Conflict arises from some rupture in togetherness, a loss of trust that makes it nearly impossible to look at what is happening as a source of information and learning about how to care for all that matters to everyone in ways that minimize impacts and are within capacity.
This is one of the core tasks for those of us who facilitate conflict processes: to support everyone to be able to identify and share all relevant information in ways that will support movement towards more togetherness. And, in turn, to increase capacity to attend to the conflict and learn from it.
Within the context of declining collective capacity and the low trust that humanity is in now, facilitating conflicts also gives us a unique entryway into supporting liberation on a micro scale, as each conflict we encounter becomes an opportunity to restore capacity within the context in which the conflict occurs. In the absence of a visionary conflict engagement system, where liberation is embedded, our individual orientation when we facilitate becomes all the more vital.
In this course, the focus is on specific aspects of engaging with conflict that are particularly relevant to the journey of liberation rather than offering a general introduction to conflict facilitation.
Here are some of the core questions that have led to offering this course:
- How can we expand our lens from “conflict resolution” to engaging with conflict fully to find what is possible in terms of both restoring trust and learning?
- What happens when we include ourselves as a human being within the conflict process?
- What makes it possible to increase togetherness right from the start and every step of the way?
- How can we support shifting from the story of scarcity, separation, and powerlessness that is the foundation of our societies to tenderness for self and others?
- What happens when the conflict involves power differences?
Liberation is a lifelong commitment, and our hope is that through participating in this course, you can increase your capacity in the following ways:
- Learning to show up, when facilitating, in a way that models the possible future we want to contribute to
- Understanding what it takes to create an experience of mattering, for all who are part of a conflict field, regardless of the outcome of the conflict
- Finding vision-oriented ways to frame whatever arises in a conflict field which can then create a pull towards vision for everyone involved
- Seeing options for utilizing the many potential moves in a conflict field as ways of weaving togetherness
Session 1: Conflict, Liberation, and Preparing the Field
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Session 2: From Neutrality to Transparently Caring for Everyone
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Session 3: Supporting People in Seeing Each Other’s Humanity
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Session 4: Attending to Power Differences as Liberation for All
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