Beit Beirut is a Museum project located in the heart of Beirut at what used to be known as the green line separating Muslim from Christian communities during the civil war. The Museum is hosted in an early 19th century building, called Barakat Building, currently under renovation due to the damage caused by the civil war. The project started in the mid-90s with a campaign by architect Mona el-Hallak, successfully saving the building from demolition and convincing the municipality to expropriate it. The objective of the Museum is to preserve and present the history of the capital Beirut and the legacy of the civil war. It will be divided into two parts, one is structurally renovated, while the outer surface war-damage (i.e. bullet and shelling holes) are preserved.The house is totally renovated from the inside and the outside, and will be home for a museum and a facility for archiving research and studies on the city of Beirut.

A photographic representation of change and oral history documentation of the process of changing. The Transformations exhibition comprises a series of photographs of former fighters today, stepping out of a background of war and destruction, along with a video archive of interviews where they share the stories behind their transformation.

A l’initiative de ICTJ et en collaboration avec UMAM documentation & Research, l’UIR mémoire mène un projet d’histoire orale à réaliser par des élèves du secondaire des écoles privées et publiques de Beyrouth sur la vie quotidienne durant les quinze années de guerres civiles au Liban de 1975 à 1990.

HWH aims to support the psychosocial well-being of the teachers in whose care these children are placed. In attending to the emotional education and personal development of the teachers, we provide essential support for their capacity to meet the children where they are emotionally. It is reasonable to assume some of the children, if not all, will still be carrying the trauma and stress of their ruptured lives. HWH develops the teacher’s ability to be present, compassionate and strong in themselves. This is advantageous in terms of the children’s primary need for stability and safety in their relationships with adults – an essential prerequisite for learning.

The HWH program has been developed to help to heal the deeper roots of violence. The causes of violence are rooted in recent but also older and even ancient historical grievances, memories and traumas. These psychological roots draw on perceived injustices, and become the sources of violence, especially in acute times of crisis, fear and threat. These driving forces usually remain unexamined. By unfolding and deconstructing them, individuals can begin to understand where many prejudices and impulses for violence against the other are held. The HWH training is concerned with unearthing these deeply rooted identities so that we can begin to reframe/rethink the “self”, humanize the other and improve relationships. To develop capacities at the individual level, helps collective action and peace-building efforts at the group level. This important work then actively supports political, social, economic, and civil endeavours.

Nestled between mosques and churches, and integrating archaeological remains of surviving city layers, Hadiqat-As-Samah aims to offer unique insights into earlier civilizations, demonstrating a shared ancestry that predates the recent conflict. By displaying these layers of civilizations, the garden will “use foundations of the past to build foundations for the future.” In its proximity to the wartime Green Line that divided the city and became the focus of conflict, the Garden of Forgiveness is to provide a meeting point where individuals can reflect on their collective memory and nurture a renewed sense of common identity. These are captured in the Design Brief that Alexandra Asseily wrote for for the Garden at Hadiqat-As-Samah.

The Common Space Initiative for Shared Knowledge and Consensus Building is a Lebanese independent and inclusive initiative, registered under decree No. 1265. It facilitates structured dialogues among policy makers, intellectuals, experts, civil society actors, stakeholders, and individuals to create an environment that is conducive to national evolution. This is mainly achieved by enhancing public policy debates, building expertise and common knowledge resources on key issues, and collaborating among the concerned national parties. Amongst others, the organisation has published a series of policy dialogues specifically targeting Lebanon.

The Berghof Foundation has been providing technical support to the National Dialogue in Lebanon since 2008. In the second half of 2009, the project helped to establish the Common Space Initiative, focusing on the root causes of the Lebanese conflict and served as an instrument to support and complement the National Dialogue process. Today, the Common Space Initiative is a significant Lebanese-owned mechanism to address deep-rooted conflict in Lebanon through dialogue, joint reflection and consensus-building between policy makers, intellectuals, experts, civil society actors and others. The overall aim of the project is to contribute to an environment conducive to effective, sustainable and successful dialogue and negotiations in which the basic needs and interests of Lebanese and their contingent parties are met.

Lebanese artist Zena el-Khalil set out on a five-year project that culminated in a 40-day exhibition titled “Sacred Catastrophe: Healing Lebanon.” The display, including paintings, sculptures and an installation, was held in Beit Beirut, a symbolic building located on the former green line that divided the city and that still carries the traces of Lebanon’s devastating Civil War. The artwork is meant to serve as a call for reconciliation and healing.

Asaad Chaftari, a former militia officer and prominent former fighter during the civil war, made a public apology in 2000 for his military involvement with the Lebanese Forces during the civil war. His apology was an individual initiative. Starting with this apology, Chaftari has been supporting local peace education initiatives, advocating transitional justice, as well as supporting the families of the missing and disappeared. He had a major role in establishing Fighters for Peace and chaired Wahdatouna Khalasouna Gathering, an association of several NGOs addressing conflict in Lebanon.