Moritz College of Law

Collaborative Equity Initiatives, Symbols and Public Spaces

Collaborative Equity Initiatives, Symbols and Public Spaces

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Collaborative Equity Initiatives, Symbols and Public Spaces

Ideas for advancing collaborative race equity initiatives, and for transforming contested monuments and symbols into welcoming public spaces.

A confluence of events, including a pandemic, protests, and business and school closings disrupted our country in 2020 and, despite deep political differences, there is broadened support for structural changes to advance racial equity. These resources illustrate ideas for advancing sequences collaborative race equity initiatives, and for transforming contested monuments and symbols into welcoming public spaces.  

Through its partnership with the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, the Divided Community Project (DCP) leverages the ideas and resources of interdisciplinary practitioners, advocates, community leaders, and scholars to develop guidance for communities seeking to advance equity.  

In recent years, we've witnessed emerging truth, reconciliation, reparations, and action efforts emerge across the country. Our recent publications highlight lessons learned from domestic state and local efforts to advance race equity. 

Publications

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A Practical Guide to Planning Collaborative Initiatives to Advance Racial Equity (Second Edition)

Dozens of collaborative initiatives to advance racial equity are underway at both the state and local level and are under discussion at the national level and in additional communities. This edition of the guide offers promising ideas and illustrations gleaned from these new initiatives together with insights from historical and international contexts. The focus is on government-community collaborations with multiple goals: helping people understand the history of current racial harms, instituting changes to advance racial equity, starting the healing, and more. 
Read the guide
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Symbols and Public Spaces amid Division: Practical Ideas for Community and University Leaders

Creating accessible public spaces that feel welcoming to residents and visitors can bring people together to interact across societal fault lines. A planning process can be most effective before conflicts over symbols divide people into opposing camps. By working proactively, leaders and others within a campus, city, region, or state – what we call here for simplicity a “community” – will also respond more constructively and collaboratively when conflicts over symbols or other divisive incidents occur. They will be able to draw on enhanced relationships and detailed plans created beforehand for responding quickly in a volatile situation.
Read the guide

Public Conversations Connected to this Initiative

Spearheaded by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies in collaboration with the Divided Community Project, the following conversations connect to the themes of truth, healing, reconciliation and race equity initiatives.  

In Spring 2022, Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution, in collaboration with the Divided Community Project, the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, and Stanford Law School's Martin Daniel Gould Center for Conflict Resolution, hosted a three-part symposium series titled, Rethinking Systems Design for Racial Equity & Justice. Selected panels and presentations focused on truth, reconciliation, healing, and equity initiatives.

Contact Us

Reach out to the Divided Community Project via email or phone.  

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William Froehlich
Lecturer; Director, Divided Community Project; Langdon Fellow in Dispute Resolution
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