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| Central European Summer School for Conflict Resolution by Michael Sedlaczek & Hania Fedorowicz The Loschberg Training Centre in Loschberg,
Kulturkontakt Canadian Embassy ( Canadian Department of External Affairs and International Trade
Twenty-two participants from six Central European countries and Seven "Trainers in Training" attended the Summer School led by trainers: Robert Birt from
Objectives:
The training objective was to familiarize novice participants with the foundational principles and practices of community-based conflict resolution and to enable them to independently plan and conduct a "three-day field process", a model developed by senior trainer Robert Birt for the Ridgewood Foundation. Each participant was required to provide a letter of sponsorship from community associations or institutions at home, prepared to offer the organizational infrastructure for conducting field processes upon return.
The field process model can be applied in communities in which there may or may not be active conflict, or where problems associated with pluralism and multicultural differences are prevalent. Using an experiential format which gathers together diverse members of the community, the workshop stimulates community interaction across identity groups and strengthens readiness to use conflict-resolving postures and processes for community problem-solving and development.
A second objective was to empower potential trainers who have or are close to completing a 240-hour program in Community-based Conflict Resolution to operationalize their skills and knowledge as trainers for building conflict-resolving communities. The pedagogical tools used in the training included formal "teach-pieces" introducing practical exercises, such as role plays, group tasks and teambuilding work. The teaching language of the Summer School was English, with interactive translation in Polish, Croatian, German and Russian between participants.
Program:
The workshop program ran for 10 days from "Community Interaction" 1:
Village dwellers in the Loschberg community surrounding the Training Centre, as well as members of the press were invited. Four neighbours, among them the parish priest, took the opportunity to get to know the Summer School participants and their work. The community members participated actively with Summer School participants in sharing principles and practices of community-based conflict resolution.
"Community Interaction" 2:
Neighbours and dwellers of surrounding towns were invited to attend, together with any additional acquaintances which previous participants wished to bring. Twelve persons (including 3 guests attending the first evening) came out to the second "community interaction". The evening was planned and conducted by the "trainers in training" group. Three of the novice participants were invited to join the team leading the evening. The remaining participants were invited to be careful observers and reflectors of the community interaction (a direct example of field process in action). During the evening, neighbours who normally had little or no contact with each other worked on a key problem experienced in the village and developed next steps for dealing with the issue constructively. | |
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