Transforming Conflicts through Restorative Practices (Intro Workshop)- Sur/Tyre, 3-5 Dec
This workshop will provide you with the opportunity to learn about Restorative Practices to transform conflicts and build connections between people who experience tensions or conflict. You can also learn how to build or strengthen community resilience; and/or increase understanding and connection between communities. The different practices introduced in this workshop can be used to facilitate between just two individuals, a small group and bigger groups that want to use Restorative Circles to deal with issues that affect all of them. Apart from that, the tools introduced and practiced in this workshop can also help to prevent misunderstandings in the first place as much of what you will learn is real listening and making sure everyone feels understood. Does this remind you somehow of Nonviolent Communication? Indeed, the practices to be introduced are in the same spirit and aim at a better understanding of needs and different perspectives.
Through a better understanding of communication and conflict this workshop also seeks to help participants to become more comfortable addressing contentious topics and tensions in all kinds of settings, be it within teams, in the education or business sector, in NGOs, politically engaged organisations, and others. You can find more info about Restorative Practices (and Restorative Circles in particular) here: https://www.restorativecircles.org/
The workshop will introduce some theory and the tools and will give a lot of space for practice and interaction. Hence, it also requires participants to engage actively and provides the opportunity to understand the tensions you might have encountered in your work before or that you are seeing around you. Apart from input from the facilitator there will be reflections, work in small groups and pairs, practicing and experiencing, role plays, simulated circles, etc.
In this workshop you can learn more about:
- Conflict (why we tend to avoid it, the ways and benefits of addressing it)
- Listening practices (deep listening, validating, verifying, making messages clearer)
- Key principles and the origin of Restorative Practices
- Facilitated conversations and dialogue (and how to create the container /safe space for it)
- Restorative Circles including pre- and post-circle
- How those practices relate to community wellbeing and how they can be systematized
- If there is time: how conflict is related to trauma and collective traumatic experiences
The background behind this workshop is:
- forumZFD Lebanon seeks to contribute to positive peace in the country and to promote nonviolence among citizens and residents of Lebanon. Nonviolent Communication and Restorative Practices are some of the approaches used to increase understanding, constructive communication and peaceful relations including in diverse communities and areas of tension.
- forumZFD wants to support potential facilitators who want to facilitate restorative circles and help interested groups to create conflict-transformation systems. This workshop will be the basis to learn the necessary skills and follow-up training will be offered if there is interest. However, the skills learned in this workshop can also be used in all kinds of tensions and conflicts, so if you are just interested to get to know the tools and use them in your life and work, you are also welcome.
Join if you…
- have at least basic experience in conflict transformation, conflict resolution, mediation, NVC, nonviolence, dialogue facilitation, peace-building and similar practices.
- are interested in NVC-based systems that can help improve group dynamics and deal with conflicts
- are interested in learning to facilitate tense conversations between individuals and in groups
- are interested in an interactive workshop that uses (your) real-life-situations
- are committed to be in time and to actively participate during the whole workshop
- have a place to stay in Sur or if you are willing to commute on your own expense (we cannot provide accommodation)
About the facilitator:
Duke Duchscherer is a Certified Trainer with the International Center for Nonviolent Communication and was on the Board of Directors for the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence for 8 years. He has facilitated training in Restorative Circles and Nonviolent Communication around the world with a depth and breadth of peoples and communities from small villages at the grassroots to governmental leaders at the United Nations on four continents.
Some of this work has included supporting peacebuilders & civil rights advocates in giving voice to victims in Sri Lanka’s 25 year civil war; facilitating the building of dialogue skills in mixed Muslim-Christian communities and guiding trauma healing for those horribly affected by the Boko Haram activities in Nigeria; leading a series of restorative dialogues between the Ukrainian army and the pro-Russian community where they reside near the warfront in Ukraine; and helping build the reconciliation skills of two of the Commissions working for Truth and Reconciliation in Nepal after 10 years of civil war.
https://livingbridges.org.in/duke/ and www.togetherwethrive.world
More information:
This workshop will be semi-online which means that all participants will be together in a venue (to be decided) in Sur while the facilitator will join online. The slightly unusual timings are due to the different time zones as the facilitator is based in the US. We ask you for your understanding in case we face any technical (electricity/wifi) issues.
To increase the safety of all participants, all attendees will be required to provide a negative PCR test result on the first day (not older than 48 hours). forumZFD is going to reimburse a maximum of 150.000 LBP if test result and receipt of payment are handed in.
For all further questions just get in touch Hamada Joumah: [email protected] who will support the participants before and during the workshop.
Please make sure to register your interest by latest 21st November 2021 here: https://forms.gle/V2b7tvqwTytE9mfR6 . We hope to be able to accommodate everyone interested. However, we will only be able to confirm your seat by 24th November 2021 in case we receive a lot of ‘applications’.
We will have coffee, tea, sweets and light snacks available.
We look forward to learning together!
