"I think the key aim for this workshop is to arrive at a consensus for how the key stakeholders in the reconciliation process can work together," Aida Al-Kaisy, an international media development expert working with French media development agency CFI, told Rudaw English on Tuesday.
The most important aspect learned in the "Mosul Talks" project is to "hear all of the voices that are involved in the reconciliation effort and ensure those who are working and affected on the ground are best represented in media programming,” Kaisy added.
Tuesday's conference, held at Erbil Arjaan Rotana, brought together media professionals, civil society activists, politicians, business owners, and academics to look at education, transitional justice, and governance.
"The first step in any conflict zone is talking, discussing the problems and trying to find solutions and then taking these solutions to the people in power," said Ali Al-Baroodi, English language and translation teacher at the University of Mosul. "What ISIS did was mess up this multi-ethnic structure of the city so these things may help, although we won't see changes overnight."
Baroodi said the issues discussed at the conference must be a priority for the people of Mosul and the Nineveh Plains as well as the local and central governments of Iraq.
"Education is one of the most damaged parts," Baroodi explained, adding that the solution offered by the Ministry of Education was to allow children who missed school under ISIS to skip up to three grades. This not only puts a burden on educators, but affects the children as well as they were unable to keep up with classmates and have fallen behind in their studies.
On the issue of transitional justice, Baroodi believes media has a role to shine a spotlight on issues like how to deal with ISIS families and encourage transparency in relationships between citizens and officials.
Baroodi played an imperative role in documenting ISIS atrocities before Mosul was liberated. He spent more than three years under ISIS rule, risking his life by taking photos of the caliphate's brutality.
Baroodi also worked with Omar Mohammed, the creator of Mosul Eye. Under ISIS rule, Mosul Eye was an anonymous news blog which was created and maintained by Mohammed, a historian and citizen journalist who now resides in France. Baroodi worked with Mohammed on cultural issues and a library project since May 2017.
Although Mohammed was unable to attend the workshop and conference, he recorded a video message for the conference.
"The crisis of Mosul city is an exceptional one that needs exceptional solutions," he said, adding that Mosul was linked to the world to shed light on media coverage.
Mosul Eye was frequently cited as one of the few reliable news sources during ISIS' control over the city between 2014 and 2017, documenting life under the terror group.
"Media is important to the reconstruction of Mosul," Mohammed added in his video message.
The "Mosul Talks" workshops were a part of the Tasalah project which was jointly organized by CFI, part of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and MICT.
