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Connecting Communities
Surveys are more than just a way to gather data; they are powerful tools that can help build understanding and peace, especially among communities marked by cultural diversity or where conflict has emerged.
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Connecting Communities: How Surveys Promote Understanding and Coexisting
Surveys are more than just a way to gather data; they are powerful tools that can help build understanding and peace, especially among communities marked by cultural diversity or where conflict has emerged. By asking the right questions, surveys help uncover common ground, highlight shared experiences, and bring different groups together. In societies where divisions run deep, surveys can provide a neutral space for conversation and reconciliation, making them vital for promoting peaceful coexistence.
At their core, surveys are designed to collect perspectives and experiences from people, helping us understand their needs, values, and concerns. The strength of surveys lies in their ability to reach diverse communities, ensuring that every voice is heard. In areas where tensions exist, whether due to ethnicity, religion, or politics, surveys can reveal that people, regardless of background, often share similar hopes, challenges, and desires. These shared experiences can be a starting point for building empathy and breaking down barriers.
For example, surveys conducted in post-conflict zones can uncover underlying issues like access to education, healthcare, or economic opportunity. These common concerns highlight the ways different groups face similar challenges, encouraging them to focus on what unites them rather than what divides them. By bringing attention to shared issues, surveys help foster dialogue between communities, creating a foundation for collaboration and peace.
One particularly powerful example of this comes from Sudan, where surveys have been used as tools for inclusion. The Darfur Material Culture Survey was a great illustration of how surveys can connect people across different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It was conducted by the Institute of African and Asian Studies in collaboration with Nyala University and teams of researchers from all across Darfur. It was conducted in partnership with the Western Sudan Community Museums project and the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM). The researchers documented everyday objects like agricultural tools, cooking implements, and traditional footwear—items that, while designed in different ways depending on the region, served similar functions in people’s daily lives.
One notable object was the markoob a type of traditional leather shoe worn throughout Sudan. Though the leather and designs vary from one area to another, the markoob serves the same purpose: providing comfort and protection. This simple object speaks to the shared cultural practices that cut across ethnic lines. Similarly, the pottery used for cooking and storing food in Sudan’s diverse communities has common features, reflecting similar ways of adapting to each region's environment.
By highlighting these shared practices, this material culture survey did more than document cultural artefacts by helping to create a sense of unity. People from different backgrounds saw their own traditions reflected in the items of others, sparking a sense of connection. The exhibition showcasing the survey’s outcome which was organised by the Western Sudan Community Museums at the Darfur Museum in Nyala allowed visitors to engage with these objects, and by doing so, they were reminded of the common values and experiences they share. This kind of cultural exchange helps bridge divides, turning differences into opportunities for mutual understanding.
Surveys also play an important role in identifying sources of differences, which is crucial for peacebuilding efforts. These insights allow policymakers and community leaders to address the root causes of conflict and work towards solutions that benefit everyone. In this way, surveys act as a kind of diagnostic tool for societies in need of common ground to prompt unity.
Another significant benefit of surveys is that they give a voice to those who are often marginalized or excluded from the conversation. In many conflict-prone regions, some groups – whether based on ethnicity, gender, or age – feel left out of key decision-making processes. Surveys provide an opportunity for these groups to share their experiences and perspectives. When people who feel unheard are included in the dialogue, it not only empowers them but also ensures that peacebuilding efforts are more inclusive and representative of the entire community.
Trust and transparency are also key elements of any successful peace process, and surveys help build both. In post-conflict societies, trust between different groups can be fragile. By assessing how people view institutions, such as the government or local leaders, surveys provide valuable insights into the state of social trust. Understanding what factors strengthen or weaken trust in a community allows peacebuilders to design interventions that address these issues, whether through community engagement, or rebuilding social institutions.
In Sudan, surveys like the one conducted by Nyala University with research teams from all over Darfur help foster trust by focusing on the things that unite rather than divide. By highlighting shared cultural practices, these surveys create a platform for dialogue that encourages people to see one another as neighbours. This approach helps shift the focus from differences to common goals, laying the groundwork for long-term peace and stability.
Surveys also offer a way to track progress in peacebuilding efforts. In societies recovering from conflict, it is important to measure whether inclusion efforts are making a real impact. By gathering data on people’s attitudes towards their communities, traditions, and culture, surveys provide critical feedback for governments, NGOs, development initiatives, heritage preservation initiatives and different organizations. This ongoing assessment ensures that inclusion and peacebuilding strategies are evolving to meet the needs of the population and remain effective over time.
All in all, surveys are more than just tools for collecting data, they are instruments for promoting peaceful coexistence. By highlighting shared practices, ways of life, uncovering similarities, and giving marginalized voices a platform, surveys help bridge divides and foster understanding. The example of the Darfur Material Culture Survey in Sudan shows how surveys can bring communities together, using common cultural practices as a foundation for unity. Ultimately, surveys provide a way for societies to reflect on what they have in common, helping to build understanding and cooperation needed to move toward lasting peace and harmony.
Cover picture: Markob seller, The cities of Nyala and El Fashir are famous for making traditional shoes called markob, which are men's shoes made of animal skins.© Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez, South Darfur
Connecting Communities: How Surveys Promote Understanding and Coexisting
Surveys are more than just a way to gather data; they are powerful tools that can help build understanding and peace, especially among communities marked by cultural diversity or where conflict has emerged. By asking the right questions, surveys help uncover common ground, highlight shared experiences, and bring different groups together. In societies where divisions run deep, surveys can provide a neutral space for conversation and reconciliation, making them vital for promoting peaceful coexistence.
At their core, surveys are designed to collect perspectives and experiences from people, helping us understand their needs, values, and concerns. The strength of surveys lies in their ability to reach diverse communities, ensuring that every voice is heard. In areas where tensions exist, whether due to ethnicity, religion, or politics, surveys can reveal that people, regardless of background, often share similar hopes, challenges, and desires. These shared experiences can be a starting point for building empathy and breaking down barriers.
For example, surveys conducted in post-conflict zones can uncover underlying issues like access to education, healthcare, or economic opportunity. These common concerns highlight the ways different groups face similar challenges, encouraging them to focus on what unites them rather than what divides them. By bringing attention to shared issues, surveys help foster dialogue between communities, creating a foundation for collaboration and peace.
One particularly powerful example of this comes from Sudan, where surveys have been used as tools for inclusion. The Darfur Material Culture Survey was a great illustration of how surveys can connect people across different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. It was conducted by the Institute of African and Asian Studies in collaboration with Nyala University and teams of researchers from all across Darfur. It was conducted in partnership with the Western Sudan Community Museums project and the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM). The researchers documented everyday objects like agricultural tools, cooking implements, and traditional footwear—items that, while designed in different ways depending on the region, served similar functions in people’s daily lives.
One notable object was the markoob a type of traditional leather shoe worn throughout Sudan. Though the leather and designs vary from one area to another, the markoob serves the same purpose: providing comfort and protection. This simple object speaks to the shared cultural practices that cut across ethnic lines. Similarly, the pottery used for cooking and storing food in Sudan’s diverse communities has common features, reflecting similar ways of adapting to each region's environment.
By highlighting these shared practices, this material culture survey did more than document cultural artefacts by helping to create a sense of unity. People from different backgrounds saw their own traditions reflected in the items of others, sparking a sense of connection. The exhibition showcasing the survey’s outcome which was organised by the Western Sudan Community Museums at the Darfur Museum in Nyala allowed visitors to engage with these objects, and by doing so, they were reminded of the common values and experiences they share. This kind of cultural exchange helps bridge divides, turning differences into opportunities for mutual understanding.
Surveys also play an important role in identifying sources of differences, which is crucial for peacebuilding efforts. These insights allow policymakers and community leaders to address the root causes of conflict and work towards solutions that benefit everyone. In this way, surveys act as a kind of diagnostic tool for societies in need of common ground to prompt unity.
Another significant benefit of surveys is that they give a voice to those who are often marginalized or excluded from the conversation. In many conflict-prone regions, some groups – whether based on ethnicity, gender, or age – feel left out of key decision-making processes. Surveys provide an opportunity for these groups to share their experiences and perspectives. When people who feel unheard are included in the dialogue, it not only empowers them but also ensures that peacebuilding efforts are more inclusive and representative of the entire community.
Trust and transparency are also key elements of any successful peace process, and surveys help build both. In post-conflict societies, trust between different groups can be fragile. By assessing how people view institutions, such as the government or local leaders, surveys provide valuable insights into the state of social trust. Understanding what factors strengthen or weaken trust in a community allows peacebuilders to design interventions that address these issues, whether through community engagement, or rebuilding social institutions.
In Sudan, surveys like the one conducted by Nyala University with research teams from all over Darfur help foster trust by focusing on the things that unite rather than divide. By highlighting shared cultural practices, these surveys create a platform for dialogue that encourages people to see one another as neighbours. This approach helps shift the focus from differences to common goals, laying the groundwork for long-term peace and stability.
Surveys also offer a way to track progress in peacebuilding efforts. In societies recovering from conflict, it is important to measure whether inclusion efforts are making a real impact. By gathering data on people’s attitudes towards their communities, traditions, and culture, surveys provide critical feedback for governments, NGOs, development initiatives, heritage preservation initiatives and different organizations. This ongoing assessment ensures that inclusion and peacebuilding strategies are evolving to meet the needs of the population and remain effective over time.
All in all, surveys are more than just tools for collecting data, they are instruments for promoting peaceful coexistence. By highlighting shared practices, ways of life, uncovering similarities, and giving marginalized voices a platform, surveys help bridge divides and foster understanding. The example of the Darfur Material Culture Survey in Sudan shows how surveys can bring communities together, using common cultural practices as a foundation for unity. Ultimately, surveys provide a way for societies to reflect on what they have in common, helping to build understanding and cooperation needed to move toward lasting peace and harmony.
Cover picture: Markob seller, The cities of Nyala and El Fashir are famous for making traditional shoes called markob, which are men's shoes made of animal skins.© Issam Ahmed Abdelhafiez, South Darfur
