Recent Perspectives on Development Cooperation, Peace and Conflict
Report of 4th EADI International Summer School
HEGOA Institute. University of the Basque Country
Bilbao, 8-12 September 2008
The 4th EADI International Summer School was held in Bilbao, from 8 to 12 September 2008, hosted by HEGOA, the Institute of Development and International Cooperation Studies at the University of the Basque Country. It was organised by Irantzu Mendia and Karlos Pérez de Armiño, with the assistance of other members of the Institute, especially Gloria Guzmán and María López, as well as with the collaboration of Susanne von Itter on behalf of the EADI Secretariat. The School was also possible thanks to a generous grant provided by the Department for Development Cooperation of the Basque Government.
The general purpose of the Summer School was to offer a space for training and debate on recent theories and methodologies about the links between development cooperation, peace and conflict. These links have become increasingly relevant since the beginning of the 90s, and have posed major challenges for researchers, aid practitioners and policy-makers who aim to make humanitarian and development aid more sensitive to the causes and consequences of violent conflict, and hence make them useful tools for peacebuilding.
Ten distinguished speakers from different countries took part in the School, some of them coming from various EADI’s member institutions. Their contributions (as participants put it in the final evaluation) were not only very good in terms of content and of a high theoretical level, but they were also very communicative, factors which decisively contributed to the success of the course. The School was attended by 34 participants from 15 countries (including some non-European, such as Nigeria, Bangladesh, Australia and Mexico). Most of them were MA and PhD students, and there were also researchers and practitioners from different NGOs, foundations and public institutions. Their different personal and academic backgrounds, along with their professional experience related to the theme of the School, made it possible to have very rich and interesting debates after each session.
The School was presented by representatives of the different institutions involved: Luis Guridi (Director of HEGOA), Euken Barreña (Department for Development Cooperation of the Basque Government), Aintzane Doiz (Vice-Rectorate for International Relations, University of the Basque Country), Thomas Lawo (Executive Secretary of EADI), and Karlos Pérez de Armiño and Irantzu Mendia on behalf of the organization.
The School was organised around five thematic modules. Monday focused on “International Order and Security after the Cold War”, and thus provided the introductory framework to the rest of the week. The first speaker, Caterina García Segura (Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona), explained the changes, characteristics and structure of the global order of the post-Cold War, providing the main theoretical tools offered by the discipline of International Relations to analyse it. Afterwards, Christopher Cramer (School of Oriental and African Studies, London) focused on the trends, causes and impacts of armed conflicts, and paid special attention to the different debates on the motivations for civil wars. Finally, Mandy Turner (Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford) reflected on the merging of the security and the development agendas, which is perceptible, for example, in the human security paradigm.
After the introductory session, Tuesday’s general topic was “Peacebuilding, Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Action”. In his second session, Christopher Cramer tackled several challenges and difficulties usually derived from the post-conflict reconstruction processes, an area in which the link between peace and development is particularly relevant. Mandy Turner then talked about the evolution and current dilemmas of humanitarian aid, with special regard to its potential utility as a tool for peacebuilding. The third lecture of the day was given by Thania Paffenholz (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies-IHEID, Geneva), who explained the origins and characteristics of the so-called “conflict-sensitive development” approach. Finally, all three of the above-mentioned speakers took part in an afternoon round table to discuss the effects of international aid in conflict and post-conflict settings.
Wednesday was devoted to several activities focused on “Local Initiatives for Peace”, and all of them were carried out in Gernika (35 km from Bilbao). This town, for centuries a symbol of freedom for the Basque people, was bombed and destroyed during the Spanish civil war (as Picasso masterfully depicted), and later became a symbol of peace as well as a centre of different initiatives for peace. After a guided visit to the Gernika Peace Museum, there were three presentations in the afternoon. The first, by Thania Paffenholz, provided an overview of community-based peacebuilding processes and was based on her extensive field experience in this area. In the second presentation, Andreas Schäfter explained the activities and objectives of Gernika Gogoratuz, a Peace Research Centre based in Gernika which implements peacebuilding initiatives not only in the Basque Country but also abroad. The third talk was intended to reflect on the characteristics and future perspectives of the conflict in the Basque County and the chances of success for grassroots peace initiatives in the region. This session was facilitated by Gorka Espiau, former spokesperson for Elkarri (a movement for dialogue and peace in the Basque Country) and currently a peacebuilding advisor to the Presidency of the Basque Government. This interesting and intense third day was completed with a leisure activity: a relaxing walk at sunset in Urdaibai, a UNESCO-protected biosphere reserve and one of the nicest landscapes along the Basque coast.
Thursday’s theme was “Gender, Peace and Conflict”, one of the emerging and most necessary topics to be dealt with in peace and conflict studies. In her first session, Dubravka Zarkov (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague) explained the main connections between conflict and development from a gender perspective, reflecting on the most outstanding lessons from the literature and practice in this field. Afterwards, Dominique Saillard (consultant on gender and peace) focused on the different feminist approaches to peacebuilding. In the afternoon, Dubravka Zarkov facilitated a workshop on (post-)conflict trauma and justice from a gender perspective, which helped to complement the previous theoretical explanations with practical experiences and the participation of students. This fourth day ended with another activity: a guided tour of the Guggenheim Museum, a masterpiece of modern architecture which over the past ten years has became the new emblem of the city of Bilbao.
Friday was devoted to the analysis of peace and security policies, under the title of “European Peace and Security Policy: EU and Bilateral Agencies”. Gemma Collantes (City University, London) explained the current trends in the security policy of the European Union, and subsequently Jesús Núñez (Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action, Madrid) presented the peacebuilding strategy recently elaborated by the Spanish government. In the afternoon, Gemma Collantes facilitated a session focused on the limits of international assistance to the rehabilitation process in the Western Balkans, a case study which is particularly relevant for all the European donors. Finally, the concluding session was an open debate among participants, preceded by some reflections by Jesús Núñez about the near future of peace and development research.
The Summer School ended with a farewell dinner, which was another non-formal space in which to share experiences, emails and also laughs after a week of excellent academic sessions and also a really enjoyable time.
Thank you so much to all the lecturers, participants and colleagues.
The first EADI Summer School was organised in 2003 by the IUED in Geneva, the second in 2004 by the University of Twente in the Netherlands, and the third in Prague by Development Studies and the Development Centre at the University of Economics Prague.
Karlos Pérez de Armiño is a researcher at HEGOA and lecturer in International Relations at the University of the Basque Country. Irantzu Mendia and María López are researchers at HEGOA and PhD candidates; Gloria Guzmán is the Coordinator of the Research Area of HEGOA.
