Belfast Interface Project (BIP) was established in 1995 with a remit to identify the major issues of concern to interface communities in Belfast and, in consultation with community, statutory and voluntary sectors, to assist in identifying effective means of addressing these issues and facilitating these processes where possible.
Over the period 1995 - 2000 the project assisted in addressing interface issues through 3 key areas of work:
- Gathering and disseminating information regarding perspectives on interface issues;
- Influencing the statutory debate regarding best policy and practice in addressing interface issues through a variety of agency and interagency forums and structures;
- Acting in a facilitative role in supporting local groups to address inter-community relations issues in a number of interface areas of Belfast.
We became a democratically accountable membership-based organisation with charitable status in 2000, and we currently have a membership of approx 45 community groups from nationalist and unionist interface areas of Belfast as well as a smaller number (approx 20) of associate and individual members.
The work of the project is overseen by a management committee elected from amongst our members at our Annual General Meeting.
In October 2003 we successfully secured funding for a Communications and Membership Support Project. Through this project we produced and widely disseminated our very successful Interface news-sheet which highlighted the wealth of good practice in interface areas within our membership and key stakeholder groups and agencies, and delivered a number of significant peer-support and networking opportunities for groups and activists in interface areas.
At the end of 2005, BIP secured further funding for a Conflict Transformation Support Project in order to:
- Maximise levels of uptake regarding the range of support and training programmes available to our members in the areas of ‘addressing the legacies of the past’ and ’developing conflict transformation skills’.
- Design and deliver training programmes addressing identified unmet need, in conjunction with current providers and with our membership.
- Provide a facilitation and signposting/support service.
In 2007 BIP became a company limited by guarantee while retaining our charitable status, membership-base, and accountability structures. Over this period we have continued to commission research and disseminate publications in relation to key issues for interface communities, including for example effective practice in addressing parades-related disputes and also effective practice in the development of shared space in areas close to an interface. Development work has included proactive promotion of cross-border and cross-community contact and collaboration as well as the provision of opportunities, on a cross-community basis, for employment-related and inter-cultural training, education and strategic planning for adults and young people in different interface settings within the city.
2009 – 2010 Annual Report Summary:
Publications have included ‘Local Accommodation: Effective Practice in responding to disputes over parades’, a research document highlighting some key features of the wealth of effective practice in addressing parades-related protests and disputes outside Belfast.
Development work has included supporting the provision of cross-border residentials with a number of groups from Clonard, Highfield, Lower Shankill and Drogheda as well as the provision of opportunities, on a cross-community basis, for employment-related and inter-cultural training, education and strategic planning for adults and young people in 3 different interface settings within the city.
Through this project we supported the development of a number of new mobile phone networks in the city, the provision of cross-border residentials with a number of groups from Clonard, Highfield, Lower Shankill and Drogheda as well as the provision of opportunities, on a cross-community basis, for employment-related and inter-cultural training, education and strategic planning for adults and young people in 3 different interface settings within the city.
We have also promoted in a number of interface settings the positive value of the approach taken in the Whitewell Youth Mediation Project, as a model worthy of consideration in engaging with disaffected youths in an interface context.
We have worked with local groups and agencies to support the design and delivery of a community relations consultation strategy in the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast and we have continued to support the development of the Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group (SLIG) and Stewartstown Road Regeneration Project (SRRP).
We have assisted in managing valuable training projects led by Mediation Northern Ireland and the Workers’ Educational Association and we have continued our membership of the Interface Working Group and Community Partners Group in seeking to find a long-term ‘roadmap’ towards a future where the necessity for interface barriers is reduced over time.
Belfast Interface Project 2000 – 2012
Summary of Key Outputs:
Inter-Community facilitation & support:
Cross-border: Clonard, Highfield, Lr Shankill & Drogheda.
Greater Suffolk / Poleglass
Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group
Stewartstown Road Regeneration Project
Gasworks Network
Finaghy Crossroads Group
East Belfast Conflict Transformation Support Project
Inner East Outer West Project
Mobile Phone networks initiated & supported:
Greater Whitewell
Greater Suffolk / Poleglass
Finaghy Crossroads Group
Gasworks Network
Suffolk Lenadoon Interface Group
Inner East Interface Group
Lower North Belfast Community Council
Membership support:
Provision of peer-support & networking opportunities
Provision of external strategic planning support
Surveys of membership needs & issues
Membership of Interface Community Partnership.
Design and delivery of Interface Cluster Youth Intervention Programme
Policy:
Interface Working Group founder member
Interface Community Partners group founder member
Interface Practice Collective founder member
Mapped distribution of defensive architecture in Belfast.
Chaired review of operational effectiveness of the Interagency Working Group on Displaced Families (IAWGDF)
Member of Oversight Group, which replaced IAWGDF
Approached and collaborated with NVTV in producing ‘Interfaces’ series of programmes charting the history of and key issues for Belfast’s interface communities.
Training:
Designed and delivered UUJ ‘Working with Diversity’ module.
Co-managed MNI Mediation Capacity-building project
Co-managed WEA DiverCity diversity training project
Publications:
‘Local Accommodation: Effective Practice in responding to disputes over parades’, a research document highlighting some key features of the wealth of effective practice in addressing parades-related protests and disputes outside Belfast.
‘The Whitewell Youth Mediation Project: A Case Study’, which we feel documents an important contribution towards effective practice in reducing youth-led interface violence.
‘Parades and Protests’ - a collection of abstracts of parade and protest-related literature.
Update to our collection of abstracts of interface-related literature.
‘Interface Issues’, our collection of summaries of literature written about interfaces.
‘Working at the Interface’, a research document outlining aspects of good practice in reducing tension and violence in interface areas.
‘A Policy Agenda for the Interface’
‘Interface’ quarterly news-sheet published between 2003/2008 and currently under review for electronic distribution.
‘Crossing The Line’ a commissioned work co-authored by Roz Goldie and Brid Ruddy outlining “Key features of effective practice in the development of shared space in areas close to an interface.
‘Belfast Interfaces: Security Barriers and Defensive Use of Space’, a research publication which provides an overview of defensive architecture in Belfast together with a comprehensive listing, with photographs and descriptions, of security barriers and defensive use of space throughout the city.
Papers:
‘Review of the Interagency Working Group on Displaced Families (IAWGDF)’ position paper
‘Peacelines or Battlefields?’ (with Neil Jarman, ICR)
Internal:
Membership organisation
Staff work to board of directors democratically elected from membership
Company limited by Guarantee
Charitable status