Civil Society Dialogue project in Cyprus

The Civil Society Dialogue Project in Cyprus follows the negative outcome of the referendum in Cyprus for the re-unification of the island (known as the Annan Plan), which took place on the 24th of April 2004. A number of Cypriot peace pioneers launched the Civil Society Dialogue Project aiming to provide opportunities for disengaged peace builders to assume new initiatives. They have used the Structured Dialogic Design process as described by one of the fathers of the science, Dr. Aleco Christakis in his book.[1] The project engaged more than 300 Cypriots from both sides of the Green line in structured dialogues. The first dialogue explored the obstacles which peace builders faced in their work.[2] The participants developed a shared understanding of factors contributing to the perceived widening of the gap between the two divided communities in Cyprus. They came up with 121 ideas, which were structured using the science of dialogic design to highlight the five most influential: Media as puppets of political parties; The personal and financial interests of politicians and ordinary people on both sides; Leaders on each side do not want to share power; Disempowerment of the NGOs in north Cyprus & weak NGOs in the south who are suppressed; Provocative statements made by the leaders on both sides. The next dialogue focused on developing options for the future.[3] Out of the 84 ideas originally produced, five turned out to be the root drivers: Make possible for Turkish Cypriots to use rights arising from the Cyprus constitution and European Union membership; Have more positive and independent media on both sides; Promote modern diplomacy methods by making zero-sum VS win-win concepts widely known; Adopt the Turkish language as a working language of the Republic of Cyprus; Teach Turkish & Greek as obligatory second languages in schools. Other dialogues included the challenge of integrating the economies of the two sides, the opening of the enclaved city of Famagusta, the environment etc. The results of all peoples' dialogues were handed over to Track I (politicians and diplomats) in the expectation that they would facilitate the negotiation process.

References

  1. ↑ Christakis AN, Bausch K (2006) How people harness their collective wisdom and power. Information age publishing, Greenwich, CT. http://www.harnessingcollectivewisdom.com
  2. ↑ Laouris, Y., Michaelides, M., Damdelen, M., Laouri, R., Beyatli, D. and Christakis, A. (2009). A Systemic Evaluation of the State of Affairs Following the Negative Outcome of the Referendum in Cyprus Using the Structured Dialogic Design Process. Syst Pract Action Res 22:45–75
  3. ↑ Laouris, Y., Erel, A., Michaelides, M., Damdelen, M., Taraszow, T., Dagli, I., Laouri, R. and Christakis, A. (2009). Exploring Options for Enhancement of Social Dialogue Between the Turkish and Greek Communities in Cyprus Using the Structured Dialogic Design Process. Syst Pract Action Res 22:361–381.

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