VeNews June 2006

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International Training Program Equips Peacemakers

Nineteen leaders from Christian laity centers around the world convened in Northern Ireland in early May to learn about conflict. They returned to their countries and communities inspired— energized by the idea that conflict is natural and that conflicting parties can overcome division through a mutually empowering process.

The leaders, all of whom are engaged in social change efforts, learned the process of mediative dialogue through the Vesper Society-sponsored Dialogue for Peaceful Change (DPC). The two-year-old international project emphasizes practical skills that help people in conflict agree on how they can live and work together without violence.

“People were deeply impacted by the process and the content,” says Rich Watson, Vesper Society’s DPC project director. Watson was one of eight leaders certified as trainers the first week in May. They, in turn, taught the mediative method to 19 new facilitators the following week. “To a person,” Watson says, “the participants were asking, ‘How can I adapt this to my own situation?’”

Vesper Society is developing DPC in conjunction with Oikos Foundation of the Netherlands, the Ecumenical Association of Academies and Laity Centres in Europe, OIKOSNET, and TIDES Training in Northern Ireland. Beginning with staff in Christian laity centers where social justice projects are underway, the project aims to train 200 leaders by the end of 2007. Yet the possibilities for a more expansive reach and significant social impact are already envisioned.

“We’re starting with existing regional networks of Christian laity centers. Many of us have worked together on other projects for several years, and these are centers already dealing with conflictual situations,” Watson says. “We imagine the networks being a springboard as trained facilitators are inspired to share the model with others.”

Appreciating Conflict

DPC begins with the assumption that conflict is natural and occurs in any setting where people are working for social change. Furthermore, conflict contains the seeds of transformation, Watson says.

“If there wasn’t conflict, we’d be in a static situation. But we know our world is never static, it’s always dynamic,” he adds. “So we need to appreciate conflict and understand that it is part of the change we seek.”

The program teaches that differences which divide also make communities and countries strong. An appreciation of difference flows from an understanding of interdependence, or “mutuality,” as Watson puts it. So building trust between conflicting groups is key.

Mediative dialogue is not the same as negotiation. With the latter, a negotiator hears the differences and then proposes a solution. But a mediator, who must be invited in by the conflicting parties, does not offer any solution. The solution comes from the groups. In fact, Watson notes, the solution “resides in the groups.”

The DPC methodology was developed in 2005 from the work of the Oikos Foundation of the Netherlands and the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland. The training model was further expanded by Colin Craig of TIDES Training, which grew out of 30 years of the troubles in Northern Ireland. TIDES offers a model to measure the effectiveness of mediative dialogue. The acronym stands for Transformation, Interdependence, Diversity, Equity, and Sustainability.

“With DPC we are saying that interdependence, diversity and equity must be acknowledged and present in order to move toward transformation and to sustain our efforts to bring about peace and reconciliation,” Watson explains.

Applying the Training

Before they even left Northern Ireland, training participants eagerly discussed how they would use the methodology at home. Participants discovered content they could bring back to their own situations, regardless of whether they plan to set up a formal mediative process. A Lutheran pastor envisions using DPC in marriage counseling. Another participant plans to use the model in resolving office conflicts.

These 19 leaders join 16 others trained as facilitators in 2005. Already, the facilitators have applied the methodology in powerful ways.

In Canada last fall, a center convened aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples to discuss peaceful means of working through divisive issues. In Bethlehem, a facilitator is working with Palestinian youth while another is addressing violence towards women in Romania. And in the Philippines, a facilitator prepared the ground for dialogue between parties with a history of conflict. But the resolution of the specific conflict was not in itself the most significant result.

“In a deeper sense, the result of the dialogue between the groups is a healing of relationships, a mending of relationships,” says the facilitator. “Dialogue is all about building relationships amidst differences and diversity.”

Vesper Society has provided $90,000 and staff resources for DPC since 2004. That investment will return great dividends in terms of peace and leadership development as the model is shared, Watson says. New proposals to apply the methodology include work with child soldiers in Uganda and social outcasts in India.

Watson says DPC training empowers individuals to see how they can make a difference even in major conflict areas. As one training participant put it: “Learning and developing skills and a process that help me to mediate or behave mediatively in a conflict was hugely beneficially and something I will carry on throughout my life.”

To learn more about Dialogue for Peaceful Change, click here.

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Vesper Society, a private operating foundation, promotes social justice locally and globally by addressing critical social issues including the provision of health services for the underserved.