--- title: "Oyvind Sandve - Center for Nonviolent Communication" description: "Oyvind Sandve" url: "https://www.cnvc.org/trainers/oyvind-sandve" date: "2026-09-18T07:20:14+00:00" language: "en-US" --- ![Oyvind Sandve Portrait](https://www.cnvc.org/images/Oyvind-Sandve.jpg) # Oyvind Sandve # Certified Trainer since 2026 Military School, Engineer Corps, Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Politics, Master’s Degree in Political Economy and Conflict Dynamics Making Connection Accessible Speaks English, Norwegian Current Country: Norway Country of Origin: Norway "For me, NVC is a bridge between personal healing and social change. When people learn to connect with their needs before choosing their strategies, conflict can become a doorway to dignity, responsibility, and transformation." I am a trainer, social entrepreneur, and organizational leader with a deep commitment to making Nonviolent Communication accessible as a practical force for social change. My work is rooted in the belief that human beings change when they experience dignity, belonging, responsibility, and connection with their own needs and the needs of others. For me, NVC is not only a communication model; it is a way of understanding conflict, power, healing, leadership, and social transformation. I am the general manager of Stiftelsen Retretten in Oslo, a foundation supporting people in recovery from drug addiction and life challenges. During the last years, NVC has become the backbone of our work. I have developed several NVC-related programs that help people strengthen self-understanding, emotional regulation, conflict skills, empathy, and the ability to make choices that serve life. My passion is to bring NVC to people who might not normally seek it out, but who can benefit deeply from discovering a language for what is alive in them. A central part of my work is social change. I am especially interested in how NVC can influence systems, institutions, and public policy. My preferred form of action is often top-down change: working with decision-makers, public institutions, political environments, and funding structures to create conditions where more people can access life-serving practices. I believe that if we want NVC to reach the many, we must also bring it into schools, recovery systems, prisons, social services, leadership education, and public institutions. At the same time, I also believe in change from below. I run a scout group, where I see how community, responsibility, nature, and practical leadership can shape young people’s lives. For me, scouting is also social change. It is a place where children and youth can experience belonging, courage, cooperation, service, and care for the natural world. This complements my work at Retretten and reminds me that transformation happens both through systems and through small, concrete communities where people learn to trust themselves and each other. My academic background is in political economy and conflict dynamics. I have studied and worked in Africa, and this continues to be an important part of my long-term aspiration. I am interested in how conflict, inequality, trauma, economics, and power interact, and how NVC can contribute to more life-serving ways of organizing communities and societies. I especially want to explore how NVC can support social change in African contexts, in collaboration with local leaders and communities. As a trainer, I am passionate about making complex ideas understandable, practical, and relevant. I want people to leave my trainings not only with concepts, but with a felt experience of possibility: that conflict can become connection, that needs can guide wise action, and that human beings can meet each other with more honesty and care. I am particularly interested in the distinction between needs and strategies, because I have seen how much conflict arises when people go directly to strategies without understanding the deeper needs underneath. What I would like people to know about me is that I am in this work for the long run. My path with NVC has been long, demanding, and at times lonely, but it has also shaped me profoundly. I care deeply about integrity, contribution, and practical impact. I want NVC to move beyond small communities of already interested people and become part of the language of everyday life, education, recovery, leadership, and social change. My aspiration is to contribute to a wider movement where connection, needs-consciousness, empathy, and responsibility become normal parts of how we live together. I want to help build bridges between personal transformation and structural change, between inner work and public systems, between healing and leadership. For me, this is the promise of NVC: not only better communication, but a more compassionate and courageous way of shaping society. > “My mission is to make NVC accessible to people and communities who may never find it through traditional courses. I offer trainings, programs, and organizational development that support dignity, needs-consciousness, emotional regulation, empathy, and honest connection. My work bridges personal healing and social change. I bring NVC into recovery work, leadership, education, public systems, and community life, helping people and organizations move from conflict and disconnection toward responsibility, belonging, and meaningful action.” Share this page: - [](mailto:?body=Hi%20check%20out%20this%20trainer%21&subject=Check%20out%20this%20Certified%20Trainer%20with%20the%20Center%20for%20Nonviolent%20Communication%21) - [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnvc.org%2Ftrainers%2Foyvind-sandve "Share on Facebook") - [](https://api.whatsapp.com/send?text=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnvc.org%2Ftrainers%2Foyvind-sandve "Share on Whatsapp") - [](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnvc.org%2Ftrainers%2Foyvind-sandve&text= "Share on Twitter") - [](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnvc.org%2Ftrainers%2Foyvind-sandve "Share on Linkedin") - [](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnvc.org%2Ftrainers%2Foyvind-sandve "share on Pinterest") ### TRAINING FOCUS: - Business - Children - Diversity - Education - General - Mind-Body-Spirit - Parenting & Family - Social Change I try to live by Gandhi’s words: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” [ LINKEDIN PROFILE ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/oyvindsandve/) “I love to cooperate, exchange ideas, and share what I am learning and creating. For me, sharing is caring, and I believe we grow stronger when we make our experience and resources available to one another.” # Contact Oyvind Sandve First name \* Last name \* Email Address \* Country \* United States Your Message \* Turnstile \* ![](https://www.cnvc.org/templates/yootheme/assets/images/consent_placeholder_map.svg) ![](https://www.cnvc.org/templates/yootheme/assets/images/consent_icon_openstreetmap.svg)OpenStreetMap service required to load this map. ![](https://www.cnvc.org/templates/yootheme/assets/images/consent_icon_openstreetmap.svg)OpenStreetMap service required to load this map.