To identify what of technologies look promising for supporting peacebuilding, I look at three aspects of processes within peacebuilding: psychological change, communication and project implementation.
They are at central to peacebuilding, yet have a very different character. Digital tools (or any combination of them) that support peacebuilding should reflect these differences.
The image below is a simplified representation of an idealized peace process. I have put in keywords related to different things going on during peacebuilding. More to the left there are elements that are more emphasized just after a recent conflict (or at the later stages of a violent conflict), where violence in is the air, life is tedious and muddy and people are very much divided. More to to the right are elements that are more common in later stages of a peace process, in which there is a somewhat transparent political process, rule of law, economic stability and security. These elements are not an exhaustive list, but meant as examples.
Two arrows separate three different kind of processes: an arrow of changing minds and hearts and an arrow of social changes. Above the upper arrow, you see processes that have a mental of psychological quality. Below the lower arrow, you see the processes concerning developing, planning and implementing projects. In between you see the communication necessary to make the other two processes happen.
In this idealized image, the two arrows of changing minds and hearts on the one hand and social change on the other converge to the right, signifying that the whole process aims at cooperation and finding consensus about ways to get out of the conflict.
Three kinds of digital support
Examples of processes above the upper arrow are changes of the own perspective, accepting the situation, changing opinions or starting to see the former enemy as a person. These kind of processes are deeply personal and take place within a community or within one person. And of course they take time.
Most importantly, these processes in itself do not happen online. The only digital support are things like documentation and counselling support. Recording narratives benefits from documentation services. Healing processes can be supported with online coaching or maybe meetings and video calls with people not directly involved in the conflict.
Processes below the lower arrow have to do with changing the social setting, cooperation and implementation: things people have to do, to organize or to make happen. Examples are fact-finding, organizing meetings, organizing tribunals or truth commissions, writing reports, policy making, implementing new legal procedures, implementing lustration and reparations.
For digital tools you could think of the more classical project management: all kinds of documentation sharing and planning tools can play a role here.
Between the arrows are those processes that have communication and moments of meeting at its core. Here you can think of awareness raising, dialogues, exchanging narratives, exchanging ideas, negotiation and working to find acceptable solutions or ways forward and negotiation. Basically everything that is interpersonal, within societies, between communities and opposing groups.
Typical communication processes need to have synchronous moments, but can be supported by asynchronous tools. Synchronous communication are tools that need participants to be online at the same time. Examples are video conferencing and chat services. Asynchronous communication are tools where you can check documents and messages. Examples are email, forum discussions, shared document spaces and of course various social media services, like Facebook and Twitter.
Three observations
From this simple model we can make three observations.
First, the end situation of this idealized peace process is not online. The steps in the process need to be designed in such a way that they potentially bring the two arrows closer. Ideally the end product of the complete process is that people live in a secure and stable society. Online tools, should be designed in such a way that there is an exit strategy for these tools.
Secondly, different processes need different tools. Online support in the three parts have a very different character. All these elements have their own possibilities for the use of technologies. And their own specific problems as well.
Online peacebuilding support is a blended process, combining different elements that can be supported though various tools on the one hand and processes that are purely societal and personal change processes on the other. A peace process can therefore never be something totally online: at most it is always a process that mixes processes digital and offline approaches.
What is in the digital mix?
For peacebuilding, you need a smart and coherent combination of digital tools, including servers for document sharing, for communication tool and for planning support. On top of that, this combination of tools should be shaped in such a way that it focuses on getting out of the online setting.
The minimum requirement for digital support of a peacebuilding program is a package including:
- shared documents server for sharing narratives and policy,
- videoconferencing tools for coaching support,
- all kinds of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools like forums, chat and videoconferencing,
- planning and monitoring tools for implementation support.
All these elements also present their own drawbacks, negative effects and own problems. Especially security for participants, trolls and cyberbullies, data security, and problems of access. Also, the question remains who provides these problems.
In future posts I will look at specific examples.
Questions
Do you have any examples of platforms that combine these elements? In what way does it add to a constructive solution building? Are they secure enough to support delicate meetings and difficult conversations?