In February of 2018 the NCPD was actively involved in an Innovation Lab in the city of Pasto in the Narino region in Colombia. The Lab was organised by the Iberio American Secretary General. The Lab brought more than 100 participants from many parts of Latin- Amerika together in a search for innovative peaceful solutions for post-conflict Colombia. Our contributions in this two-weeklong event were a presentation of our dialogue work and a workshop on dialogue methodology. For some participants the workshop offered their first opportunity to talk about experiences from the conflict.
Poland
The NCPD has for several years been engaged in different activities in Poland. In the spring of 2018 we had one workshop and one lecture in Warsaw about dialogue as a leadership tool, in cooperation with the Leadership Foundation. Both activities were well received by the 100 participants from different non- governmental organisations and small-scale businesses. Some participants were particularly inspired with the idea of using dialogue to overcome disunity in the polish society.
The Balkans
“Youth Leadership for Peace” is a cross-border project proposal presented to the Norwegian MFA, focusing on peace and reconciliation across 17 municipalities of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It increases youth resistance to hate speech, radicalization, violence and xenophobia in the region. NCPD developed the proposal in close partnership with the Nansen Dialogue Centers of Prijedor, Sarajevo, Mostar, Belgrade and Osijek and the Research Centre for Defence and Security (Serbia). We expect a decision by the MFA on this project before the fall of 2018.
Afghanistan
The Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue are working together with the Afghanistan Committee to strengthen the local capacity for dialogue and conflict management in Afghanistan. Conflicts thrive both locally and nationally in Afghanistan, and there is a severe lack of institutional mechanisms for resolving conflicts. This is one of the reasons why people need to be better at handling conflicts both in their families and in society. The Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue gives trainings in dialogue and conflict management for local employees in the Afghanistan committee.
The Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue cooperates with the Afghan committee on workshops and trainings in dialogue and conflict management. The Afghan committee educates midwives and has extended contact with midwives all around the country. Midwifery is one of few female professions carrying status, and which is accepted by all. This is why midwives have a particular position in the Afghan society. In 2014 to workshops focusing on the midwives’ work were held.” We wanted to explore how they’re able to carry out their jobs when the security situation is as fragile as it is, and how they’re working to increase security for themselves and the local communities.
Dr. Khadja is one of our partners. For several years she has included peace education into the curriculum while teaching midwifery students. Her work is the basis for the peace work and communication part of the midwifery curriculum, as well as the curriculum for other medical professions.
Norway
Our work with dialogue in Norway stretches back 20 years. At the moment we’re focusing our work on Norwegian municipalities, such as Skedsmo. In the span of the last several years we’ve facilitated dialogue between women from several different non-governmental organisations in this municipality, such as The Norwegian Women’s Public Health Association, The Kurdish Democratic Women’s Union, Skedsmo Sports Club, the Pakistani Cultural Association and The Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association. This has helped the organisations cooperate better on issues that consern them all.
We’re also running dialogue projects with several Norwegian upper secondary schools, such as Kuben Upper Secondary School and Hellerud Upper Secondary School, where we set up dialogue seminars and workshops for the pupils, tailoring them as needed. We touch on topics such as rasism, extremism, sexism etc, and offer the students tool to make it easier to communicate their wiews and emotions in a constructive manner.
We’re also currently working with Drammen Municipality, where we’ve run several different dialogue projects, including workshops for teachers, something that enables them to carry the dialogic approach into the classrooms.
In addition to this we deliver lectures on dialogue and our work in primary schools, colleges, Folk High Schools and universities, and we give workshops and dialogue trainings for dialogue practitioners in need of topping up their skills and toolsets. We also give a yearly seminar called the Nansen Seminar on topics relating to dialogue, politics etc.