9-day in-person retreat in Nonviolent Communication, the Language of Life
View a welcome video from the organizing trainer, Dmitriy Kopina:
Join us for this residential retreat in Slovenia (22 April - 01 May 2022) that will help you bring nonviolence and peace into all areas of your life. In this event, you can discover skills that will help you improve the quality of your relationships, deepen your inner peace, and increase your contribution to the world.
Nonviolent Communication is an immersive experience that will allow you to join workshops, and be with home groups where you will be able to hone your skills and practice the principles of Nonviolent communication over 9 days.
The training welcomes an international group of about 50-60 people from different countries, cultural backgrounds, professions and walks of life who are willing to co-create a safe space where we will explore vulnerability, gain communication skills, deepen our consciousness, and foster change, personal and community-oriented, over an extended period of time.
Please feel welcome to join us whether you are a parent, teacher, activist, leader, businessman, social worker or a curious explorer of life…
The retreat will be held by a group of 2 skilled organisers and 5 internationally established Certified Trainers with the Center for Nonviolent Communication. You can also check out a website for this event created by the organizers.
| Basic Details |
Format: In-person, 9-day residential retreat
Language: English
Begins: Friday, 22 April 2022 (17.00)
Ends: Sunday, 01 May 2022 (12.00)
Location: Best Western Kranjska Gora in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
Sponsor: Center for Nonviolent Communication
Organizer: Dmitriy Kopina, Certified Trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication
| Goals of this Training |
The purpose of this training is to give you the opportunity to live the process of Nonviolent Communication in community over an extended period of time, in order to develop the mindsets and practical tools to help you in three areas:
1. Personal and Professional Relationships
- Increase connection and closeness with the people you love.
- Speak in a way that inspires compassion and understanding.
- Initiate difficult conversations with more ease and confidence.
- Remain centered and peaceful when receiving difficult messages.
- Express and receive anger fully, safely and respectfully... yet powerfully.
- Resolve long-standing conflicts and heal painful relationships.
- Parent children from the heart and move beyond power struggles into cooperation.
- Translate criticism, judgments and blame into life-serving messages.
2. Inner Transformation
- Shift patterns of thinking that lead to depression, guilt and shame and that perpetuate pain.
- Transform anger into self-understanding, thereby increasing inner peace.
- Enliven yourself by expressing and receiving gratitude.
- Learn to embody unconditional love.
3. Contribution to others and Social Change
- Share NVC in ways that transmit and model its power to transform and inspire others.
- Create educational systems where students love learning and teachers love teaching.
- Learn to engage in effective, lasting nonviolent social change in the tradition of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Facilitate meetings and support group decision making in a power-sharing, collaborative, and consensus-based ways.
- Support holistic and human-based workplaces
- Engage with others at work and in the community to foster openness, trust and authenticity.
- Foster restoration and harmony by mediating conflicts and helping to resolve differences among others.
While we will prioritize these three areas in the curriculum, there is also room for co-creation. There will be opportunities for you to request specific topics and applications to support you in living and sharing NVC at work, home, and in the community as well as internally in how you relate to yourself.
| The Training Team |
Each member of the team is a Certified Trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication.
Trainer: Liv Larsson (Sweden)
Liv Larsson is the author of 20 books including A Helping Hand: Mediation with Nonviolent Communication; Human Communication at Work: How to use the principles of Nonviolent Communication in a professional setting; and Anger, Guilt, and Shame: Reclaiming Power and Choice.
Liv is a mediator and loves to be of support to people in conflict. She has been a Certified Trainer in Nonviolent Communication since 2002 and an educator since 1992.
Shame has become one of the mysteries of inner human life that Liv appreciates studying and sharing her knowledge about. Embracing shame means opening up possibilities to learning about human interaction and showing how to find dignity, acceptance, and belonging.
Trainer: Mitch Miyagawa (Canada)
I create and facilitate multi-day retreats, workshops, summer camps, and artistic events that incorporate NVC into life-changing experiences. I’ve led retreats at the 2017 New York NVC Intensive, the 2018 Texas IIT, and at the Haven, a world-renowned transformative learning center. I’ve worked in educational and business settings as a consultant and trainer.
Some of the themes in my transformative offerings/ projects are:
- embodiment/ movement – let’s dance!
- nature connection – get back to the land
- art – creative paths to the soul
- pleasure – what we can learn from desire and play
I’m also a community arts practitioner and events designer/ producer/ host, through my business, Maji Events. Currently, Maji Events focuses on workshops and festivals. My goal is social change through live events, and I’m currently exploring:
- Small-scale hybrid events, formats, and technologies that are adaptable to challenging physical restrictions
- More collaborative, equitable, and land- and season-based models and approaches for production and organization.
- An artistic process that incorporates a relationship with the land, history, and my Shinto cultural heritage.
- An artistic identity – Maji Events – that serves as an organizational container.
- Creating highly collaborative artistic partnerships with other community artists
- Working intergenerationally – seeking wisdom from older people, serving and listening to younger people
In the past, I’ve been an award-winning writer and filmmaker. My most ambitious project was a 47-minute documentary called A Sorry State, a personal journey through state-sanctioned historical racism in my family’s past, and the three apologies my family received. I won the Writers Guild of Canada award for Best Documentary for this film. Learn more about Mitch.
Organizing Trainer: Dmitriy Kopina, Ph.D. (Slovenia)
Being human at first, finding a precious gift of Life in me and any other living being, thru connection and empathy, is the main aim of Life in me. Deeply connected with mother Nature I’m in my quest toward exploration, joy, growth, care, love, and admire the beauty of needs and feelings Life brings to us.
My mission and my goals involve activities that are supporting individuals finding their authenticity, the fullness of life and awareness; connecting people, building “power with” communities based on equality of all needs, and using forms of communication and full embodiment to support connecting individuals and groups into their essence, conciseness and spirituality.
Working as a trainer, expert, adviser, manager, father, and teacher for over 30 years I gathered a broad variety of experiences and I’m very keen on sharing them with other individuals, couples, in business environments and especially enjoying reinventing teams, organizations, and communities.
Trainer: Frank Gaschler, Assessor (Germany)
I am a CNVC certified trainer and assessor in the certification process of the CNVC. My current passion revolves around the 4 life themes: Be welcome the way I am, have space that I can defend or open, be held in trust, and be alive to live my life.
My passion is to experiment with NVC outside the box, far away from the boundaries of words and language. Therefore I like to concentrate on intuition, empathic presence, and body language.
My social change project “Giraffe Dream” aims at introducing and spreading NVC in kindergartens and primary schools. This program has become the biggest social change project in this field. I live with Gundi, my wife, near Munich, Germany.
Trainer: Anniken Poulsson Beer (Norway)
Anniken was the first certified CNVC trainer in Norway. Her background is as a preschool and drama teacher and she has worked in education since the mid-1980s with leadership and coaching experience for more than 20 years.
Anniken is passionate about bringing out empathic communication, connection, and understanding in all kinds of relationships. She works as a principal in a kindergarten school and since March 2020, has has been the executive director of NVC Norway.
Anniken speaks Danish, English, Norwegian, Polish, and Swedish and teaches Nonviolent Communication all over the world.
| Cost |
The cost of this training includes two components: 1) Tuition; and 2) Room and Board.
1. Tuition (USD): convert to your currency
- $1,989 Early Bird (make your payment by 31-Jan-2022)
- $2,340 Standard (beginning 1-Feb-2022)
Discounts:
- 15% discount for Certification Candidates and repeat participants of an IIT or VIT (only one 15% is available)
- There is a special discount available if you are a resident of Slovenia or another country with a lower economic standard(for example Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria). Please email the organizers to get more information on this extra discount. (We usually respond to your e-mail within 5 working days at the latest.)
- Early Bird discount + one other discount is possible
Financial support:
If you would really like to attend this IIT, but the price is an obstacle you can not overcome, please write to us. We can offer some financial support. We will open applications for Financial Support Requests for this IIT on 22-January-2022.
You will pay tuition to the Center for Nonviolent Communication starting 22-January-2022 (once we have confirmed the training regarding any Covid concerns).
2. Room and Board (EURO): convert to your currency
- €931 Single Room (private room)
- €749 Double Room (you will have one roommate)
- €517 Commute daily or camping
Notes:
The price of accommodation also includes two times (on arrival and day 4) rapid antigen Covid testing in the hotel, on-site.
Prices include your room and all meals throughout the retreat. For all options, the tourist tax is not included in the price. Tourist tax is payable on-site in the venue. TT price for an adult person in the year 2021 is 3€ per day.
In all packages, the tourist tax is NOT included in the price. Tourist tax is payable on-site in the venue. TT price for an adult person in the year 2021 is 3€ per day.
Rooms and types of rooms are limited and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis; we encourage you to book your housing as soon as you complete registration and payment for the IIT.
If you choose a double room, you can choose your own roommate (either someone you already know or via an IIT roommate connection page you be invited to once you register), or the hotel can assign roommate(s) for you.
Camping or Commute Daily: Prices including two meals per day, lunch and dinner; (breakfast is not included), and two coffee breaks during the day including coffee and tea. There is a nice and affordable camping place close by (approx. 5 km). Prices of the staying and other services are not included in the accommodation fee. Exact prices for the season 2022 will be known at the end of 2021 and they will probably start at 15-20 € per person/night (breakfast not included). Camping site link: www.camp-spik.si
You will pay Room and Board to the Lucan Spa Hotel starting 23-January-2022 (after you have paid your tuition and received instructions from us; please wait for our instructions before booking at the hotel).
| Location |
Venue: Best Western Hotel, Kranjska Gora
Address: Vrsiska 38, 4280 Kranjska Gora, Slovenia
Learn more about the village Kranjska Gora
This magical retreat will be held in an alpine village of Kranjska Gora at an altitude of 810 metres. The village is a world-renowned ski resort and a very popular destination for active holiday-seekers during all seasons. With its stunning overviews of Slovenian Alps and in the green luxury of lakes, springs and streams it is a perfect place to centre your mind, spirit and practice of NVC.
The hotel holds the name of this lovely village which offers the types of amenities guests seek; for example, grocery store, pharmacy, some restaurants and local stores. The hotel itself offers cosy rooms and three meals every day (vegetarian and vegan option). There is also a swimming pool, sauna and tennis court.
However, we recommend that you spend any spare time in the amazing walks just around the corner of the hotel (we will provide specific recommendations on the spot). The temperature in alps valleys in April or May may vary from chilly 5-10 °C to warm 18-20 °C (lower at night).
All rooms are 4-star hotel quality and have a private bathroom. Prices including three meals per day, and two coffee breaks during the day including fresh mountain water, coffee, and tea. Free WiFi internet, free car parking near the hotel, and free use of the swimming pool is also included. Guests can use a sauna park at a 75% discount.
Camping site
There is a nice and affordable camping place nearby called Camp Spik (distance approx 5 km). Prices for staying on the campsite and any other services are not included in the accommodation fee. If you might need help with making a reservation or payment, please email us.
In the package for a Camping site, we have included two meals per day (lunch and dinner), and two coffee brakes during the day including coffee and tea. If you would like to join us for breakfast too, please let us know beforehand (payable extra).
Commute daily
We strongly invite you to stay with us for the whole time, as evenings and mornings can be a place and time for some extra activities, offered content, music, light talks, peaceful walk or cosy rest. However, if you might live nearby and would support you more to drive daily to the venue, we can support that.
In the package for the Commute daily, we have included two meals per day (lunch and dinner), and two coffee breaks during the day including coffee and tea. If you would like to join us for breakfast too, please let us know beforehand (payable extra).
| Travel |
By Air:
The main airport in Slovenia is airport (letalisce in slo) Ljubljana Joze Pucnik (also called Brnik) which is about 1 hour car driving distance from the venue.
There is also a small international airport near Kranjska Gora, the airport of Klagenfurt (Kärnten Airport, Flughafen Klagenfurt) offering some budget airlines. More options with budget airlines are also airports in Italy, Trieste (Ronchi) or Venice (Treviso and Marco Polo). However note that you need to get to Ljubljana first, to be able to find a bus to Kranjska Gora. We will be providing some shuttles in case more of you get to the same airport.
Car driving distance from those airports to the venue are:
- Airport Ljubljana (LJU) about 50 minutes
- Klagenfurt (KLU) about 1h
- Venice Marco Polo (VCE) or Treviso (TSF) about 3h
- Trieste airport (TRS) about 2h
However if you travel by public transport, you have to first get to Ljubljana (capital). See Public transport below.
By Car:
We invite you to use google maps or other navigation systems. Here is the location in Google Maps.
By Public Transport:
If you arrive to one of the airports and you are looking for public transport to the venue, you first have to get to Ljubljana and then take a bus to Kranjska Gora. We will organize an spreadsheet, where you can find people arriving to the same airport and share a taxi to the venue (especially for those arriving to Ljubljana’s airport or Klagenfurt). If there will be more of you we can also organize a van directly to the venue (price upon request). From Italy to Ljubljana we recommend shuttle GoOpti (www.goopti.com) or FlixBus (www.flixbus.de). Again, if there will be more of you we can also organize a van.
From Ljubljana (capital of Slovenia):
It is possible to take a bus from Ljubljana’s main bus station (same as main train station) to Kranjska Gora. You can find the schedule here https://www.ap-ljubljana.si/en/
From the station in KG to the venue is an 8min walk.
Again, we recommend to check the excel sheet and see if any of the Slovenians will be arriving from Ljubljana and can give you a ride.
Participants are asked to wait until their registration in the IIT has been confirmed before booking non-refundable travel reservations.
| Covid-19 Considerations |
We are living in an era in which we need to take into consideration the current situation with Covid-19. We care for your health and safety, still valuing choice and freedom. So we are doing our best to form a strong, clear, and inclusive Covid policy and measures, doing anything in our power to organize this safe and legal, live, in-person event. Since this event is in-person, the conditions could impact international travel and gathering in large groups.
For this reason, we will be waiting to confirm this training until 22-January-2022 (3 months before the start date) and monitoring the situation closely both before and after this date. A summary of the Covid safety measures are:
1. Before arrival
Please check COVID-19 Measures and Recommendations from the Government of Slovenia for the terms under which you can enter the country. We invite you to take care of your health, using your daily practices and routine to keep your immune system in excellent condition. Please limit risky travel or socializing at least 10 days prior to the event. Please take into consideration your personal comfort level as you select accommodation between single (no roommate) and double (you will share the room with a roommate).
If you cancel before arrival due to a positive Covid test, you have two options:
- Transfer 100% of tuition to a future IIT
- Receive 100% refund of tuition
For accommodation, you can receive a full refund. You can get more info also by emailing us. Please contact the IIT organizers directly to cancel your reservation and request a refund. You can get more information by emailing us.
3. On arrival
We will organize rapid SARS-CoV-2 testing for all participants two times: 1) upon arrival; and 2) on Day 4 of the IIT. This testing will be mandatory for all participants, trainers and organizers, regardless of your vaccination status, previous testing, or antibodies (from recovering from previous infection). The cost of this testing has been included in the Room and Board fees.
4. During your stay
We will enable and do our best for you to be able to stay in, as a closed IIT participants group as much as possible, so we provided separated seminar rooms, some separation at lunch, and spacious private rooms as well some activities may be arranged outdoors. We invite you to limit physical interaction with all non-participants and to keep safe distances or use protective elements as masks, during the event. We do our best to assure safety for the whole group. You will receive further instructions on arrival and during the event. If you have a positive Covid test upon arrival or any time during the IIT:
- No tuition refund is available
- You can participate from your room by video to the fullest extent possible. If you have a roommate, we will reassign the roommate to other accommodations.
- You will be required to self-quarantine in your hotel room for 10 days, ar as per the regulations of the Government of Slovenia.
If tourists or their contacts who show up positive with SARS-CoV-2 and are accommodated in the hotel, they can be accommodated in a separate part of the hotel (for example the hotel top floor, one wing of the hotel, special dependencies, etc.) where they will remain in isolation/quarantine under measures of health and sanitary supervision until leaving Slovenia or returning home.
| Registration Process |
STEP 1 (now): Fill out the registration form to reserve your space
STEP 2 (22-Jan-2022): Pay your tuition to the Center for Nonviolent Communication once we have opened payments
STEP 3 (after 22-Jan-2022): Once you have paid your tuition, you will receive confirmation from the IIT organizers and then we suggest you book your accommodations.
Important! Before booking your room at the hotel, wait for instructions from us. You will need a discount code to receive our group rate and also to be included in the meal plan.
Details:
Given ongoing uncertainties regarding travel due to COVID, we have organized the registration process for this training as described below. We want to take into account safety, flexibility, financial security, and predictability for you as a participant as well as for us, the venue, and the training team. Please read the following application process carefully.
STEP 1: (through 22-January-2022)
Pre-register as a participant. We consider your filling out this form as stating your clear intention to attend; the only factor that would get in your way of attending is Covid-related travel restrictions or being infected with Covid. Once we confirm the training, we want you to be ready to complete your registration by making payment for tuition.
We suggest that you save the dates on your calendar, arrange for any time off work needed and any family or home duties that you need covered, and make any other arrangements in order to be able to attend this training.
Note: In planning your travel, keep in mind that check-in at the Best Western Hotel Kranjska Gora begins at 2:00 pm and that we ask that you arrive by 5:00 pm. This is to support you in having time to check in and get settled/orientated with some spaciousness before we have dinner together and our first IIT session at 7:00 p.m. that evening. In terms of booking return travel, the IIT will conclude with lunch on the last day; please allow ample travel time from the hotel (suggested departure from the hotel no earlier than 1:00 pm) so that you can be part of our group closing. We also recommend holding at least one day open after the IIT before going back to your usual work schedule and other commitments so that you can benefit from some rest and integration after the retreat.)
STEP 2: (3 months prior to the event)
On 22 January 2022, we plan to announce our decision on moving ahead with this training, assuming that Covid factors and travel restrictions are accommodating enough. (if, in our assessment, Covid conditions would limit travel, safety, or access, we will announce the IIT is not being held and/or is being rescheduled). Assuming we are moving ahead at the 3-month mark, you will have 3 options:
- Pay the “Early Bird” pricing of $1989, which will be available for 10 days, from 22 January through 1 February 2022. We ask you to pay the early-bird registration fee in full by 01 February. After that, we will process applications from people at the regular registration rate. Upon receipt of payment, you are invited to make your travel plans and to register at the venue for accommodation and meals. (Please note that housing is limited at the Lucan Spa Hotel so booking as soon as possible is highly recommended; if your plans change for any reason, room registrations can be cancelled with no charge if made at least 7 days in advance of your check-in date.)
- Option 2: You can apply for financial assistance. We will review the first batch of applications 10 days after payment begins, on 01 February. Limited spots are available for financial assistance. We may not be able to grant full or partial requests. We will review financial assistance applications regularly so that you can receive timely notice. Upon a decision being made regarding any financial assistance we can offer and CNVC receiving payment that you are making, you are invited to make your travel plans and to register at the venue for accommodation and meals. (See note above regarding booking your room as soon as possible.)
- Option 3: Pay the regular-rate tuition of $2,340 which will be available from 22 January 2022 until shortly before the Slovenia IIT begins or until we are a capacity (whichever comes first). Receiving regular-rate tuition helps ensure the financial resources to hold the IIT. By paying tuition at the regular-rate, you are also supporting others to attend who request financial support, including candidates for CNVC certification. Upon receipt of payment, you are invited to make your travel plans and to register at the venue for accommodation and meals. Again, please note that making your room reservation as soon as possible is highly recommended.
Note: We encourage you to register, once we open payments 22 January, 2022, at your earliest ability for both your tuition (to secure your space in the training) and room and board (to give you choice about your room type).
Travel Visa
If you are attending an IIT in a country other than your home country, you may need a visa. Please consult the Slovenian Embassy in your country for the updated Slovenia Visa requirements!
To reiterate: Please wait to purchase plane tickets, book other travel and/or with the hotel at this time. We will make a final decision and announcement about whether this training is occurring (based on COVID condition) on 22 January, 2022. At that time, you can pay your tuition and book travel. Please look for an email from CNVC on January 22. Thank you for your patience until then.
Cancellation and refund policy:
If we cancel this training, you will receive a 100% tuition refund.
A. If you cancel for a non-Covid-related reason*:
02-Apr-2022 earlier, you have two options:
- Transfer 100% of your tuition to a future IIT; or
- Receive a refund minus a nonrefundable $150 tuition deposit
03-Apr-2022 or later, you have two options:
- Transfer 75% of tuition to a future CNVC training (we retain 25%); or
- Receive a 50% tuition refund (we retain 50%).
B. If you cancel due to contracting Covid-19:
Before you arrive on-site, you have two options:
- Transfer 100% of tuition to a future IIT; or
- Receive refund of tuition minus a nonrefundable $150 tuition deposit
After arriving on-site including any time during the training:
- No tuition refund is available
- You can participate from your room by video to the fullest extent possible. If you have a roommate, we will reassign the roommate to other accommodations.
- You will be required to self-quarantine per the regulations of the local government at a cost borne by yourself.