You are opening frontiers of communications and
interaction that will enable each member city to
grow itself into a single community, not remaining
forever trapped in the detritus of its divided past.
Again, this booklet is a rst for a member
city setting out its experiences, in this case
Derry~Londonderry, in a way that educates,
promulgates the possibilities the FCT presents and
how many of these possibilities are already being
realised.
On behalf of the Secretariat Nancy, Allan and
myself, we feel privileged to have witnessed
Derry~Londonderry take shape over many months
of hard work, seeing that work nd expression in a
conference that few will forget and all will remember
when the commitments made by member cities
become realities in their own right.

Padraig O Malley
Moakley Professor of Peace and Reconciliation
Director, FCT
University of Massachusetts Boston
Transition the process or a period of changing
from one state or condition to another
In May 2011 a major international conference took
place in Derry~Londonderry. The event brought
together seventy delegates from cities around the
world. Each of these cities shared something in
common. They had all experienced violent conict
arising from deep communal divisions. The cities
included Beirut, Belfast, Derry~Londonderry, Haifa,
Jerusalem, Kaduna, Kirkuk, Mitrovic / Kosovska
Mitrovica, Mitte, Mostar, Nicosia and Ramallah.
The international conference was part of the Forum
for Cities in Transition (FCT) process. As outlined in
its Mission Statement the essence of this initiative, is
threefold:
That People from divided societies are in the
best position to help people in other divided
societies. Former protagonists are best
equipped to share their difcult journeys to
abandon violence as the instrument to achieve
their political aims and open the gateways to
recovery, reconstruction, and reconciliation.
That Cities which are or were at the epicenter
of the conicts in their countries are in a
special position to assist each other because
they are often a micro-representation of their
societys fault lines.
That securing the initially established peace
can be fostered by citizens of divided cities
working together
The delegates from each city were deliberately
chosen to reect all sides in their conict. Delegates
included Mayors, Councillors, Municipal Ofcers,
Business Representatives and Representatives from
the community and voluntary sector.
Derry~Londonderry is one of the founding cities
for the Forum for Cities in Transition. The 2011
conference was an opportunity to tell the story
of our own conict, reect on the challenges and
achievements of our city, and to help other cities in
their efforts to build a lasting peace.
The Forum for Cities in Transition Conference was
remarkable not only because it brought together
delegates from many troubled cities around the
world. It was also remarkable because of the range
of people that came together in Derry~Londonderry
and Belfast to make the event happen.
Centuries old political, tribal and religious divisions
often nd their expression in violent conict. The
experience of each of the participating cities is that
our ability or inability to live with difference is no
theoretical exercise. Its impact has been felt in many
lives. That is why transition - the process or a period
of changing from one state or condition to another
is always worth the journey.
Bridging the Gap tells the story of the Forum
for Cities in Transition its birth and underlying
philosophy. It also describes what the 2011
conference sought to do and reects on the
difference that it has made in the journey to peace
both locally and internationally.
INTRODUCTION
Prof. Padraig OMalley with John Hume
6
The Forum for Cities in Transition that took place
in Derry~Londonderry was the result of a journey
taken by Professor Padraig OMalley and a team
from the John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and
Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts.
Boston. It was also the result of a journey
undertaken by a diverse group of individuals in
Derry~Londonderry and Belfast who formed the
Steering Group that organized the conference. This
group is gathered from very different parts of the
community in Derry~Londonderry.
A Vision Takes Shape
For Professor OMalley the process had its origins in
a conference at Arniston, South Africa in mid 1997.
This involved Northern Irelands most senior party
negotiators and senior negotiators from all parties
to the historic 1994 settlement in South Africa that
brought apartheid to an end. That conference was
convened by the government of President Nelson
Mandela and by the University of Massachusetts
Boston.
When the parties in Northern Ireland reached the
Good Friday Agreement / Belfast Agreement in
1998, party leaders on all sides were effusive in their
praise of the contribution of the South Africans,
and of the informal links that had been maintained
among senior leaders on all sides.
Ten years later, still working on the premise that
one divided society was in the best position to help
another divided society, Professor OMalley arranged
two meetings in Helsinki Finland, in Sept 2007 and
April 2008. Working with Tufts Universitys Institute
of Global Leadership and Crisis Management
Initiative, the NGO founded by Martii Ahtisaari,
former President of Finland, they gathered senior
Iraqi leaders representing all sects and ethnicities,
including Shia / Sunni and Arab/Kurd, with former
chief negotiators from both Northern Ireland and
South Africa to address the problem of the sectarian
violence ravishing Iraq. Martin McGuiness, deputy
First Minister, attended both meetings. The result
was the Helsinki Agreement, signed by 36 of Iraqs
most senior leaders in Baghdad in July 2008. Both
the deputy First Minister and Lord Alderdice came
to Baghdad for the occasion, and briefed Iraqs
President, Talabani, VP Abdul Al Mahdi and US
Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
In 2008, the American Ireland Fund enabled
Professor OMalley to pursue his work to further
the promulgation of the processes of the Irish
Peace Accords as valuable instruments to ease post
conict transition in other divided societies, and to
share their narratives of conict and post conict
paths to transformation and reconciliation.
A Vision Shared
With a commitment to work at a micro-level
Professor OMalley visited Derry~Londonderry,
Belfast, Nicosia (Greek and Turkish Cypriot
communities) Kirkuk (Arab, Kurd, Turkmen and
Christian) and Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica (Serbs
and Albanian). He met with protagonists or former
protagonists on all sides and explained the concept
that cities in conict/post conict situations
shared certain common behavioral characteristics
that enabled them to bond in ways that would be
outside the range of experiences of more normal
societies, that they should meet to explore whether
this was in fact the case, and if it were so, to create
an international forum composed only of cities from
divided societies.
In 2008 Professor OMalley made contact with the
then Mayor of Derry City Council, Councillor Gerard
Diver. He invited him to come to a gathering in
Boston to join with others in exploring the concept
behind the Forum for Cities in Transition. The
event took place at the University of Massachusetts
Boston. There were delegations of eight from each of
the above cities, led by their respective mayors, and
including municipal councilors, service providers
and NGOs, working most closely with communities
at the ground level.
The Mayor was accompanied by Councillor Maurice
Devenney, Councillor Maeve McLaughlin, Michael
Doherty (Peace and Reconciliation Group), Brian
Dougherty (St Columbs Park House) as well as
Jennifer Hawthorne (Head of Northern Ireland
Housing Executives Community Cohesion Unit) and
Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton (PSNI, with extensive
experience of community interface work).
The purpose of the conference was to have the cities
explore, after listening to the narratives of each
others conict, whether they had sufcient common
attributes, experiences and collective identication
that they should form a collaborative where they
would share their differences and similarities in a
more formal and ongoing way. The hope being that
learning from each other would strengthen the
social/political fabric of their respective cities.
These cities became the founding cities of the Forum
for Cities in Transition. They drew up a founding
document, A Call to Action and became the
founding cities of the Forum for Cities in Transition.
The journey to involve Derry~Londonderry in the new
Forum was brought home by the then Mayor, Gerard
Diver. Following his involvement in the Boston event
and conversations with Professor OMalley he saw
it as an opportunity for the city not only to exchange
valuable lessons but also to welcome many new
visitors to Derry~Londonderry. Following extensive
discussion upon the return of the Mayor and the rest
of the party to their home city, Derry City Council
endorsed the founding document and committed
their city to membership.
The Journey for Derry - Londonderry
The city of Derry~Londonderry was invited to become
a member of the Forum for Cities in Transition due
to its history and inuence in shaping the conict
in Northern Ireland. Over centuries it has been the
scene of iconic events that both provided the seeds
for and symbolise the division and mistrust between
the unionist and nationalist community. This role in
shaping the conict is seen not only in its ancient
history but also in seminal events over the last four
decades.
As Northern Ireland has emerged from decades
of violence Derry~Londonderry is seen not
only as a microcosm of the damage that inter-
communal division can cause but also points to
the possibilities for building new relationships and
a new community out of a troubled history. As any
community in conict will testify, the journey of
building trust and relationships is a difcult path.
Yet Derry~Londonderry can testify to a willingness
to make that journey, as is exhibited by the make-
up of the Steering Group for the 2011 Conference,
representing all sides and sectors of the community.
As the Derry~Londonderry Forum developed, in
anticipation of contributing to this international
process, efforts were made to expand the range of
people involved. The Derry~Londonderry Forum
also includes a number of participating members
from outside of the city, notably from Belfast,
Northern Irelands largest city. The Steering Group
is comprised of representatives across the political,
civic and community spectrum:
Angela Askin (Chair) (Community Relations
Ofcer, Derry City Council)
Gerard Diver (Councillor and former Mayor,
Derry City Council) (SDLP)
Maeve McLaughlin (Councillor, Derry City
Council) (Sinn Fin)
Maurice Devenney (Mayor, Councillor, Derry
City Council) (DUP)
Colm Cavanagh (Business Development
Manager, North West Regional College)
Michael Doherty (Director, Peace and
Reconciliation Group)
Brian Dougherty (Director, St Columbs Park
House)
Willie Lamrock (Director, Londonderry YMCA)
Jim Roddy (Director, City Centre Initiatives)
Earl Storey (Consultant and Communications
Ofcer for Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry
and Raphoe)
Chris Yates (Chief Inspector, Foyle, PSNI)
Underscoring Derry~Londonderrys suitability to be
part of this process, in July 2010 Derry~Londonderry
was selected as the UK City of Culture for 2013.
The Independent Advisory Panel, which chose the
city, considered the citys capacity to address past
conicts as a source of inspiration and believed the
willingness of civic leaders to confront the legacy
of its recent history was one of the most positive
aspects of its bid. The potential step-changes that
the city could achieve are very substantial, by helping
create a new narrative about the city as well as
realising community, social and economic benets.
CHAPTER 1 A JOURNEY BEGINS
7
6
The Forum for Cities in Transition that took place
in Derry~Londonderry was the result of a journey
taken by Professor Padraig OMalley and a team
from the John Joseph Moakley Chair of Peace and
Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts.
Boston. It was also the result of a journey
undertaken by a diverse group of individuals in
Derry~Londonderry and Belfast who formed the
Steering Group that organized the conference. This
group is gathered from very different parts of the
community in Derry~Londonderry.
A Vision Takes Shape
For Professor OMalley the process had its origins in
a conference at Arniston, South Africa in mid 1997.
This involved Northern Irelands most senior party
negotiators and senior negotiators from all parties
to the historic 1994 settlement in South Africa that
brought apartheid to an end. That conference was
convened by the government of President Nelson
Mandela and by the University of Massachusetts
Boston.
When the parties in Northern Ireland reached the
Good Friday Agreement / Belfast Agreement in
1998, party leaders on all sides were effusive in their
praise of the contribution of the South Africans,
and of the informal links that had been maintained
among senior leaders on all sides.
Ten years later, still working on the premise that
one divided society was in the best position to help
another divided society, Professor OMalley arranged
two meetings in Helsinki Finland, in Sept 2007 and
April 2008. Working with Tufts Universitys Institute
of Global Leadership and Crisis Management
Initiative, the NGO founded by Martii Ahtisaari,
former President of Finland, they gathered senior
Iraqi leaders representing all sects and ethnicities,
including Shia / Sunni and Arab/Kurd, with former
chief negotiators from both Northern Ireland and
South Africa to address the problem of the sectarian
violence ravishing Iraq. Martin McGuiness, deputy
First Minister, attended both meetings. The result
was the Helsinki Agreement, signed by 36 of Iraqs
most senior leaders in Baghdad in July 2008. Both
the deputy First Minister and Lord Alderdice came
to Baghdad for the occasion, and briefed Iraqs
President, Talabani, VP Abdul Al Mahdi and US
Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
In 2008, the American Ireland Fund enabled
Professor OMalley to pursue his work to further
the promulgation of the processes of the Irish
Peace Accords as valuable instruments to ease post
conict transition in other divided societies, and to
share their narratives of conict and post conict
paths to transformation and reconciliation.
A Vision Shared
With a commitment to work at a micro-level
Professor OMalley visited Derry~Londonderry,
Belfast, Nicosia (Greek and Turkish Cypriot
communities) Kirkuk (Arab, Kurd, Turkmen and
Christian) and Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica (Serbs
and Albanian). He met with protagonists or former
protagonists on all sides and explained the concept
that cities in conict/post conict situations
shared certain common behavioral characteristics
that enabled them to bond in ways that would be
outside the range of experiences of more normal
societies, that they should meet to explore whether
this was in fact the case, and if it were so, to create
an international forum composed only of cities from
divided societies.
In 2008 Professor OMalley made contact with the
then Mayor of Derry City Council, Councillor Gerard
Diver. He invited him to come to a gathering in
Boston to join with others in exploring the concept
behind the Forum for Cities in Transition. The
event took place at the University of Massachusetts
Boston. There were delegations of eight from each of
the above cities, led by their respective mayors, and
including municipal councilors, service providers
and NGOs, working most closely with communities
at the ground level.
The Mayor was accompanied by Councillor Maurice
Devenney, Councillor Maeve McLaughlin, Michael
Doherty (Peace and Reconciliation Group), Brian
Dougherty (St Columbs Park House) as well as
Jennifer Hawthorne (Head of Northern Ireland
Housing Executives Community Cohesion Unit) and
Chief Inspector Mark Hamilton (PSNI, with extensive
experience of community interface work).
The purpose of the conference was to have the cities
explore, after listening to the narratives of each
others conict, whether they had sufcient common
attributes, experiences and collective identication
that they should form a collaborative where they
would share their differences and similarities in a
more formal and ongoing way. The hope being that
learning from each other would strengthen the
social/political fabric of their respective cities.
These cities became the founding cities of the Forum
for Cities in Transition. They drew up a founding
document, A Call to Action and became the
founding cities of the Forum for Cities in Transition.
The journey to involve Derry~Londonderry in the new
Forum was brought home by the then Mayor, Gerard
Diver. Following his involvement in the Boston event
and conversations with Professor OMalley he saw
it as an opportunity for the city not only to exchange
valuable lessons but also to welcome many new
visitors to Derry~Londonderry. Following extensive
discussion upon the return of the Mayor and the rest
of the party to their home city, Derry City Council
endorsed the founding document and committed
their city to membership.
The Journey for Derry - Londonderry
The city of Derry~Londonderry was invited to become
a member of the Forum for Cities in Transition due
to its history and inuence in shaping the conict
in Northern Ireland. Over centuries it has been the
scene of iconic events that both provided the seeds
for and symbolise the division and mistrust between
the unionist and nationalist community. This role in
shaping the conict is seen not only in its ancient
history but also in seminal events over the last four
decades.
As Northern Ireland has emerged from decades
of violence Derry~Londonderry is seen not
only as a microcosm of the damage that inter-
communal division can cause but also points to
the possibilities for building new relationships and
a new community out of a troubled history. As any
community in conict will testify, the journey of
building trust and relationships is a difcult path.
Yet Derry~Londonderry can testify to a willingness
to make that journey, as is exhibited by the make-
up of the Steering Group for the 2011 Conference,
representing all sides and sectors of the community.
As the Derry~Londonderry Forum developed, in
anticipation of contributing to this international
process, efforts were made to expand the range of
people involved. The Derry~Londonderry Forum
also includes a number of participating members
from outside of the city, notably from Belfast,
Northern Irelands largest city. The Steering Group
is comprised of representatives across the political,
civic and community spectrum:
Angela Askin (Chair) (Community Relations
Ofcer, Derry City Council)
Gerard Diver (Councillor and former Mayor,
Derry City Council) (SDLP)
Maeve McLaughlin (Councillor, Derry City
Council) (Sinn Fin)
Maurice Devenney (Mayor, Councillor, Derry
City Council) (DUP)
Colm Cavanagh (Business Development
Manager, North West Regional College)
Michael Doherty (Director, Peace and
Reconciliation Group)
Brian Dougherty (Director, St Columbs Park
House)
Willie Lamrock (Director, Londonderry YMCA)
Jim Roddy (Director, City Centre Initiatives)
Earl Storey (Consultant and Communications
Ofcer for Church of Ireland Diocese of Derry
and Raphoe)
Chris Yates (Chief Inspector, Foyle, PSNI)
Underscoring Derry~Londonderrys suitability to be
part of this process, in July 2010 Derry~Londonderry
was selected as the UK City of Culture for 2013.
The Independent Advisory Panel, which chose the
city, considered the citys capacity to address past
conicts as a source of inspiration and believed the
willingness of civic leaders to confront the legacy
of its recent history was one of the most positive
aspects of its bid. The potential step-changes that
the city could achieve are very substantial, by helping
create a new narrative about the city as well as
realising community, social and economic benets.
CHAPTER 1 A JOURNEY BEGINS
7
8 9
The Forum for Cities in Transition
The Mission Statement of the Forum for Cities in
Transition sets out its founding principles:
1. People from divided societies are in the best
position to help people in other divided societies.
Former protagonists are best equipped to share
their difcult journeys to abandon violence as
the instrument to achieve their political aims and
open the gateways to recovery, reconstruction, and
reconciliation.
2. Cities that are or were at the epicenter of
the conicts in their countries are in a special
position to assist each other because they,
too, harbor many of the same behavioral
characteristics. Indeed they often are the micro-
representation of their societys fault lines.
3. Securing the initially established peace can
be fostered by citizens of divided cities working
together in jointly sponsored, sustainable
development and environmental restoration
projects that directly benet the citizenry and
build a foundation for the future.
The centerpiece of the Forum for Cities in
Transitions activities is an annual conference,
hosted by one of the member cities, to which
delegations from member cities are invited. At
this conference, the host city, which designs the
program:
a. Provides a full and comprehensive accounting
of where it once was when engulfed in the
larger conict raging in the broader society;
b. Where it now is in terms of addressing the
multitudinous problems of recovery and
reconstruction;
c. Outline the scale of transformation to
normalcy and the unnished business, the
legacy of decades of conict that still had to
be faced, both on the ground on a day to day
basis and in terms of the broader context of
developing a shared vision of the future that
is endorsed by once warring communities.
4. The Forum for Cities in Transition is not a talking
shop, but action oriented. At the conferences con-
clusion, each city had to come forward with a project,
within its realizable capacity, which it committed
itself to complete by the time of the next conference.
In addition, a number of bilateral arrangements are
made among cities. The cities themselves monitor
each others commitments to the obligations they
promised to fulll.
The Inaugural Forum for Cities in
Transition Conference 2010
Derry~Londonderry was prepared to host the
rst conference in 2010, but yielded to Mitrovic/
Kosovska Mitrovica, which hosted the inaugural
conference of the Forum for Cities in Transition in
May 2010. This conference was a reection of how
the two communities, Albanian and Serb, were able
to rise above the differences that provide the context
for their conict and create a vibrant program.
This opened to participating cities the day-to-day
experiences of Mitrovicans on both sides of the River
Ibar and of how they had found ways to transcend
the multiple issues that drive division
Nine cities sent some 70 + delegates representative
of the communities with deep divisions among them
in their own cities. These included the founding
cities Derry~Londonderry, Belfast, Nicosia,
(Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot), Kirkuk, and
host Mitrovic/Kosovska Mitrovica and guest cities
included - Mostar, Beirut, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
At the end of the inaugural event,
Derry~Londonderry agreed to host the 2011
conference, to take place 23-26th May 2011.
Although an initiative of the Moakley Chair
at University of Massachusetts Boston, the
administrative secretariat is Nancy Riordan (Co-
ordinator and Manager of the Moakley Chair,
Allan Leonard (Director of the Northern Ireland
Foundation) and Quintin Oliver (Director of
Stratagem). The Secretariat worked closely with
the Derry~Londonderry Forum in organizing and
developing the conference. The guiding principle for
the preparation of each conference is that ownership
of the Forum belongs to the cities themselves and
they collectively are the decision makers.
A Forum for Cities in Transition Conference sets
out to make something possible - the transfer of
knowledge amongst different conict areas of the
world and specically to draw on the relevance
of the local hosting forum. The transfer of
knowledge through the eyes of the local forum
makes the conference relevant on a local scale to
Community Development Practitioners and Conict
Transformation Theorists. The power of the process
lies in the action it inspires at grass roots level.
This happens because the local forum is made up
of grass roots workers with some level of strategic
responsibility.
The Derry~Londonderry conference took place on
the 23 26 May 2011. It was designed and directed
by the Derry~Londonderry forum, comprised of key
local stakeholders from the main unionist (British)
and nationalist (Irish) communities. It was thus an
inclusive event, the organising of which, provided
signicant opportunity for bi-communal dialogue,
shared work and ultimately reconciliation.
Accompanying the local Steering Group was
Professor OMalley and staff from the Moakley Chair
at University of Massachusetts Boston as well as
the director of the Northern Ireland Foundation,
Allan Leonard. The Secretariat worked closely with
the Derry~Londonderry Forum. A professional
events organizing company, Maiden Events
(Gillian Simpson, Julia Kee and Seana Hume), was
commissioned to manage the conference. The good
work of a large number of local volunteers was also
signicant in the successful delivery of the event.
The guiding principle for the preparation of each
Forum for Cities in Transition conference is that
ownership of the Forum belongs to the cities
themselves and they collectively are the decision
makers. All those associated with the organising
of the conference in Derry~Londonderry wished to
demonstrate that local empowerment can achieve
concrete results, which contribute to improving
socio-economic outcomes both at personal and
community level.
CHAPTER 2 THE 2011
DERRY~LONDONDERRY CONFERENCE
Former Mayor Gerard Diver
Plenary Session
8 9
The Forum for Cities in Transition
The Mission Statement of the Forum for Cities in
Transition sets out its founding principles:
1. People from divided societies are in the best
position to help people in other divided societies.
Former protagonists are best equipped to share
their difcult journeys to abandon violence as
the instrument to achieve their political aims and
open the gateways to recovery, reconstruction, and
reconciliation.
2. Cities that are or were at the epicenter of
the conicts in their countries are in a special
position to assist each other because they,
too, harbor many of the same behavioral
characteristics. Indeed they often are the micro-
representation of their societys fault lines.
3. Securing the initially established peace can
be fostered by citizens of divided cities working
together in jointly sponsored, sustainable
development and environmental restoration
projects that directly benet the citizenry and
build a foundation for the future.
The centerpiece of the Forum for Cities in
Transitions activities is an annual conference,
hosted by one of the member cities, to which
delegations from member cities are invited. At
this conference, the host city, which designs the
program:
a. Provides a full and comprehensive accounting
of where it once was when engulfed in the
larger conict raging in the broader society;
b. Where it now is in terms of addressing the
multitudinous problems of recovery and
reconstruction;
c. Outline the scale of transformation to
normalcy and the unnished business, the
legacy of decades of conict that still had to
be faced, both on the ground on a day to day
basis and in terms of the broader context of
developing a shared vision of the future that
is endorsed by once warring communities.
4. The Forum for Cities in Transition is not a talking
shop, but action oriented. At the conferences con-
clusion, each city had to come forward with a project,
within its realizable capacity, which it committed
itself to complete by the time of the next conference.
In addition, a number of bilateral arrangements are
made among cities. The cities themselves monitor
each others commitments to the obligations they
promised to fulll.
The Inaugural Forum for Cities in
Transition Conference 2010
Derry~Londonderry was prepared to host the
rst conference in 2010, but yielded to Mitrovic/
Kosovska Mitrovica, which hosted the inaugural
conference of the Forum for Cities in Transition in
May 2010. This conference was a reection of how
the two communities, Albanian and Serb, were able
to rise above the differences that provide the context
for their conict and create a vibrant program.
This opened to participating cities the day-to-day
experiences of Mitrovicans on both sides of the River
Ibar and of how they had found ways to transcend
the multiple issues that drive division
Nine cities sent some 70 + delegates representative
of the communities with deep divisions among them
in their own cities. These included the founding
cities Derry~Londonderry, Belfast, Nicosia,
(Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot), Kirkuk, and
host Mitrovic/Kosovska Mitrovica and guest cities
included - Mostar, Beirut, Jerusalem, and Haifa.
At the end of the inaugural event,
Derry~Londonderry agreed to host the 2011
conference, to take place 23-26th May 2011.
Although an initiative of the Moakley Chair
at University of Massachusetts Boston, the
administrative secretariat is Nancy Riordan (Co-
ordinator and Manager of the Moakley Chair,
Allan Leonard (Director of the Northern Ireland
Foundation) and Quintin Oliver (Director of
Stratagem). The Secretariat worked closely with
the Derry~Londonderry Forum in organizing and
developing the conference. The guiding principle for
the preparation of each conference is that ownership
of the Forum belongs to the cities themselves and
they collectively are the decision makers.
A Forum for Cities in Transition Conference sets
out to make something possible - the transfer of
knowledge amongst different conict areas of the
world and specically to draw on the relevance
of the local hosting forum. The transfer of
knowledge through the eyes of the local forum
makes the conference relevant on a local scale to
Community Development Practitioners and Conict
Transformation Theorists. The power of the process
lies in the action it inspires at grass roots level.
This happens because the local forum is made up
of grass roots workers with some level of strategic
responsibility.
The Derry~Londonderry conference took place on
the 23 26 May 2011. It was designed and directed
by the Derry~Londonderry forum, comprised of key
local stakeholders from the main unionist (British)
and nationalist (Irish) communities. It was thus an
inclusive event, the organising of which, provided
signicant opportunity for bi-communal dialogue,
shared work and ultimately reconciliation.
Accompanying the local Steering Group was
Professor OMalley and staff from the Moakley Chair
at University of Massachusetts Boston as well as
the director of the Northern Ireland Foundation,
Allan Leonard. The Secretariat worked closely with
the Derry~Londonderry Forum. A professional
events organizing company, Maiden Events
(Gillian Simpson, Julia Kee and Seana Hume), was
commissioned to manage the conference. The good
work of a large number of local volunteers was also
signicant in the successful delivery of the event.
The guiding principle for the preparation of each
Forum for Cities in Transition conference is that
ownership of the Forum belongs to the cities
themselves and they collectively are the decision
makers. All those associated with the organising
of the conference in Derry~Londonderry wished to
demonstrate that local empowerment can achieve
concrete results, which contribute to improving
socio-economic outcomes both at personal and
community level.
CHAPTER 2 THE 2011
DERRY~LONDONDERRY CONFERENCE
Former Mayor Gerard Diver
Plenary Session
11
All of the Derry~Londonderry participants of the
Forum for Cities in Transition gave their full support
for the local hosting of the annual conference. As
already noted, support was formally received from
Derry City Council. Its elected representatives
passed a positive resolution, with its corporate body
also giving its endorsement. The support from Derry
City Council was important in a number of respects.
It provided signicant political endorsement to
the event as well as providing the Guildhall as a
prestigious venue for the conference. Not least it
also provided the services of Angela Askin, one
of the citys Community Relations Ofcers, for
the initiative. Her good work in co-ordinating the
meetings of the local Forum contributed greatly
to its success, as did her contribution in chairing a
range of conference sessions.
Within Northern Ireland, fellow participants from
Belfast gave their full support and offers of practical
assistance, including from individual councillors and
ofcers of Belfast City Council.
In preparation for the 2011 conference Forum
members met with the deputy First Minister of
Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness MLA. He
expressed his encouragement and support for
the event, from both a regional and constituency
perspective.
The Conference was made possible by generous
funding from the Department for Foreign Affairs,
International Fund for Ireland, Derry City Council,
Monitor Consultancy in Boston and by anonymous
benefactors.
Participating Cities
Beirut
Belfast
Derry~Londonderry
Haifa
Jerusalem
Kaduna
Kirkuk
Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica
Mitte (Berlin)
Mostar
Nicosia
Ramallah
Key Themes
The conference programme highlighted the fact that
working towards the transition from a divided to a
healthy society is not a one-dimensional process.
The identication and weaving together of themes
illustrated the need for a process that has many
facets and that successfully involves many actors in
a continuum of action. A commitment to a process
that is ongoing ensures that no vacuum is left or the
possibility of seeds left for future conict. To this end
the conference addressed the following themes:
1. The Northern Ireland Peace Process, addressing
in particular:
The nature of the conict in
Derry~Londonderry and conict
transformation
Where Derry~Londonderry was, where it is
now, and where it hopes to go
2. Economic Development/Urban Regeneration:
Addressing the importance of including
economic development in plans for
reconciliation and conict transformation
Cultural tourism as a key economic driver
3. The role of women in leading and developing
transition in divided societies
4. The role of culture and art in transforming
communities:
Addressing the practical applications of the
visual and performance arts in transforming
communities from conict environments and
dealing with the past
5. Developing policies of desegregation:
Addressing the importance of both public
policies and private initiatives whose
outcomes are desegregation and integration
6. Conict and Mental Health:
Addressing the need to deal with Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental
injuries caused by conict
7. The International Fund for Ireland has been a key
funder in enabling reconciliation initiatives to take
place in Northern Ireland. Staff and representatives
from funded projects highlighted the priorities,
action and layered approach of the Fund in aiming to:
Build foundations for peace
Build bridges
Build integration
Leave a legacy by means of economy based
projects
8. Raising Money: Cities and their Diasporas
Kingsley Aikens (former Chief Executive,
Ireland Funds) made a presentation on the
opportunities for cities to maximise value
from their Diaspora communities
Creating Indaba
At an indaba group in traditional African culture
people get together to sort out the problems that
affect them all, where everyone has a voice and
where there is an attempt to nd a common mind or
a common story that everyone is able to tell when
they go away from it.
In keeping with the values of the Forum for Cities in
Transition process, to facilitate sharing of knowledge
that leads to action in local situations, the structure
of the Derry~Londonderry conference was carefully
designed. The organisers were mindful of creating
a process that would allow the clear presentation of
expertise and experience by key actors as well as an
opportunity for people from different cities to share
their progress and challenges. Above all the aim was
to create meaningful human engagement on serious
issues.
To achieve an Indaba type experience the
programme used a combination of the following
methods:
*
Presentations by each of the delegate cities
describing the background of the conict
they have experienced, with challenges and
opportunities for progress identied
Presentations by individuals with proven
expertise and experience. Each panel had a
chairperson, and was represented by local
and external experts. The chair introduced
local experts to present the situation (specic
to the theme) as it is in Derry~Londonderry,
followed by the external experts to describe
how the issue has developed elsewhere. After
the presentations delegates broke up into
several working groups to discuss the topic
at hand. Each working group appointed a
rapporteur to report back to the subsequent
plenary discussion.
*See Appendix for Full programe timetable and contributors
Site Visits: To cover all geographical areas of
the city including both sides of the River Foyle
Workshop discussions
Plenary sessions
Sidebar meetings
Social events. The nal evening brought
together the delegates along with senior
local politicians, representatives from the
civic, business and community sectors,
civil servants, funders and international
guests. The Deputy First Minister, Martin
McGuiness, attended this event as well as the
Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Addresses were given by the Chairman of
the International Fund for Ireland, a Minister
of the Government of Ireland and Ministers
of the Northern Ireland Executive as well as
concluding remarks by Professor Padraig
OMalley (Director FCT).
To ensure the quality of input keynote and panel
contributions were made by individuals from the
following elds:
International stakeholders
Civic leaders
Government ministers and politicians from
both unionist and nationalist parties
Expert practitioners and theorists
Academics
Community workers
Business and commerce
Government departments from Northern
Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the
British government
Funders
10
Delegate
11
All of the Derry~Londonderry participants of the
Forum for Cities in Transition gave their full support
for the local hosting of the annual conference. As
already noted, support was formally received from
Derry City Council. Its elected representatives
passed a positive resolution, with its corporate body
also giving its endorsement. The support from Derry
City Council was important in a number of respects.
It provided signicant political endorsement to
the event as well as providing the Guildhall as a
prestigious venue for the conference. Not least it
also provided the services of Angela Askin, one
of the citys Community Relations Ofcers, for
the initiative. Her good work in co-ordinating the
meetings of the local Forum contributed greatly
to its success, as did her contribution in chairing a
range of conference sessions.
Within Northern Ireland, fellow participants from
Belfast gave their full support and offers of practical
assistance, including from individual councillors and
ofcers of Belfast City Council.
In preparation for the 2011 conference Forum
members met with the deputy First Minister of
Northern Ireland, Martin McGuinness MLA. He
expressed his encouragement and support for
the event, from both a regional and constituency
perspective.
The Conference was made possible by generous
funding from the Department for Foreign Affairs,
International Fund for Ireland, Derry City Council,
Monitor Consultancy in Boston and by anonymous
benefactors.
Participating Cities
Beirut
Belfast
Derry~Londonderry
Haifa
Jerusalem
Kaduna
Kirkuk
Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica
Mitte (Berlin)
Mostar
Nicosia
Ramallah
Key Themes
The conference programme highlighted the fact that
working towards the transition from a divided to a
healthy society is not a one-dimensional process.
The identication and weaving together of themes
illustrated the need for a process that has many
facets and that successfully involves many actors in
a continuum of action. A commitment to a process
that is ongoing ensures that no vacuum is left or the
possibility of seeds left for future conict. To this end
the conference addressed the following themes:
1. The Northern Ireland Peace Process, addressing
in particular:
The nature of the conict in
Derry~Londonderry and conict
transformation
Where Derry~Londonderry was, where it is
now, and where it hopes to go
2. Economic Development/Urban Regeneration:
Addressing the importance of including
economic development in plans for
reconciliation and conict transformation
Cultural tourism as a key economic driver
3. The role of women in leading and developing
transition in divided societies
4. The role of culture and art in transforming
communities:
Addressing the practical applications of the
visual and performance arts in transforming
communities from conict environments and
dealing with the past
5. Developing policies of desegregation:
Addressing the importance of both public
policies and private initiatives whose
outcomes are desegregation and integration
6. Conict and Mental Health:
Addressing the need to deal with Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental
injuries caused by conict
7. The International Fund for Ireland has been a key
funder in enabling reconciliation initiatives to take
place in Northern Ireland. Staff and representatives
from funded projects highlighted the priorities,
action and layered approach of the Fund in aiming to:
Build foundations for peace
Build bridges
Build integration
Leave a legacy by means of economy based
projects
8. Raising Money: Cities and their Diasporas
Kingsley Aikens (former Chief Executive,
Ireland Funds) made a presentation on the
opportunities for cities to maximise value
from their Diaspora communities
Creating Indaba
At an indaba group in traditional African culture
people get together to sort out the problems that
affect them all, where everyone has a voice and
where there is an attempt to nd a common mind or
a common story that everyone is able to tell when
they go away from it.
In keeping with the values of the Forum for Cities in
Transition process, to facilitate sharing of knowledge
that leads to action in local situations, the structure
of the Derry~Londonderry conference was carefully
designed. The organisers were mindful of creating
a process that would allow the clear presentation of
expertise and experience by key actors as well as an
opportunity for people from different cities to share
their progress and challenges. Above all the aim was
to create meaningful human engagement on serious
issues.
To achieve an Indaba type experience the
programme used a combination of the following
methods:
*
Presentations by each of the delegate cities
describing the background of the conict
they have experienced, with challenges and
opportunities for progress identied
Presentations by individuals with proven
expertise and experience. Each panel had a
chairperson, and was represented by local
and external experts. The chair introduced
local experts to present the situation (specic
to the theme) as it is in Derry~Londonderry,
followed by the external experts to describe
how the issue has developed elsewhere. After
the presentations delegates broke up into
several working groups to discuss the topic
at hand. Each working group appointed a
rapporteur to report back to the subsequent
plenary discussion.
*See Appendix for Full programe timetable and contributors
Site Visits: To cover all geographical areas of
the city including both sides of the River Foyle
Workshop discussions
Plenary sessions
Sidebar meetings
Social events. The nal evening brought
together the delegates along with senior
local politicians, representatives from the
civic, business and community sectors,
civil servants, funders and international
guests. The Deputy First Minister, Martin
McGuiness, attended this event as well as the
Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Addresses were given by the Chairman of
the International Fund for Ireland, a Minister
of the Government of Ireland and Ministers
of the Northern Ireland Executive as well as
concluding remarks by Professor Padraig
OMalley (Director FCT).
To ensure the quality of input keynote and panel
contributions were made by individuals from the
following elds:
International stakeholders
Civic leaders
Government ministers and politicians from
both unionist and nationalist parties
Expert practitioners and theorists
Academics
Community workers
Business and commerce
Government departments from Northern
Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the
British government
Funders
10
Delegate
12 13
CHAPTER 3 - FROM INDABA TO ACTION
The inclusion of site visits in the programme
ensured that delegates had the opportunity to
see at rst hand some of the social, cultural and
economic initiatives that are being produced in
Derry~Londonderry, a city in transition. There
was scope for twelve different site visits. These
were presented as a menu choice, with conference
delegates choosing from one of four options
available on each of the three days, in advance of the
conference.
The following theme options were offered to
delegates to choose from:
1. Infrastructure (water, roads, utilities)
2. Conict and Mental Health
3. Culture/Art and Conict
4. Education (policy and practice)
5. Local Economy (urban regeneration)
6. Community dialogue (mediation)
7. Policing
8. Sport
9. Ethnic Minorities/New Arrivals
10. Tackling Poverty
11. Leadership in Conict Transformation (e.g.
Saville Inquiry)
Visits ultimately took place to:
The International School of Peace Studies
Oakgrove Integrated College
Re-imaging: Caw/Nelson Drive, Lincoln
Court, Bonds Street
Bogside Artists
The Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall
An Gaelras, Cultrlann U Chanain (Irish
Language and Cultural Centre)
The greatest outcome from any conference is
an increase in knowledge that leads to practical
grassroots action where the theoretical and the
practical fuel one another. A key constituent of every
Forum for Cities in Transition conference is that the
nal part of the event provides an opportunity for
each city to report to a plenary.
Such reports are not just about sharing reections
and learning. The delegates from each city are
invited to list actions that they commit themselves to
ahead of the next conference. These are actions that
ensure the journey to transition continues.
The Forum is explicitly grounded in there being
tangible outcomes at the close of each conference,
a commitment made by each city to carrying out a
project that will further transition, reconciliation,
and development in its city or to help one of its sister
cities where its expertise in a particular area can be
of signicant benet.
Commitments are designed so that cities on the
higher rungs of transition assist those on the lower
rungs so that divided cities collectively can do what
they cannot do individually. The process is reciprocal
because in serving their sister cities, those further
along in transition are sharply reminded of where
they once were, where they are now, and where
they hope to go in continuing their own processes of
transition and reconciliation.
At the nal session of the 2nd annual
Forum for Cities in Transition conference in
Derry~Londonderry, delegates from 12 participating
cities pledged over 20 outcomes to be completed in
the following twelve months.
That pledged outcomes become reality is illustrated
by the commitments made at Mitrovic/Kosovska
Mitrovica in May 2010 that are now completed or due
to be completed by the end of 2011 and include:
Derry~Londonderry hosted the FCT 2011
conference
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
and its Kosovo counterparts completed a
joint policing partnership under which they
exchanged best practice; the PSNI hosted a
team of Kosovo police ofcials representing
both Kosovo/Albanian and Serbian ofcers in
May 2011.
The Haifa delegation will host members of
the local volunteer corps from both Mitrovic/
Kosovska Mitrovica in Haifa and Jerusalem in
August 2011 to learn from cross community
youth initiatives that have proven successful
in bridging community divides in Haifa.
The McCormack Graduate School of
Policy and Global Studies, University of
Massachusetts Boston, placed Ardiana
Osmani and Milos Golubovic, in one of the
Schools programs, beginning in September
2011.
The Northern Ireland Foundation (NIF),
co-secretariat arm of the FCT conferred two
special citizenship awards, the highest that
the Foundation can award, on Vuk Mitrovic
and Sanja Mrkic, as part of a study visit
to NGOs and the University of Ulster in N.
Ireland in May 2011.
Establishment of a Womens Forum among
participated cities (ongoing).
Conference Panellists
Nancy Soderberg
Lord Ken Maginess
Mark Durkan MP
12 13
CHAPTER 3 - FROM INDABA TO ACTION
The inclusion of site visits in the programme
ensured that delegates had the opportunity to
see at rst hand some of the social, cultural and
economic initiatives that are being produced in
Derry~Londonderry, a city in transition. There
was scope for twelve different site visits. These
were presented as a menu choice, with conference
delegates choosing from one of four options
available on each of the three days, in advance of the
conference.
The following theme options were offered to
delegates to choose from:
1. Infrastructure (water, roads, utilities)
2. Conict and Mental Health
3. Culture/Art and Conict
4. Education (policy and practice)
5. Local Economy (urban regeneration)
6. Community dialogue (mediation)
7. Policing
8. Sport
9. Ethnic Minorities/New Arrivals
10. Tackling Poverty
11. Leadership in Conict Transformation (e.g.
Saville Inquiry)
Visits ultimately took place to:
The International School of Peace Studies
Oakgrove Integrated College
Re-imaging: Caw/Nelson Drive, Lincoln
Court, Bonds Street
Bogside Artists
The Apprentice Boys Memorial Hall
An Gaelras, Cultrlann U Chanain (Irish
Language and Cultural Centre)
The greatest outcome from any conference is
an increase in knowledge that leads to practical
grassroots action where the theoretical and the
practical fuel one another. A key constituent of every
Forum for Cities in Transition conference is that the
nal part of the event provides an opportunity for
each city to report to a plenary.
Such reports are not just about sharing reections
and learning. The delegates from each city are
invited to list actions that they commit themselves to
ahead of the next conference. These are actions that
ensure the journey to transition continues.
The Forum is explicitly grounded in there being
tangible outcomes at the close of each conference,
a commitment made by each city to carrying out a
project that will further transition, reconciliation,
and development in its city or to help one of its sister
cities where its expertise in a particular area can be
of signicant benet.
Commitments are designed so that cities on the
higher rungs of transition assist those on the lower
rungs so that divided cities collectively can do what
they cannot do individually. The process is reciprocal
because in serving their sister cities, those further
along in transition are sharply reminded of where
they once were, where they are now, and where
they hope to go in continuing their own processes of
transition and reconciliation.
At the nal session of the 2nd annual
Forum for Cities in Transition conference in
Derry~Londonderry, delegates from 12 participating
cities pledged over 20 outcomes to be completed in
the following twelve months.
That pledged outcomes become reality is illustrated
by the commitments made at Mitrovic/Kosovska
Mitrovica in May 2010 that are now completed or due
to be completed by the end of 2011 and include:
Derry~Londonderry hosted the FCT 2011
conference
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
and its Kosovo counterparts completed a
joint policing partnership under which they
exchanged best practice; the PSNI hosted a
team of Kosovo police ofcials representing
both Kosovo/Albanian and Serbian ofcers in
May 2011.
The Haifa delegation will host members of
the local volunteer corps from both Mitrovic/
Kosovska Mitrovica in Haifa and Jerusalem in
August 2011 to learn from cross community
youth initiatives that have proven successful
in bridging community divides in Haifa.
The McCormack Graduate School of
Policy and Global Studies, University of
Massachusetts Boston, placed Ardiana
Osmani and Milos Golubovic, in one of the
Schools programs, beginning in September
2011.
The Northern Ireland Foundation (NIF),
co-secretariat arm of the FCT conferred two
special citizenship awards, the highest that
the Foundation can award, on Vuk Mitrovic
and Sanja Mrkic, as part of a study visit
to NGOs and the University of Ulster in N.
Ireland in May 2011.
Establishment of a Womens Forum among
participated cities (ongoing).
Conference Panellists
Nancy Soderberg
Lord Ken Maginess
Mark Durkan MP
In accordance with the mission statement of the
FCT, the emphasis of the Derry~Londonderry 2011
conference was on the realization of practical
outcomes that would assist participating cities
improve the daily lives of their citizens, as well as
add to the quality of life and enhance engagement
between ofcials, NGOs, and residents.
Following extensive multilateral and bilateral
deliberations during the Derry~Londonderry
conference, both in formal and informal sessions,
the following projects were pledged as the outcomes
of the 2011 conference:
Kirkuk:
Announced the City of Kirkuk will host the
FCT conference in 2012
University exchange with Northwest Regional
College Derry~Londonderry
Work with Kaduna and Ramallah on
sectarianism issues
Explore the establishment of a fund similar to
the International Fund for Ireland (IFI)
Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica:
Continue the Kosovo Police Service (KPS)
~ Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
Training exchange
Establish with Nicosia and
Derry~Londonderry a business program
Continue development and implementation of
the Womens Forum
Derry~Londonderry:
Continue the Kosovo Police Service (KPS)
~ Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
Training exchange
The local Forum Steering Group will convene
for a 24 hour residential to reect on the
challenge to defeat sectarianism
Ramallah and Kaduna develop college links
and lectures (retired faculty) to run various
training classes. Possibility of granting
Kaduna students scholarships
Cultural Tourism European Union tourism -
tourism ofce in Derry~Londonderry may be
going to visit some of your cities guests for
City of Culture 2013
Lead actions for reconciliation in all our cities

Mitte:
Youth exchange with Nicosia: 5 Greek and
5 Turkish Cypriots to visit Germany and in
return send 5 Turk and 5 German youth to
Nicosia, Cyprus.

Beirut:
Produce a lm festival with Nicosia about
peace building and reconciliation: to engage
all FCT cities
Exchange of volunteers between Beirut and
Nicosia
Policing Project with PSNI to focus on
protection of human rights

Ramallah:
Host Muslims and Christians from Kaduna in
Ramallah to develop an exchange program
Develop Diaspora links for fundraising
assisted by Haifa

Belfast:
PSNI exchange includes Belfast
Informal discussions to develop further links
with Derry~Londonderry

Mostar:
Invited Director Padraig OMalley to Mostar
to meet with Mayor to gain Municipal
representation
Further train youth and professionals in art
and cultural activities
Exchange activities for art in public spaces
and identify possible donors with Playhouse
in Derry~Londonderry
Jerusalem:
Accessibility of postal services to residents
from East Jerusalem
Equalization for rights and services that are
given to school children in East and West
Jerusalem (received an approval from the city
council for extra budget for this initiative)
2 new baby-clinics in East Jerusalem (since
last year, delegates opened 1 new clinic).
2 new welfare ofces in East Jerusalem
Equalize the queuing time for Arabs and Jews
in municipal tax ofce
Equalizing salary for community social
workers from East Jerusalem
Implementation of a city regulation -
Free dental examinations for all children
(ages 6-16) including children from East
Jerusalem.
Organize a local FCT in Jerusalem: with a
long conference or a long series of meetings
for high level ofcials, managers and deputy
mayors from East Jerusalem with community
leaders, religious leaders and activists
from East Jerusalem to share experiences,
challenges (including challenges of working
with the other side) already partly funded.
Nicosia:
Youth exchange with Mitte
Become engaged in Womens forum
Coordinate lm festival with Beirut
Volunteer- Cultural exchange with Beirut
Kaduna:
Derry~Londonderry for a learning visit re:
hosting the Forum in 2013
Invite IFI to visit Kaduna to explore the
possibility to set up a Kaduna Fund
Community exchange re: sectarianism with
Ramallah
Derry~Londonderry University Exchange

Haifa:
Assist Ramallah with a platform for Diaspora
fundraising
Engage further with Womens forum, to host
a group of women in Haifa
Establishing a diverse multicultural center
for dialog. Research will be presented in 2012
All Cities:
New City signatures to the Call to Action
All Cities will participate in a Film Festival
promoting reconciliation
Womens Forum
The ultimate arbiter of the effectiveness of the
Forum for Cities in Transition depends on the above
outcomes being translated into action.
Delegates unanimously agreed that the 2011
conference had been another extraordinary event
and expressed their appreciation of the contributions
of all members of the organizing committee, the
Derry~Londonderry Forum in particular, Chair
Angela Askin; FCT Founding Director, Padraig
OMalley; the FCT Secretariat; conference
coordinators, Maiden Events; the generosity of
funders and many gracious volunteers.
14 15
Delegate
Delegate
Angela Askin
In accordance with the mission statement of the
FCT, the emphasis of the Derry~Londonderry 2011
conference was on the realization of practical
outcomes that would assist participating cities
improve the daily lives of their citizens, as well as
add to the quality of life and enhance engagement
between ofcials, NGOs, and residents.
Following extensive multilateral and bilateral
deliberations during the Derry~Londonderry
conference, both in formal and informal sessions,
the following projects were pledged as the outcomes
of the 2011 conference:
Kirkuk:
Announced the City of Kirkuk will host the
FCT conference in 2012
University exchange with Northwest Regional
College Derry~Londonderry
Work with Kaduna and Ramallah on
sectarianism issues
Explore the establishment of a fund similar to
the International Fund for Ireland (IFI)
Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica:
Continue the Kosovo Police Service (KPS)
~ Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
Training exchange
Establish with Nicosia and
Derry~Londonderry a business program
Continue development and implementation of
the Womens Forum
Derry~Londonderry:
Continue the Kosovo Police Service (KPS)
~ Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)
Training exchange
The local Forum Steering Group will convene
for a 24 hour residential to reect on the
challenge to defeat sectarianism
Ramallah and Kaduna develop college links
and lectures (retired faculty) to run various
training classes. Possibility of granting
Kaduna students scholarships
Cultural Tourism European Union tourism -
tourism ofce in Derry~Londonderry may be
going to visit some of your cities guests for
City of Culture 2013
Lead actions for reconciliation in all our cities

Mitte:
Youth exchange with Nicosia: 5 Greek and
5 Turkish Cypriots to visit Germany and in
return send 5 Turk and 5 German youth to
Nicosia, Cyprus.

Beirut:
Produce a lm festival with Nicosia about
peace building and reconciliation: to engage
all FCT cities
Exchange of volunteers between Beirut and
Nicosia
Policing Project with PSNI to focus on
protection of human rights

Ramallah:
Host Muslims and Christians from Kaduna in
Ramallah to develop an exchange program
Develop Diaspora links for fundraising
assisted by Haifa

Belfast:
PSNI exchange includes Belfast
Informal discussions to develop further links
with Derry~Londonderry

Mostar:
Invited Director Padraig OMalley to Mostar
to meet with Mayor to gain Municipal
representation
Further train youth and professionals in art
and cultural activities
Exchange activities for art in public spaces
and identify possible donors with Playhouse
in Derry~Londonderry
Jerusalem:
Accessibility of postal services to residents
from East Jerusalem
Equalization for rights and services that are
given to school children in East and West
Jerusalem (received an approval from the city
council for extra budget for this initiative)
2 new baby-clinics in East Jerusalem (since
last year, delegates opened 1 new clinic).
2 new welfare ofces in East Jerusalem
Equalize the queuing time for Arabs and Jews
in municipal tax ofce
Equalizing salary for community social
workers from East Jerusalem
Implementation of a city regulation -
Free dental examinations for all children
(ages 6-16) including children from East
Jerusalem.
Organize a local FCT in Jerusalem: with a
long conference or a long series of meetings
for high level ofcials, managers and deputy
mayors from East Jerusalem with community
leaders, religious leaders and activists
from East Jerusalem to share experiences,
challenges (including challenges of working
with the other side) already partly funded.
Nicosia:
Youth exchange with Mitte
Become engaged in Womens forum
Coordinate lm festival with Beirut
Volunteer- Cultural exchange with Beirut
Kaduna:
Derry~Londonderry for a learning visit re:
hosting the Forum in 2013
Invite IFI to visit Kaduna to explore the
possibility to set up a Kaduna Fund
Community exchange re: sectarianism with
Ramallah
Derry~Londonderry University Exchange

Haifa:
Assist Ramallah with a platform for Diaspora
fundraising
Engage further with Womens forum, to host
a group of women in Haifa
Establishing a diverse multicultural center
for dialog. Research will be presented in 2012
All Cities:
New City signatures to the Call to Action
All Cities will participate in a Film Festival
promoting reconciliation
Womens Forum
The ultimate arbiter of the effectiveness of the
Forum for Cities in Transition depends on the above
outcomes being translated into action.
Delegates unanimously agreed that the 2011
conference had been another extraordinary event
and expressed their appreciation of the contributions
of all members of the organizing committee, the
Derry~Londonderry Forum in particular, Chair
Angela Askin; FCT Founding Director, Padraig
OMalley; the FCT Secretariat; conference
coordinators, Maiden Events; the generosity of
funders and many gracious volunteers.
14 15
Delegate
Delegate
Angela Askin
16
CHAPTER 4 - THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
The Local Forum
One of the key values of the Forum at local level
is that it provides a framework for members from
very different traditions and backgrounds to build
relationships. As relationships grow it increases
the ability of members to discuss difcult issues
together. It also makes it possible to plan action that
will support the transition journey.
The members of the Derry~Londonderry Forum
fullled their commitment to meet together for a
residential in October 2011. The purpose was to
reect on the conference and to develop further
collaborative action. An experienced facilitator, Doug
Baker, formerly a staff member with Corrymeela as
well as Mediation Northern Ireland, facilitated this
event.
The Steering Group reected on some issues that it
could make a contribution to in a meaningful way.
It was decided that the group should continue in
existence to fulll the aspirations of the Forum for
Cities in Transition process at local level. Agreement
by members of the Derry~Londonderry Forum
arising from the residential included the following
priorities / actions:
To learn from and contribute to the work of
groups in other Cities in Transition forum
To expand membership of the
Derry~Londonderry forum
To be a forum for safe discussion of hard
issues impacting relationships in our city,
which will in turn inform each members
work
To take corporate initiatives to increase good
relations in our city
To facilitate public and/or private fora for
discussion of difcult issues impacting
relationships in Derry~Londonderry
To take steps to develop more community
leadership. In discussion this was dened
as those who could use their inuence in
different sectors for reconciliation both in the
city and in an outward looking way with other
cities in the CIT Forum.
To encourage the development of a new
generation of community leadership
To support a united responses after negative
/ violent incidents
Work on an agreement about the ying of
ags in the city
To develop a guide for community leaders on
dealing with sectarianism
To work on a code of conduct for use of
contested or potentially divisive language by
organisations in the city
To promote discussion on dealing with the
past
To consider how to harness the possibilities
for peace building engendered after the
response to the release of the Saville report
To promote understanding of each other
and trust between different agencies and
organisations
To produce a tool kit on how to organize a
conference for use by Cities in Transition
Forum
In discussion there was an understanding that
providing experiences rather than resources is of
most importance.
The City of Derry~Londonderry
The ultimate beneciaries of the conference were
the citizens of Derry~Londonderry themselves. The
exposure to international delegates, the benets
from associated practically based projects, potential
local business initiatives, media coverage and
awareness raising all served to show the citys
residents tangible benets and greater pride in their
city. Some of the tangible benets included:
A high calibre, international event placed the
spotlight on a relatively remote but leading
city on the edge of Europe
The conference provided a useful event
platform in anticipation of the larger
organisation of UK City of Culture events in
2013
Immediate and longer-term economic
benets, from conference activity itself (circa
500,000 additional spending) and ancillary
benets such as increased potential for
business investment, study exchanges and
international consultancy work
Many practical outcomes with lasting effects
including:
Regularising exchanges between
PSNI and Kosovo Police Service,
developing this outcome from FCT
2011 conference
Enhancing existing exchanges
between PSNI and Garda Siochana,
especially between Counties
Londonderry and Donegal
Invitation and facilitation of
representatives from youth
organisations from participating
Forum cities to be guest speakers
at Derry~Londonderry based youth
organisations
Further development of exchange
of knowledge and expertise in
developing sports and leisure
facilities with Forum colleagues
Follow up to secure business and
investment opportunities generated
during the 2011 conference
Establishment of a technical college
network among Forum participating
cities, for mutual development of
practical skills and jobs
Creation of a municipal ofcers
forum, among Forum participating
cities, to serve as a resource of
knowledge and advice for the
delivery of local services
Collaboration with universities,
to agree objective measures of
progress of the actions undertaken
by the Forums participants
Delivering conict resolution
techniques proven to work in
Derry~Londonderry to other Forum
cities. An example of this is the
distribution of mobile phones to a
network of community leaders to
head off inter-communal are ups
as well as the identication and
coaching of individuals from one
community allowed to communicate
and work within another
communitys local programmes.
17
Group Session
16
CHAPTER 4 - THE JOURNEY CONTINUES
The Local Forum
One of the key values of the Forum at local level
is that it provides a framework for members from
very different traditions and backgrounds to build
relationships. As relationships grow it increases
the ability of members to discuss difcult issues
together. It also makes it possible to plan action that
will support the transition journey.
The members of the Derry~Londonderry Forum
fullled their commitment to meet together for a
residential in October 2011. The purpose was to
reect on the conference and to develop further
collaborative action. An experienced facilitator, Doug
Baker, formerly a staff member with Corrymeela as
well as Mediation Northern Ireland, facilitated this
event.
The Steering Group reected on some issues that it
could make a contribution to in a meaningful way.
It was decided that the group should continue in
existence to fulll the aspirations of the Forum for
Cities in Transition process at local level. Agreement
by members of the Derry~Londonderry Forum
arising from the residential included the following
priorities / actions:
To learn from and contribute to the work of
groups in other Cities in Transition forum
To expand membership of the
Derry~Londonderry forum
To be a forum for safe discussion of hard
issues impacting relationships in our city,
which will in turn inform each members
work
To take corporate initiatives to increase good
relations in our city
To facilitate public and/or private fora for
discussion of difcult issues impacting
relationships in Derry~Londonderry
To take steps to develop more community
leadership. In discussion this was dened
as those who could use their inuence in
different sectors for reconciliation both in the
city and in an outward looking way with other
cities in the CIT Forum.
To encourage the development of a new
generation of community leadership
To support a united responses after negative
/ violent incidents
Work on an agreement about the ying of
ags in the city
To develop a guide for community leaders on
dealing with sectarianism
To work on a code of conduct for use of
contested or potentially divisive language by
organisations in the city
To promote discussion on dealing with the
past
To consider how to harness the possibilities
for peace building engendered after the
response to the release of the Saville report
To promote understanding of each other
and trust between different agencies and
organisations
To produce a tool kit on how to organize a
conference for use by Cities in Transition
Forum
In discussion there was an understanding that
providing experiences rather than resources is of
most importance.
The City of Derry~Londonderry
The ultimate beneciaries of the conference were
the citizens of Derry~Londonderry themselves. The
exposure to international delegates, the benets
from associated practically based projects, potential
local business initiatives, media coverage and
awareness raising all served to show the citys
residents tangible benets and greater pride in their
city. Some of the tangible benets included:
A high calibre, international event placed the
spotlight on a relatively remote but leading
city on the edge of Europe
The conference provided a useful event
platform in anticipation of the larger
organisation of UK City of Culture events in
2013
Immediate and longer-term economic
benets, from conference activity itself (circa
500,000 additional spending) and ancillary
benets such as increased potential for
business investment, study exchanges and
international consultancy work
Many practical outcomes with lasting effects
including:
Regularising exchanges between
PSNI and Kosovo Police Service,
developing this outcome from FCT
2011 conference
Enhancing existing exchanges
between PSNI and Garda Siochana,
especially between Counties
Londonderry and Donegal
Invitation and facilitation of
representatives from youth
organisations from participating
Forum cities to be guest speakers
at Derry~Londonderry based youth
organisations
Further development of exchange
of knowledge and expertise in
developing sports and leisure
facilities with Forum colleagues
Follow up to secure business and
investment opportunities generated
during the 2011 conference
Establishment of a technical college
network among Forum participating
cities, for mutual development of
practical skills and jobs
Creation of a municipal ofcers
forum, among Forum participating
cities, to serve as a resource of
knowledge and advice for the
delivery of local services
Collaboration with universities,
to agree objective measures of
progress of the actions undertaken
by the Forums participants
Delivering conict resolution
techniques proven to work in
Derry~Londonderry to other Forum
cities. An example of this is the
distribution of mobile phones to a
network of community leaders to
head off inter-communal are ups
as well as the identication and
coaching of individuals from one
community allowed to communicate
and work within another
communitys local programmes.
17
Group Session
18 19
Beyond the City Walls
As well as the practical outcomes for the ongoing
work of the local Steering Group and the host city
there were many tangible benets for a wider
audience. These include:
1. Showing to a national and international audience
how the people of Northern Ireland are open
to working with other cities and societies in
transition.
2. Under-pining the local peace process, through
participation by Derry~Londonderry participants
and support by from practitioners beyond the
city, including Belfast.
3. Both the British and Irish Governments invested
much time and political capital in the peace
process to ensure sound foundations for society
to progress politically and economically in
Northern Ireland. The practical international
exchanges and real work undertaken by the
Forum participants had the following outcomes:
Provided a demonstration of the
Governments concerted efforts over the
years:
The Governments model of peace making
was demonstrated to an international
audience
The practical focus of the Forum provided
Governments with a feasible modus operandi
for a larger post-conict facility on the island
The provision of evidence of how such
interventions enabling mutual learning,
sharing, exchanging - builds condence and
lead to prosperity for all
4. Developing the Northern Ireland peace process
as a resource for other conict situations to
observe and learn from.
5. Encouraging other cities in conict to take
practical steps that build peace.
6. Encouraging the momentum towards peace in
Northern Ireland by drawing inspiration from
the length of the journey made so far and seeing
possibilities for the future.
7. Reminding delegates that a peace process has
many facets, ranging from dealing with trauma,
establishing dialogue to economic, cultural and
social initiatives.
Perhaps the most profound outcome from the 2011
conference was the reminder of the human cost
of conict. To nd a way to avoid human pain and
distress provides the ultimate inspiration for sharing
in the journey towards transition.
One of the most important benets of the
Derry~Londonderry Conference was quite simply
that it happened. That such an event was organised
and delivered by a Steering Group made up of very
diverse parts of the community illustrates the
journey Derry~Londonderry is making from its
troubled past.
The purpose of a transition journey is to insure
that the seed of future conict no longer remains.
Conict is the ultimate manifestation of a breakdown
in relationships between people. As it continues
it becomes harder to envisage the rebuilding of
those relationships. Yet the journey to peace is
found exactly in the their rebuilding and in the
rediscovering of trust amongst those formerly
divided. It is not concepts, principles or national
identities that ght it is people.
The development of the Derry~Londonderry Forum
has been a very gradual process. It has seen the
coming together of people and representatives from
very different parts of the community, people that
would not necessarily have worked easily with one
another before. They have attended international
events together, in Boston and Mitrovic /
Kosovska Mitrovica and worked together to host a
major conference in their own city. They are also
committed to a process of ongoing action that is for
the common good.
The value of the Forum for Cities in Transition
in building relationships and trust was shown
starkly in the summer of 2010. Delegates from
Derry~Londonderry had just returned from the
inaugural Forum for Cities in Transition Conference
in Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica. In June of that year
the Saville Report into the events of Bloody Sunday
was released. The following August a car bomb was
placed outside a city centre PSNI Station. The way
in which different parts of the community respond
to such events is vitally important a response can
either diffuse tension or increase it. That the Forum
for Cities in Transition facilitated the growth of a new
network of relationships helped in the process of
the city nding a united constructive voice, one that
ultimately helps to build peace.
IN CONCLUSION
Kingsley Aikens
Group Session
Duncan Morrow
Group Photo with Deputy First Minister
18 19
Beyond the City Walls
As well as the practical outcomes for the ongoing
work of the local Steering Group and the host city
there were many tangible benets for a wider
audience. These include:
1. Showing to a national and international audience
how the people of Northern Ireland are open
to working with other cities and societies in
transition.
2. Under-pining the local peace process, through
participation by Derry~Londonderry participants
and support by from practitioners beyond the
city, including Belfast.
3. Both the British and Irish Governments invested
much time and political capital in the peace
process to ensure sound foundations for society
to progress politically and economically in
Northern Ireland. The practical international
exchanges and real work undertaken by the
Forum participants had the following outcomes:
Provided a demonstration of the
Governments concerted efforts over the
years:
The Governments model of peace making
was demonstrated to an international
audience
The practical focus of the Forum provided
Governments with a feasible modus operandi
for a larger post-conict facility on the island
The provision of evidence of how such
interventions enabling mutual learning,
sharing, exchanging - builds condence and
lead to prosperity for all
4. Developing the Northern Ireland peace process
as a resource for other conict situations to
observe and learn from.
5. Encouraging other cities in conict to take
practical steps that build peace.
6. Encouraging the momentum towards peace in
Northern Ireland by drawing inspiration from
the length of the journey made so far and seeing
possibilities for the future.
7. Reminding delegates that a peace process has
many facets, ranging from dealing with trauma,
establishing dialogue to economic, cultural and
social initiatives.
Perhaps the most profound outcome from the 2011
conference was the reminder of the human cost
of conict. To nd a way to avoid human pain and
distress provides the ultimate inspiration for sharing
in the journey towards transition.
One of the most important benets of the
Derry~Londonderry Conference was quite simply
that it happened. That such an event was organised
and delivered by a Steering Group made up of very
diverse parts of the community illustrates the
journey Derry~Londonderry is making from its
troubled past.
The purpose of a transition journey is to insure
that the seed of future conict no longer remains.
Conict is the ultimate manifestation of a breakdown
in relationships between people. As it continues
it becomes harder to envisage the rebuilding of
those relationships. Yet the journey to peace is
found exactly in the their rebuilding and in the
rediscovering of trust amongst those formerly
divided. It is not concepts, principles or national
identities that ght it is people.
The development of the Derry~Londonderry Forum
has been a very gradual process. It has seen the
coming together of people and representatives from
very different parts of the community, people that
would not necessarily have worked easily with one
another before. They have attended international
events together, in Boston and Mitrovic /
Kosovska Mitrovica and worked together to host a
major conference in their own city. They are also
committed to a process of ongoing action that is for
the common good.
The value of the Forum for Cities in Transition
in building relationships and trust was shown
starkly in the summer of 2010. Delegates from
Derry~Londonderry had just returned from the
inaugural Forum for Cities in Transition Conference
in Mitrovic / Kosovska Mitrovica. In June of that year
the Saville Report into the events of Bloody Sunday
was released. The following August a car bomb was
placed outside a city centre PSNI Station. The way
in which different parts of the community respond
to such events is vitally important a response can
either diffuse tension or increase it. That the Forum
for Cities in Transition facilitated the growth of a new
network of relationships helped in the process of
the city nding a united constructive voice, one that
ultimately helps to build peace.
IN CONCLUSION
Kingsley Aikens
Group Session
Duncan Morrow
Group Photo with Deputy First Minister
20 21
APPENDIX
Action is the process of doing something, typically to
achieve an aim. Forum for Cities in Transition events
are about sharing of knowledge for a purpose for
action to take place that makes a difference. The fact
that every conference builds towards commitments
to action being made by each city, including
Derry~Londonderry, shows that such events make a
tangible difference.
A willingness to embrace the principles embodied
in the Forum for Cities in Transition process is a
contribution to building peace and relationships
with neighbours old and new. The Forum process
continues to provide a tangible opportunity for the
citizens of Derry~Londonderry, as well as the other
cities involved, to intentionally continue to take the
small steps that make the longer journey to peace.
Peace building can become a clichd concept.
That is until it is placed into a real context. Then
it becomes something both real and challenging.
The years of The Troubles in Northern Ireland have
left a deeply wounded community, with profoundly
wounded people. This is an experience common to
all the cities involved in the conference.
The 2011 Derry~Londonderry conference showed
that the city believed it had a story to share with
regard to peace building. Peace and community
wellbeing are most often built by ordinary people in
the making of small decisions. That the local Forum
members rose to the challenge of hosting a major
international conference as well as delegates from
around the world feeling there was something to be
learnt from this city is a testament to the journey
already undertaken and the commitment to creating
the future. Can the gap be bridged? Peter Drucker
reminds us that the best way to predict the future is
to create it!, and so the journey continues.
Conference Programme
SUNDAY 22 May
Arrivals Registration
14:00 to 16:00 Guided tours of Derry~Londonderry
17:30 to 18:30 Reception hosted by the Mayor of
Derry City Council

MONDAY, 23 May
07:00 to 08:00 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:00 to 08:30 Check in: Guildhall
08:30 to 08:45 Opening Plenary Session
Welcome: Angela Askin, Chair of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum,
Mayor of Derry City Council,
Conference Agenda, Goals and Aims: Padraig
OMalley, Director FCT
08:45 to 10:15 Panel Discussion: Northern Ireland
Peace Process
Chair:
Quintin Oliver
Panellists:
Niall Burgess, Bairbre de Brn MEP, Jeffrey
Donaldson MP, Mark Durkan MP, Sir William
Jeffrey Ken Maginnis the Lord Maginnis of
Drumglass & Ambassador Nancy Soderberg
10:15 to 11:00 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topics Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
11:00 to 11:30 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
11:30 to 11:45 Break
11:45 to 13:15 Panel Discussion: Economic
Development/Urban Regeneration
A panel discussion on the importance of the
dimension of economic development in plans for
reconciliation and conict transformation.
Chair:
Jim Roddy
Panellists:
Greg Clark, Mark Fuller, Aideen McGinley,
Liam Nellis & Garvan ODoherty
13:15 to 14:15 Lunch
14:15 to 15:00 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topics Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
15:00 to 15:30 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
15:30 to 15:45 Break
15:45 to 16:45 Panel Discussion: The Role of
Women in Transition Societies
A panel discussion on the importance of women in
leading and developing transition in divided societies
Chair:
Avila Kilmurray
Panellists:
Christine Bell, Emanuela Del Re Valdete Idrizi
& Zeina Mezher
16:45 to 17:30 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topics Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
17:30 to 18:00 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
18:00 to 20:00 Free Time
20:00 to 22:00 Dinner
Venue: North West Regional College
TUESDAY, 24 May
07:30 to 08:30 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:30 to 09:00 Check in: Guildhall
09:00 to 10:30 Panel Discussion: Transforming
Communities Through the Arts
A panel discussion on the practical applications of
the visual and performance arts in transforming
communities from conict environments/dealing
with the past
Chair:
Pauline Ross
Panellists:
Erik Ehn, Alice McCartney, Declan McGonagle
& Mela Zuljevic
20 21
APPENDIX
Action is the process of doing something, typically to
achieve an aim. Forum for Cities in Transition events
are about sharing of knowledge for a purpose for
action to take place that makes a difference. The fact
that every conference builds towards commitments
to action being made by each city, including
Derry~Londonderry, shows that such events make a
tangible difference.
A willingness to embrace the principles embodied
in the Forum for Cities in Transition process is a
contribution to building peace and relationships
with neighbours old and new. The Forum process
continues to provide a tangible opportunity for the
citizens of Derry~Londonderry, as well as the other
cities involved, to intentionally continue to take the
small steps that make the longer journey to peace.
Peace building can become a clichd concept.
That is until it is placed into a real context. Then
it becomes something both real and challenging.
The years of The Troubles in Northern Ireland have
left a deeply wounded community, with profoundly
wounded people. This is an experience common to
all the cities involved in the conference.
The 2011 Derry~Londonderry conference showed
that the city believed it had a story to share with
regard to peace building. Peace and community
wellbeing are most often built by ordinary people in
the making of small decisions. That the local Forum
members rose to the challenge of hosting a major
international conference as well as delegates from
around the world feeling there was something to be
learnt from this city is a testament to the journey
already undertaken and the commitment to creating
the future. Can the gap be bridged? Peter Drucker
reminds us that the best way to predict the future is
to create it!, and so the journey continues.
Conference Programme
SUNDAY 22 May
Arrivals Registration
14:00 to 16:00 Guided tours of Derry~Londonderry
17:30 to 18:30 Reception hosted by the Mayor of
Derry City Council

MONDAY, 23 May
07:00 to 08:00 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:00 to 08:30 Check in: Guildhall
08:30 to 08:45 Opening Plenary Session
Welcome: Angela Askin, Chair of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum,
Mayor of Derry City Council,
Conference Agenda, Goals and Aims: Padraig
OMalley, Director FCT
08:45 to 10:15 Panel Discussion: Northern Ireland
Peace Process
Chair:
Quintin Oliver
Panellists:
Niall Burgess, Bairbre de Brn MEP, Jeffrey
Donaldson MP, Mark Durkan MP, Sir William
Jeffrey Ken Maginnis the Lord Maginnis of
Drumglass & Ambassador Nancy Soderberg
10:15 to 11:00 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topics Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
11:00 to 11:30 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
11:30 to 11:45 Break
11:45 to 13:15 Panel Discussion: Economic
Development/Urban Regeneration
A panel discussion on the importance of the
dimension of economic development in plans for
reconciliation and conict transformation.
Chair:
Jim Roddy
Panellists:
Greg Clark, Mark Fuller, Aideen McGinley,
Liam Nellis & Garvan ODoherty
13:15 to 14:15 Lunch
14:15 to 15:00 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topics Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
15:00 to 15:30 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
15:30 to 15:45 Break
15:45 to 16:45 Panel Discussion: The Role of
Women in Transition Societies
A panel discussion on the importance of women in
leading and developing transition in divided societies
Chair:
Avila Kilmurray
Panellists:
Christine Bell, Emanuela Del Re Valdete Idrizi
& Zeina Mezher
16:45 to 17:30 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topics Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
17:30 to 18:00 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
18:00 to 20:00 Free Time
20:00 to 22:00 Dinner
Venue: North West Regional College
TUESDAY, 24 May
07:30 to 08:30 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:30 to 09:00 Check in: Guildhall
09:00 to 10:30 Panel Discussion: Transforming
Communities Through the Arts
A panel discussion on the practical applications of
the visual and performance arts in transforming
communities from conict environments/dealing
with the past
Chair:
Pauline Ross
Panellists:
Erik Ehn, Alice McCartney, Declan McGonagle
& Mela Zuljevic
22 23
10:30 to 11:15 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topic Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
11:15 to 11:45 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
Parallel Session
09:00 to 11:15 Cultural Tourism: A New Economic
Driver
Chairs:
Jim Roddy and Allan Leonard
An informal business round table discussion
on how to create new local jobs and attract
visitors through collaborative community
based strategies. Special guests: Mark Fuller
(CEO), Monitor Group and Shaun McCarthy
Monitor Group, Cambridge, MA. Note: No
interpretation provided
11:45 to 13:15 New City Presentations
Kaduna, Ramallah, Mitte (Berlin)
13:15 to 14:15 Lunch
Before lunch is served, Martin Melarkey (Nerve
Centre) will present videos of its work and ofcial
documentary of the Forum for Cities in Transition (by
James and Petra Taylor)
14:15 to 16:45 Site Visits
Delegates choose, in advance, from one of the
following available site visits for the day:
1. International School of Peace Studies; Re-
imaging: Caw/Nelson Drive, Lincoln Court,
Bonds Street
2. Bogside Artists; the Apprentice Boys Memorial
Hall
3. An Gaelras, Cultrlann U Chanain (Irish
Language and Cultural Centre)
16:45 to 17:15 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from site visits
17:15 to 18:30 Sidebar Meetings/Free Time
Time for ad hoc meetings among Forum
participants, with optional facilitation by Forum
Secretariat support
18:30 to 21:00 Dinner
Venue: Da Vincis Hotel
Followed by optional social evening of viewing
televised football match between Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
WEDNESDAY, 25 May

07:30 to 08:30 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:30 to 09:00 Check in: Guildhall
09:00 to 10:30 City Presentations/Updates
Member cities of Forum for Cities in Transition make
presentations (20 minutes each)
Day Theme: Sharing this Space, sponsored by the
International Fund for Ireland
Panel discussions on activities supported by the
International Fund for Ireland (IFI), to promote
peace-building and reconciliation in Ireland
10:30 to 10:55 Panel Discussion: Building
Foundations
Chair:
Ken Gibson (Overview)
Panellists:
Una McKernan (Community Leadership
Programme) & Kat Healy (Communities in
Transition Programme)
10:55 to 11:30 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
11:30 to 12:00 Break
12:00 to 12:25 Panel Discussion: Building Bridges
Chair:
Gerard McCoy (Overview)
Panellists:
Duncan Morrow (Community Bridges
Programme) & Caroline Rownan (Wider
Horizons Programme)
12:25 to 13:00 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
13:00 to 14:00 Lunch
14:00 to 14:40 Panel Discussion: Building
Integration
Chair:
John Carson (Overview)
Panellists:
Martin McDonald (Integrating Community
Organisations Programme), Andrew Bell
(Sharing in Education Programme) &
Jennifer Hawthorne (Shared Neighbourhood
Programme)
14:40 to 15:15 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
15:15 to 15:45 Break
15:45 to 16:10 Panel Discussion: Economy-based
Projects; Leaving a Legacy
Chair:
Paddy Harte (Overview)
Panellists:
Paddy Harte (Economic cross-border
case study) & Corrymeela Community
representative (Corrymeela Legacy Project)
16:10 to 16:45 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
16:45 to 17:30 Plenary Session
Rapporteurs report back from workshop discussions
17:30 to 18:30 Presentation: Raising Money: Cities
and their Diasporas
Kingsley Aikens (former Chief Executive, Ireland
Funds) will make a presentation on the opportunities
for cities to maximise value from their Diaspora
communities
19:00 to 22:00 Ofcial Reception and Dinner
Venue: Beech Hill Country House Hotel
19:00 to 20:00 Reception and entertainment
by Indigo
20:00 to 22:00 Dinner
Welcome and MC: Angela Askin, Chair
Derry~Londonderry Forum
Addresses: by Denis Rooney, Chairperson of
International Fund for Ireland, a Minister of
the Government of Ireland and Ministers of
the Northern Ireland Executive
Concluding Remarks: Padraig OMalley,
Director FCT
THURSDAY, 26 May
07:30 to 08:30 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:30 to 09:00 Check in: Guildhall
09:00 to 10:30 Panel Discussion: Conict and
Mental Health
A panel discussion on the need to deal with PTSD
and other mental injuries caused by conict
Chair:
Brandon Hamber
Panellists:
Lord John Alderdice, David Bolton, Marie
Breen Smyth, Arlene Healey & Maureen
Hetherington
10:30 to 11:15 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on
panel topic. Tea/coffee made available during the
workshop discussions
11:15 to 11:45 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the Derry~Londonderry
Forum, rapporteurs report back from workshop
discussions
11:45 to 12:45 City Workshops
Delegates from each city confer to determine
proposed outcomes to be delivered before FCT 2012
annual meeting.
12:45 to 13:45 Lunch
13:45 to 14:30 Plenary Session: Conference
Outcomes
Chairs: Allan Leonard & Nancy Riordan.
City declarations of specic, small-
scale projects to be delivered for the
Forums annual conference 2012 (each
city nominates one delegate to make
declaration).
Report from the FCT Womens Caucus.
Selection of host city for Forums 2012
conference.
Review of a peer-monitoring system by
each city.
Other outcomes.
14:30 to 15:00 Concluding Comments
Michael Doherty
Brian Dougherty
Padraig OMalley
15:00 to 17:00 FCT Business Meeting
Applicable delegates and Forum staff meeting, to
discuss next actions
15:00 to 17:00 Free Time
19:00 to 22:00 Dinner
Venue: Mange2
FRIDAY, 27 May
International delegates depart
22 23
10:30 to 11:15 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on panel
topic Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
11:15 to 11:45 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from workshop discussions
Parallel Session
09:00 to 11:15 Cultural Tourism: A New Economic
Driver
Chairs:
Jim Roddy and Allan Leonard
An informal business round table discussion
on how to create new local jobs and attract
visitors through collaborative community
based strategies. Special guests: Mark Fuller
(CEO), Monitor Group and Shaun McCarthy
Monitor Group, Cambridge, MA. Note: No
interpretation provided
11:45 to 13:15 New City Presentations
Kaduna, Ramallah, Mitte (Berlin)
13:15 to 14:15 Lunch
Before lunch is served, Martin Melarkey (Nerve
Centre) will present videos of its work and ofcial
documentary of the Forum for Cities in Transition (by
James and Petra Taylor)
14:15 to 16:45 Site Visits
Delegates choose, in advance, from one of the
following available site visits for the day:
1. International School of Peace Studies; Re-
imaging: Caw/Nelson Drive, Lincoln Court,
Bonds Street
2. Bogside Artists; the Apprentice Boys Memorial
Hall
3. An Gaelras, Cultrlann U Chanain (Irish
Language and Cultural Centre)
16:45 to 17:15 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the
Derry~Londonderry Forum, rapporteurs
report back from site visits
17:15 to 18:30 Sidebar Meetings/Free Time
Time for ad hoc meetings among Forum
participants, with optional facilitation by Forum
Secretariat support
18:30 to 21:00 Dinner
Venue: Da Vincis Hotel
Followed by optional social evening of viewing
televised football match between Northern
Ireland and the Republic of Ireland
WEDNESDAY, 25 May

07:30 to 08:30 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:30 to 09:00 Check in: Guildhall
09:00 to 10:30 City Presentations/Updates
Member cities of Forum for Cities in Transition make
presentations (20 minutes each)
Day Theme: Sharing this Space, sponsored by the
International Fund for Ireland
Panel discussions on activities supported by the
International Fund for Ireland (IFI), to promote
peace-building and reconciliation in Ireland
10:30 to 10:55 Panel Discussion: Building
Foundations
Chair:
Ken Gibson (Overview)
Panellists:
Una McKernan (Community Leadership
Programme) & Kat Healy (Communities in
Transition Programme)
10:55 to 11:30 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
11:30 to 12:00 Break
12:00 to 12:25 Panel Discussion: Building Bridges
Chair:
Gerard McCoy (Overview)
Panellists:
Duncan Morrow (Community Bridges
Programme) & Caroline Rownan (Wider
Horizons Programme)
12:25 to 13:00 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
13:00 to 14:00 Lunch
14:00 to 14:40 Panel Discussion: Building
Integration
Chair:
John Carson (Overview)
Panellists:
Martin McDonald (Integrating Community
Organisations Programme), Andrew Bell
(Sharing in Education Programme) &
Jennifer Hawthorne (Shared Neighbourhood
Programme)
14:40 to 15:15 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
15:15 to 15:45 Break
15:45 to 16:10 Panel Discussion: Economy-based
Projects; Leaving a Legacy
Chair:
Paddy Harte (Overview)
Panellists:
Paddy Harte (Economic cross-border
case study) & Corrymeela Community
representative (Corrymeela Legacy Project)
16:10 to 16:45 Workshop Discussions and Q&A
Delegates break away in mixed groups for workshop
style discussion on panel topic, including Q&A with
panellists and other IFI-supported representatives.
Tea/coffee made available during workshop
discussions
16:45 to 17:30 Plenary Session
Rapporteurs report back from workshop discussions
17:30 to 18:30 Presentation: Raising Money: Cities
and their Diasporas
Kingsley Aikens (former Chief Executive, Ireland
Funds) will make a presentation on the opportunities
for cities to maximise value from their Diaspora
communities
19:00 to 22:00 Ofcial Reception and Dinner
Venue: Beech Hill Country House Hotel
19:00 to 20:00 Reception and entertainment
by Indigo
20:00 to 22:00 Dinner
Welcome and MC: Angela Askin, Chair
Derry~Londonderry Forum
Addresses: by Denis Rooney, Chairperson of
International Fund for Ireland, a Minister of
the Government of Ireland and Ministers of
the Northern Ireland Executive
Concluding Remarks: Padraig OMalley,
Director FCT
THURSDAY, 26 May
07:30 to 08:30 Breakfast Location: City Hotel
08:30 to 09:00 Check in: Guildhall
09:00 to 10:30 Panel Discussion: Conict and
Mental Health
A panel discussion on the need to deal with PTSD
and other mental injuries caused by conict
Chair:
Brandon Hamber
Panellists:
Lord John Alderdice, David Bolton, Marie
Breen Smyth, Arlene Healey & Maureen
Hetherington
10:30 to 11:15 Workshop Discussions
Delegates break away in mixed groups with
panellist(s) for workshop style discussion on
panel topic. Tea/coffee made available during the
workshop discussions
11:15 to 11:45 Plenary Session
Chaired by a member of the Derry~Londonderry
Forum, rapporteurs report back from workshop
discussions
11:45 to 12:45 City Workshops
Delegates from each city confer to determine
proposed outcomes to be delivered before FCT 2012
annual meeting.
12:45 to 13:45 Lunch
13:45 to 14:30 Plenary Session: Conference
Outcomes
Chairs: Allan Leonard & Nancy Riordan.
City declarations of specic, small-
scale projects to be delivered for the
Forums annual conference 2012 (each
city nominates one delegate to make
declaration).
Report from the FCT Womens Caucus.
Selection of host city for Forums 2012
conference.
Review of a peer-monitoring system by
each city.
Other outcomes.
14:30 to 15:00 Concluding Comments
Michael Doherty
Brian Dougherty
Padraig OMalley
15:00 to 17:00 FCT Business Meeting
Applicable delegates and Forum staff meeting, to
discuss next actions
15:00 to 17:00 Free Time
19:00 to 22:00 Dinner
Venue: Mange2
FRIDAY, 27 May
International delegates depart
24
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The Forum for Cities in Transition wishes
to gratefully acknowledge the generous
support of funders including The Department
for Foreign Affairs, International Fund for
Ireland, Derry City Council, Monitor (Boston,
US) as well as a number of anonymous
donors.
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This publication has received support
from the Northern Ireland Community
Relations Council which aims to promote
a pluralist society characterised by equity,
respect for diversity, and recognition of
interdependence. The views expressed do not
necessarily reect those of the Council.
Bridging the Gap
Editor: Earl Storey (www.topstorey.org)
Photographer: Allan Leonard
(www.nifoundation.net)