In April 2009 the first of a series of the NIHA Brain-Drain-Dinners initiated our research in the area of Conflict management. During this fruitful and engaging discussion on possibilities for, and obstacles to, the establishment of an academic ‘centre of conflict management’ in Turkey, participants -consisting of Turkish and Dutch professionals and academicians active in this area- highlighted the need for greater concentration of conflict management activities. It was agreed that it would be important to start small, but aim big – ideally engendering (and making use of) inter-university cooperation in the longer term.
Therefore, the first phase of the study consisted of introductory interviews with potential stakeholders (organisations and individuals) in Turkey. NIHA spoke with over 35 experts and identified interested parties and their specific interests and needs (see Trends Summary). The second phase featured activities to bring these stakeholders together, during conferences, seminars, workshops, and publications.
The long-term objective of this study was to create a sustainable network of interested academics and practitioners who work on conflict management in Turkey and the Netherlands, hereby taking a broad definition of conflict management, including cultural, economic and political conflicts.
Throughout 2009-2012 NIHA organised various activities including a bi-monthly lecture series, a Young Professionals Meeting on ‘Conflict Management in Turkey: From Micro to Macro’, a monthly newsletter Conflict Management Perspectives - aiming to contribute to a communication platform for conflict management organisations and to give an overview of conflict management activities-, publications and research in Turkey, joint-expert sessions in Ankara and Istanbul (see reports-link on Activities page) and one-day Training sessions on International Negotiation Techniques in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute for International Relations Clingendael.
In the fall of 2013 NIHA will organise a fall-school on Conflict management in cooperation with Turkish and Dutch Universities and NGO’s and professionals aimed at Turkish, Dutch and other International Master and PhD Students and young professionals. For more information please see our activity calendar or contact us via info@nihankara.org.
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