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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
SHSS Builds Relationship with Suriname Government to Provide Conflict Resolution Services
During the current academic year, government officials, members of the Indigenous and Maroon tribes, academics, members of the mining industry and others in the country of Suriname are receiving conflict analysis and resolution training, as well as services to enhance capacity building.
NSU’s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) announced that the government of Suriname and NSU signed an agreement entitled, “Needs Assessment and Capacity Building Strategy.” SHSS will use the $77, 821 grant from the government of Suriname to fund conflict resolution services in Suriname. Under this agreement faculty and students in the Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution (DCAR) in the Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS) will advise, train and develop a capacity building strategy for conflict resolution as it applies to the current multi-stakeholder processes in Suriname. The project is expected to last a year.
The foundation for this project began during the summer of 2011 when Elena Bastidas, Ph.D., faculty in DCAR and thirteen SHSS students traveled to Suriname as part of a global course developed by SHSS and taught by Bastidas. During that trip Bastidas and the students had the opportunity to deliver conflict resolution training to a group of government officials, academics and members of the civil society. Subsequently the Suriname government expressed an interest in further training and collaboration regarding capacity building.
To date DCAR has provided two training workshops in Suriname. The first was entitled, “An Introduction to CR and Multi-Stakeholder Processes for Governance and Sustainable Development,” and was designed for government officials. The second was entitled, “Social Poligraphy as a Tool to Facilitate Maroon and Indigenous Peoples’ Processes,” and was developed for Indigenous peoples and Maroons of Suriname. Bastidas was the trainer with Tory Hansen, Ph.D., another DCAR faculty member.
This project is both timely and significant as the Land Rights process is underway in Suriname with the government in negotiation with Indigenous and Maroon tribes to define the legal rights of their territories. Mining, especially gold mining also presents a challenge regarding stakeholder processes and procedures. Thus conflict resolution training is a priority for the Suriname government, Indigenous and Maroon peoples and the mining industry.
