The Forum for Cities in Transition (FCT)

Cities across the globe are stressed by poverty and overcrowding, expensive and scarce food and energy, and lack of medical care. Cities in political conflict or its aftermath and those that are divided by issues of race, ethnicity, religion, and political ideology find themselves in far more difficult and often very different circumstances. They face the life and death problems of conflict and war and at the same time the challenge of meeting the practical basic needs of their citizens. But such cities continue to function even in extraordinary circumstances. Each finds its own particular way of adapting to the exigencies of everyday life with the threat of imminent, explosive divisions hanging over them. Normalcy overlays what is essentially abnormal.

The Underlying, Unifying Principles

Cities that are in transition in countries divided by conflict are in the best position to help other cities in transition in other such countries. They have common problems ranging from policing, garbage collection, housing, road construction, the provision of health and welfare services, to identifying flashpoints and interfaces that trigger violence and having in place mechanisms to control and contain such outbreaks. Each city is at a different stage of transition.

Nevertheless, through the process of sharing their narratives they can learn from each other and create a dynamic that becomes a catalyst for change. Each city, in turn, will host the others and the experiences of "on the ground" engagements will expose participants to ways of dealing with similar, although different, problems, thus creating an expanding pool of knowledge and support from which all can draw.

A Pilot Project to Create a Forum

The Moakley Chair of Peace and Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts Boston hosted a conference from 14-16 April 2009, at which participants from the invited cities discussed the feasibility of establishing a Forum for Cities in Transition (FCT), what form it might take, the range of its remit, how it might work, and its terms of reference. The Forum will meet annually on a rotating basis in one of the member cities.

Participants included the mayors and senior city delegations from: Derry/Londonderry (NORTHERN IRELAND); Kirkuk (IRAQ); Kosovo Mitrovica (KOSOVO), Mitrovica (SERBIA); representatives of the GREEK- and TURKISH-CYPRIOT communities, Nicosia; and government officials from Belfast (NORTHERN IRELAND). NGOs from these cities will also attend.

The participants agreed to establish a forum, with the Moakley Chair, Boston, and the Northern Ireland Foundation, Belfast, serving as Secretariat.