Midnight Sun: 9-day Retreat in Nonviolent Communication
Join us for this residential retreat in Finland (01-10 July 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.
Watch a welcome video featuring the leaders of this training including Hanna Savanna, a Certified Trainer from Finland ↘
This 9-day immersion experience into Nonviolent Communication (NVC) will offer learning sessions, home groups, coaching and feedback from skilled trainers, and a community environment where you can learn and practice the key skills of NVC.
Our team of Certified Trainers will share both the core curriculum of NVC as developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, as well as their own unique applications. We expect a group of approximately 50 to 60 people from different countries, cultural backgrounds, professions and walks of life.
People around the world are using Nonviolent Communication skills to transform conflict, create resiliency in their relationships, and build a world where everyone's needs matter and are met collaboratively.
We will create a dynamic learning laboratory that will show you how to create a more compassionate and peaceful culture in your life at home, at work, and in your community by learning how to:
- Speak from the heart
- Practice deep, non-judgmental listening
- Build self-empowerment from the inside out
| Basic Details |
Format: In-person, 9-day residential retreat
Language: English
Begins: Friday, 01 July 2022 (5:00 pm)
Ends: Sunday, 10 July 2022 (1:00 pm)
Location: Kiponniemi Activity Resort (The Lake District near Jyväskylä in Finland - Kiponniemi)
Sponsor: Center for Nonviolent Communication
Organizer: Hanna Savanna, 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: Kirsten Kristensen (Denmark)
Family Therapist, Mediator, and Certified Trainer
Kirsten has led trainings in Europe, Asia, and the U.S.. Her passion is to contribute to the personal development and healing that enables people to move closer to conflicts and to grow relational competencies. People who experience Kirsten’s training and facilitation often express enjoyment of how she models what she teaches with a drizzle of humor.
For 22 years, Kirsten has devoted her working life to supporting others in personal development and between 1998 and 2006, she spent more than 100 days learning with Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, the creator of Nonviolent Communication (NVC). In 2014, Kirsten was on the trainer team for Healing and Reconciliation with NVC in Nepal, which resulted in a documentary “Raamro Aakha Ma (In the Eyes of the Good).”
Kirsten leads year-long NVC programs in Denmark and Germany and serves as a consultant and supervisor for institutions and organizations. She also publishes books on NVC in Danish and films about “Culture of Peace in Schools with NVC.”
Trainer: Robert Maoz Kržišnik (Portugal/Slovenia)
MSc. Psych., Certified Trainer, and Mediator
From his early teenage years, Robert has been inquiring into the questions of meaning of life, the nature of existence and the ways of meeting each other at the heart level. This journey led him through studying Psychology, working as a psychotherapist for 12 years, and working as a trainer, facilitator for over 33 years, covering areas from spiritual retreats to business trainings.
Within the context of Nonviolent Communication, Robert is most passionate about its spiritual and embodied dimensions and about conflict mediation. Besides NVC, most important explorations on his journey have been Soto Zen, Art of Hosting, Bohmian Dialogue, and Contact Improvisation
Robert has been regularly serving as a trainer at IITs and has shared NVC in over 30 countries in Europe, Mideast, Asia, U.S., and Australia. His permanent address is in Slovenia, which used to be a part of a country that does not exist anymore, but still resides in his heart as the place where he grew up — Yugoslavia. He has given two TEDx talks, connected with Nonviolent Communication -- one in 2012 on Global Citizenship, and the other in 2013 on Personal Growth. Robert has written two books, This Miraculous Life (a memoir) and Remembering What This Is.
Trainer: Angela Walkley (United States)
Certified Trainer
Angela is based on the West Coast of Canada on Snuneymuxw First Nation lands. Angela draws on 20 years of innovative and transformative organizational development and leadership development work in the Yukon, South America, Mexico and India. She has led many challenging processes guiding community leaders to big decisions regarding their natural world and their communities.
Angela offers year-long Nonviolent Communication programs and serves as an Assessor for CNVC Trainer Candidates. Angela is passionate about supporting people to navigate crisis at the level of the heart, the home, the community and the earth. She believes that NVC is soul work that shifts consciousness and creates a deeper experience of life.
In her personal life, NVC came in and revolutionized her parenting, her relationship to self and family and supports her to live with a wide-open heart. Angela supports people to live lives of full emotional expression, authenticity, vitality, connection, meaning and purpose.
Trainer: Amal Mekouar (Morocco)
Vice President in the CNVC Board, Certified NVC Trainer
Since an early age, Amal has been very curious to meet people from different walks of life and different cultures, secretly searching for what is similar and what is specific about human beings. In 2002, she traveled around the world, an experience that profoundly transformed her.
Amal is an Assessor-in-Training, currently living in Casablanca with her Lebanese husband and 2 daughters. She shares her understanding of NVC in three languages and in different countries and regions of the world (North Africa, West Africa, Lebanon in the Middle East, France). She has been a pioneer in teaching NVC and setting local NVC associations in Morocco and Ivory Coast where she lived for two years. Amal's interest in diversity and multiculturalism led her to organize and/or facilitate several residential trainings to build bridges between cultures in Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, and Ivory Coast since 2012.
Amal is passionate about promoting social change projects in Africa and has been involved in a large initiative with Cocoa farmers in West Africa. She supported team leaders engage in social change projects in Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Cameroon. She is currently engaged in Girafrica, a project aiming at training peace ambassadors and certifying trainers in Francophone Africa.
She was working in Finance when she discovered NVC in 2006, and shifted to focus her attention to sharing NVC in 2008 with organizations, NGOs, peace actors, lawyers and judges, doctors, youths, parents, as well as business leaders, coaches and other individuals looking to experience cooperation, improve management, communication and conflict resolution skills. Amal earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and an MBA from Columbia University – New York (U.s.), and worked in finance in international groups.
Organizer: Hanna Savanna (Finland)
CNVC Certified NVC Trainer, NVC mediator, and TRE-counselor
I am excited to be the organizer and host for this event — the first-ever IIT in Finland — and contribute to offering often a life exchanging experience for my Finnish friends and people from around the world.
I’ve been a Certified Trainer since 2002, and my main work for the past 10 years has been offering year-long NVC trainings through my company, Savanna ConneXions, which celebrated its 20th birthday in 2020. More than 20 groups have completed my training program and received the title of “Rakentavan vuorovaikutuksen ohjaaja, RVO” (in English: Constructive Communication Counselor, CCC)
My first IIT was in Switzerland with Marshall Rosenberg in December 1999 and before this event, my most recent one was 15 years ago as a trainer. During our time together in Finland, in addition to my workload as the Organizer, I’ll be offering support to the group and individuals whenever I sense there might be a need and space for it.
Looking forward to meeting you all in Kiponniemi, Finland! You are warmly welcome! Let’s have a time of our life! Hanna
| Cost |
The cost of this training has two components: 1) Tuition; and 2) Room and Board (accommodations).
1. Tuition (USD): convert to your currency
- $1,989 Early Bird (make your payment between 01-Apr through 11-Apr-2022)
- $2,340 Standard (12-Apr-2022 and after)
Discounts:
- 15% discount for Certification Candidates
- 15% discount for people who have participated in a previous IIT or VIT
(Note: only one of these discounts may apply; you may combine it with the early bird discount)
Financial assistance:
If you would want to attend this event but money is an obstacle, fill out the registration form and answer "yes" to the question, "Do you need financial assistance in order to attend this training"
Watch the leaders of this event speak about their relevant and recent experiences with Nonviolent Communication ↘
2. Room and Board (USD): convert to your currency
An invoice for the accommodation (room and board) will be sent on or around 15-May-2022.
- 1,171 € - Single (private room; we have a limited number of these rooms so book early)
- 766 € - Shared Room (you will have 1-3 roommates)
- 721 € - Shared Room - Cabin (you will have 3 or more roommates)
- 701 € - Shared Room - Loft Beds (you will have 3 or more roommates)
- 486 € - Caravan
- 468 € - Camping (if you have your own tent - you are also able to rent tents with different prices)
- 410 € - Commute Daily
Note: Some room types are limited and are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Cancellation and refund policy for Room and Board:
- Through 11-Jun-2022, you can receive a refund minus a nonrefundable $150 deposit for Room and Board.
- 12-Jun-2022 and later, no refunds for Room and Board are available
Notes:
Room and Board prices include your room and all meals throughout the event beginning with dinner the first day and ending with lunch the final day.
Commute Daily: We enthusiastically encourage you to stay on-site because our experience is that you will be able to participate more fully and get more value from the experience. However, if you choose to commute, the commuter fee includes lunch and dinner (breakfast is not included) and the daytime use of the facility.
| Location |
Venue:
Address: Kiponniementie 84, 41940 Vesanka (location in Google Maps)
This unique IIT will be held at Kiponniemi Activity Resort located in the middle of the beautiful lake district of Finland, about 18 km from the city of Jyväskylä. Kiponniemi is a very popular all-season destination for seekers of a peaceful holiday experience. Outdoor wooden shelters, lean-tos, and excellent campfire possibilities throughout the area provide rest places for picnics in the woods. Kiponniemi calls you to come and stay, and enjoy its peaceful natural surroundings by the clean peninsula waters and is a perfect place to center your mind, spirit, and practice of NVC.
Commute daily
We strongly invite you to stay on-site at the Kiponniemi Activity Resort for this training, 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 cannot stay on-site and/or live nearby, you can commute daily.
Please note that we ask commuters to participate fully in the program between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm each day. In the package for the Commuters, we have included two meals per day (lunch and dinner), and two coffee breaks during the day including coffee and tea.
| Travel |
Air:
There are two airports that we recommend:
- JYV - Jyväskylä Airport - 27 km from the venue (location in Google Maps)
- HEL - Helsinki Airport - 280 km from the venue (location in Google Maps)
Public Transport:
If you arrive by air and you are looking for public transport to the venue, you first have to take the train to Jyväskylä railway station and then share a taxi from there to the Kiponniemi venue.
Here is the train schedule from Helsinki Airport (HEL) to Jyväskylä from VR train.
Car:
Here is the location of the venue in Google Maps.
Shared Bus Ride from Helsinki:
Would you like to book yourself a seat from a private bus to the IIT venue and back?
Preliminary timetable:
01-Jul-2022
Helsinki Railway Square (Helsinki Main Railway Station) at 11:30 → Helsinki/Vantaa Airport at 12:00 → IIT Kiponniemi venue at 16:00
10-Jul-2022
IIT Kiponniemi venue at 13:00 → Helsinki Helsinki/Vantaa Airport at 16:17
Helsinki Railway Square (Helsinki Main Railway Station) at 16:47
Price:
One seat in a bus back and forth costs EUR 69€. The bus ride will be arranged if 30 passengers have enrolled. We collect the bus ride reservation in the venue registration form that will be sent approximately on 15-May-2022.
We recommend waiting until we confirm the training on 01-Apr-2022 before booking non-refundable travel. We will not reimburse you for travel expenses if this training does not occur.
| 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 01-Apr-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
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.
3. On arrival and during your stay
If you have any symptoms of flu, we will ask you to get a Covid test kit from the venue and in case the result is positive, inform the organizers immediately. In that case we will organize you a separate private room and we will be able to connect you to at least one seminar room with a computer, in case you feel well enough to participate from your room.
We will minimize contact with people outside of our group. We invite you to limit physical interaction with all non-participants and therefore there will be only our group and the staff present during the whole 10 days. We will do our best to assure safety for the whole group.
Corona information pages for more local information:
- Travel to and from Finland (includes more links to pages with more precise answers according to which country you are coming from)
- Corona situation - latest updates (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare)
- Corona situation in the training venue area (Central Finland)
| Registration Process |
STEP 1 (now): Fill out the registration form to reserve your space
STEP 2 (starting 11-Mar-2022): Make your payment for tuition and Room and Board to the Center for Nonviolent Communication once we have opened payments
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.
On 01-Apr-2022, we plan to announce our decision to move 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 you have 2 options:
- Pay the “Early Bird” price of USD $1,989, which will be available for 10 days (01-Apr-2022 through 11-Apr-2022). After that, we will process applications from people at the standard registration rate. Upon receipt of payment, you are invited to make your travel plans.
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If you are unable to pay our full tuition fee, you can apply for financial assistance. We will review the first batch of applications 10 days after payment begins (11-Apr-2022). 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.
Note: Once we open payments 01-Apr-2022, we encourage you to register 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 traveling to Finland from another country, you might need to obtain a visa. Please consult the Finland Embassy in your country. If you need an invitation letter from us in order to apply for your Visa, email us.
Please wait to purchase your travel until we confirm the training. We will make a final decision and announcement about whether this training is occurring on 01-Apr-2022.
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*:
Through 11-Jun-2022, you have two options:
- Transfer 100% of your tuition to a future IIT; or
- Receive a refund minus a nonrefundable $150 tuition deposit
After 11-Jun-2022, 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.