The Derry-Londonderry Forum welcomes you to the 2nd Annual Conference of the Forum for Cities in Transition

The Forum for Cities in Transition hosted its second annual conference at the Guildhall, Derry-Londonderry, May 23rd-26th 2011.

The Forum works on the principle that cities that are in conflict or have emerged from conflict are in the best position to help other cities in similar situations.

This year's conference brought together international delegates from 12 cities to share information, discuss models of best practice, examine ways of improving community relations, and identify programmes and projects that delegates developed and declared on the final day of the conference to implement in their home cities or as joint projects within their sister cities. Over 30 outcomes were pledged and will be posted to the website.

Delegates included mayors, councillors, municipal officers, and representatives of the business, voluntary and community sectors. The participating cities are:

• Beirut
• Belfast
• Derry-Londonderry
• Haifa
• Jerusalem
• Kaduna
• Kirkuk
• Mitrovica
• Mitte
• Mostar
• Nicosia
• Ramallah

The members of the Forum chose Derry-Londonderry to host this year's conference, because of their desire to come and learn firsthand from the city's experiences of the Northern Ireland peace process. The local members in the Derry-Londonderry Forum showcased the achievements of their own city and offered assistance to other cities' efforts to build lasting peace.

The conference programme was a mixture of panel discussions with experts and practitioners; workshops for delegates to discuss what they hd seen and heard; and site visits to local communities across the city.

Conference themes

This year's main conference themes have been chosen using feedback from delegates at last year's annual conference in Mitrovica:

• Northern Ireland peace process
• Economic development and urban regeneration
• Women in transitional socieites
• Culture, art and conflict
• Developing policies of desegregation
• Conflict and mental health

For complete coverage of this year's conference please click on the menu to the left of the webpage "Derry~Londonderry 2011"

Welcome

The Derry-Londonderry Forum is the steering committee for the Derry-Londonderry Conference of the Forum for Cities in Transition. Most members participated in the inaugural conference in Kosovo, 2010, and have been working tirelessly since then to ensure the success of the conference. Members consist of representatives of local authorities, political parties, community and voluntary sector, church, local police and business.

The organisation of such a prestigious conference took a lot of hard work and effort from a lot of people to ensure that it is a success and meets the objectives of the organisers, participants and funders. We are very proud of the programme that has been developed for the conference, and are confident that it meets the expectations of the interest groups.

All members are really excited to be hosting such an important international conference in the city, and will make every effort to ensure that all participants enjoy and benefit from the experience of being here.

Angela Askin
Chair of the Derry-Londonderry Forum