social change

The biggest challenge in today’s world seems a
struggle how to live peacefully together in different settings and structures.
Art of Living Together is not always easy to master. We are carrying in our
hearts a dream to come together in Estonia each year for one week around Eastern (we
celebrate - this will be already 7th time!) to sharpen our abilities of living together
so that we can bring our experiences and skills back to our everyday lives.

Practice the principles of NVC!

Our intention within these seven days is to create an
intensive experiment and experience of how relationships work. We want to live
in a community where we explore what can be created when people value connection
and honesty, and practice tools that can help us in living these values.

Come and let’s experiment together how can we create an
environment where trust and honesty, even around painful issues, are valued and
your needs are as important as everyone’s else’s!

Our aim is to offer you and ourselves possibility for personal
growth through deepening Noviolent Communication skills and awareness.

Topics in this experimental week include the spiritual
foundation of NVC, living NVC

within ourselves, in our relationships, and in the
world, working with intimate relationships, anger, guilt, shame, money issues,
scarcity thinking and much more. All participants are welcome to offer sessions
on topics that are mostly valuable for themselves.

La Communication NonViolente ne nous propose pas d’abandonner tout projet, mais d’établir autrement nos priorités. Dans notre culture héritée, nous fonctionnons par but à atteindre, avec les conséquences nous connaissons trop bien : dépenses disproportionnées d’énergie, colère, litiges, ressentiment, dépression, ...
Adoptons un schéma de comportement plus réaliste et plus prometteur d’harmonie et d’épanouissement pour toutes les parties prenantes ! Priorité à la relation ! Et ayons la confiance, maintes fois confirmée par l’expérience vécue, que d’une relation de qualité découlera une solution qui assouvira les besoins de tous.
Dans cette formation, vous vivrez les transformations qui s’opèrent lorsque, pris dans le piège de l’objectif à atteindre à tout prix, vous inversez vos priorités !

Unitarian Universalists from congregations in the Southwestern Conference are invited to a Peacemaking Workshop in Houston April 4 - 6 which includes a 4-hour Saturday morning workshop with Jori and Jim Manske on Nonviolent Communication. For more information, please contact Thea Nietfeld at UU Congregation of Tahlequah, OK, 918-456-7900 or uuct@sbcglobal.net

This workshop is designed to support those who will be participating in the Ojai Foundation's 1000 Days Prison Project, and others interested in transforming our current punative justice system. The 1000 Days program will integrate Nonviolent Communication and "Council" practices in a combined approach to rehabilitation. Fred Sly and Christine King, certified trainers who have been offering NVC in San Quentin State prison and to others incarcerated will offer this two-day workshop.

January through May, 2008?: One Sat 10-5 and one Fri. morning a month. This course will include reading one book a month as well as focusing on NVC elements below: January:Consciousness/intention- Book: Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society- Senge, Scharmer, Jaworski, Flowers
February:Language- As software for our thoughts..., Book: Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership- Joseph Jaworski
March:Thinking- Take a look at core beliefs we hold about the world Book: Leadership and the New Science- Margaret Wheatley
April:Communication- Book: Practicing Servant Leadership: Succeeding through Trust, Bravery and Forgiveness- Spears and Lawrence, editors
May:Strategies of Influence- This area is critical to realizing our visions. How do we influence others in alignment with our values? Book: Theory U: Leading From the Future as It Emerges-Scharmer

Finding the Center 2008:The Fourth Annual Action-Oriented Human Rights Conference “Resolving Differences: The Seed of Unity” April 4 & 5, 2008, UofI
Resolving differences while protecting human rights may very well be the only viable path to unity and true peace. This challenge calls for concrete efforts and essential skills in order to achieve genuine harmony. “Resolving Differences: the Seed of Unity” is the theme of FTC 2008 which brings together well-known leaders and practitioners in the field of human rights and conflict resolution. Through engaging presentations and dynamic workshops, the conference will enhance knowledge, provide tools, teach methods, and inspire social activism.

A workshop for those who would like to improve their skills to stay human in very challenging situations.
The topics include:
· How are our relationships impacted when there is a real or perceived difference in power?

· How can we relate to individuals who have less power than we do in a way that they don’t hear everything we say as a demand?

· How can we relate to individuals who have more power than we do without giving ourselves up or rebelling?

The dominant paradigm we’re currently living in makes assumptions most of us consciously and unconsciously
embrace—beliefs in scarcity, isolation, and the “naturalness” of hierarchy: punishment and reward, power-over (“might makes right”), and moral judgment (some are deserving, others not). Such thinking informs every aspect of our lives--
from education and family life to our economic, political, and social “justice” system.
Acting on the Gandhian principle of “being the change we wish to see in the world,” in this interactive workshop you’ll
learn practical steps to transform domination culture, fostering a society of collaboration where the needs of all life are
held with compassion and care.

9:00 to 4:30

Learn and practice how NVC supports being the change you want to realize. Each of us brings special capacities to and champions vital values in the groups and organizations we belong to. In this workshop you will:
- experience of the power of tapping core values
- practice identifying your places of influence
- free up energy tied up in condemnation, blaming and other divisive communication
- identify core needs and to develop creative strategies for meeting them
- get to the heart of what lies behind others’ criticisms, complaints, and resistance

Hosted by the Canadian Centre for Teaching Peace
Info: conference@ peace-education.ca www.peace-education.ca/core.php?content=pec_schedule
Registration: www.peace-education.ca/form.php?action=pec_registration_2007