A 'peace wall' is the name now commonly used to describe the massive physical structures used to divide the two main communities in Northern Ireland, primarily in the Belfast area. The first 'peace wall' was constructed almost fifty years ago in 1969 to separate the Catholic Falls Road and the Protestant Shankill Road in Belfast. At the time, it was considered a short-term policy intervention. An Army Major, overseeing the construction of the wall said: 'This is a temporary measure... we do not want to see another Berlin wall situation in Western Europe... it will be gone by Christmas'. Despite the successes of the peace process, such segregation and division are still part of the daily reality for many in Northern Ireland. In 2014, that wall still remains and has been accompanied by one hundred additional walls and barriers, stretching to more than 26 miles in length across the city. Indeed, the peace walls have come to symbolize the ongoing gulf between the aspirations of the peace process and the implementation of peace in practice. It is against this backdrop that our knowledge exchange partnership project exists. The rationale for our project has been driven by the Northern Ireland government's recently published community relations strategy document, Together: Building a United Community (May 2013) which set itself the ambitious target of removing ALL interface barriers (peace walls) by 2023. However, our previous research has shown that 69% of local residents living in closest proximity to the peace walls believe that the peace walls are still necessary because of the potential for violence. Clearly much works will need to be undertaken with these communities in order for the government to achieve its policy objectives. The project will generate extra value in terms of both scholarship and impact by using social science insights to maximise the chances of efficient and effective policy delivery. We will achieve this through direct and sustained engagement with senior policy-makers and practitioners connected to the Northern Ireland Executive's peace walls implementation strategy. By embedding the academic team within the Department of Justice for 12 months, working with their newly established Interface Action Team (IAT) which has lead responsibility for delivery of this strategy, opportunities for efficient and effective policy delivery will be enhanced. A series of research objectives have been identified in partnership with the IAT. These include the design, delivery and analysis of a further public attitudes survey, preliminary research on designing the next steps in practical interventions in interface areas building on existing investments from external funders such as the International Fund for Ireland, conducting a review of existing mechanisms for managing peace walls, and establishing baseline indicators to assist in mapping progress in the implementation of the peace walls initiative over the next 10 years. This will also lead to a series of roundtable workshops with academics and senior civil servants, the establishment of a database which brings together relevant statistical and qualitative information on interface areas and a number of evidence-based policy briefs designed to encourage wider participation and consultation in policy development.

This project assesses the architectural legacy of The Troubles, the social-historical phenomenon between 1969 and 1994 when the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland was at its most extreme. The influence of The Troubles was such that it has had a profound impact on the social, political, economic, cultural and spatial structures of Northern Ireland. There are many visible architectural remnants of the Troubles in contemporary Belfast, most notably the 'peace-walls' between a number of Protestant and Roman Catholic residential communities. Quite distinct from this recognised architectural legacy, this research encapsulates a specific, discrete and barely recognised aspect of the cultural structures of The Troubles: a range of distinct and divisive architecture within individual communities in Belfast, now embedded in the contemporary urban fabric. As Northern Ireland moves forward in a post-Troubles era, a plethora of housing, roads, landscaping and related artefacts continue to divide and spatially fragment communities. The research conceives of a 'community' as a construct of 'People and Architecture', an intrinsic inter-relationship between people and their built environment. Community, housing, and security in Belfast are intricately linked. During The Troubles 70% of bombings were aimed at housing in the 'Belfast Urban Area'. The residential inner-city was subject to fundamental architectural alterations by both civilian and security authorities. These interventions resulted in a profound material impact upon inner-city communities, creating architectural and spatial disconnection that has promoted deprivation and disenfranchisement within these communities. These areas that are at now at the focus of the 'Together: Building a United Community Strategy, the core policy framework for post-conflict Northern Ireland, which emphasises the role communities will have to play in shaping their own future. Whilst there has been much work in the areas of planning policy, sociology and human geography concerning The Troubles, there is a distinct lack of architectural research in this area, particularly concerning architectural design and the relationship to communities during conflict. This study addresses this gap in knowledge, and equip local communities and policy makers with a crucial knowledge-base that is pertinent to contemporary policy formulation. The overarching aim of this research is to effect material change in the community life of some of Belfast's most deprived urban areas. The research conceives of a city-wide study that will examine the architectural legacy of The Troubles and engage local communities with these findings in order to inclusively inform related policy formulation. This suggests four questions: What do these architectural artefacts look like? What do communities have to say about this architecture? How can this research inform the related and relevant policy discussions? What are the lessons for other communities, at both national and international level? These questions formulate the following objectives: to engage this area of arts & humanities research with community and policy stakeholders; to foster community empowerment through structured, active inclusion with policy makers; to illuminate and illustrate the urban impact of conflict in Belfast's communities; and, to develop a transferable method to engage local communities as active-researchers of their built environment. A 'community' as a construct of 'People and Architecture' involves a complex inter-relationship between community, design practice and policy ambition. A cross-disciplinary research team addresses this research context. Academics from architecture, photography, social policy, planning policy and conflict studies are working with community project partners and government agencies. This team have developed a co-designed, collaborative methodology with embedded pathways to community, policy, public and academic impact.