The EU PEACE IV Programme aims ‘To reinforce progress towards a peaceful and stable society through the promotion of reconciliation amongst all communities across Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland’. Shared Education is one of four Specific Objectives of PEACE IV, and its success is based on the achievement of the defined result and output indicators.
The PEACE IV Specific Objective of providing direct, sustained, curriculum-based cross-community contact has been achieved as ‘Sharing from the Start’ (SFTS) and ‘Collaboration Through Sharing in Education’ (CASE) partnerships have completed five years of shared activity, and have progressed along the continuum of sharing from a baseline position of no/limited cross-community contact i.e. ‘Defining’ stage to subsequent stages of ‘Developing’, and ‘Expanding’, and in some cases ‘Embedding’ where in-depth and high-quality Shared Education has been achieved.
SJC consultancy, in partnership with the National Children’s Bureau, was commissioned by the Special European Union Programmes Body (SEUPB) to conduct a three-year evaluation to assess the impact of Shared Education (PEACE IV Specific Objective 1). This executive summary reflects the final Impact Evaluation for project activity from September 2021 to June 2022 (Year 5).
Link to – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Case Studies of Sharing From The Start Partnerships:
Ardstraw Community Playgroup and Little Flower Playgroup (Co. Tyrone)
Glasswater Cross‐Community Playgroup and Loughinisland Cross‐Community Playgroup (Co. Down)