{"id":72280,"date":"2016-04-18T12:00:34","date_gmt":"2016-04-18T11:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=72280"},"modified":"2016-04-18T10:25:32","modified_gmt":"2016-04-18T09:25:32","slug":"creating-resilient-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/04\/creating-resilient-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating Resilient Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"robert<\/a>13 Apr 2016 – <\/em>\u201cConflict happens in isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wow, that\u2019s it. A sense of awareness ignited as I listened to Kristin Famula, president of the National Peace Academy<\/a>, make this seldom-acknowledged observation. When we feel wronged, violated, disrespected, suddenly we\u2019re alone with our careening emotions.<\/p>\n

Indeed, this is what makes it a \u201cconflict\u201d: the fact that we can\u2019t see beyond the rage, the sense of injury, the wrongness of what has happened. It may last only a moment or two, after which we put the situation in perspective or, at the very least, shrug it off and move on. But perhaps the situation is ongoing, or the wrong was inexcusably offensive \u2014 and we can\u2019t let go of it.<\/p>\n

Maybe the aloneness we feel is what\u2019s worst about the whole situation. We\u2019re alone with our own intolerable emotions, reduced to fight-or-flight thinking, unable to address the matter beyond the perceptions of our reptile brain. And the only resolution we can imagine is a counterattack \u2014 no matter that, most likely, this will only aggravate, intensify and prolong the problem. And it will leave us feeling just as isolated.\"conflict<\/a><\/p>\n

But what else are we supposed to do?<\/p>\n

This question strikes me as indicative of the stalled state of our world, especially when we expand the hypothetical conflict situation beyond the personal. Imagine protesters in the streets of Ferguson, Mo., confronting a wall of helmeted, billyclub-wielding police officers. Imagine a boatload of desperate immigrants facing a mob of angry nationals telling them to go back home. Imagine a national leader in the wake of a terrorist attack, facing what he (or she) imagines to be evil itself . . . and wondering whom he should bomb.<\/p>\n

Conflict happens in isolation \u2014 isolation from our larger consciousness. But the thing is, we have enormous resources for the sane and even productive handling of conflict, mostly, alas, under the social radar. The stories we tell ourselves \u2014 the movies and TV shows we watch, the pseudo-news we absorb in the media \u2014 are primarily about the consequence-free triumph of good violence over bad violence, and the endless necessity to stay on the aggressive defensive against our enemies. The \u201cnext war\u201d is inevitable. And peace is simply the lull between wars.<\/p>\n

But real peace \u2014 positive peace, which transcends violence and turns conflict into opportunity \u2014 is and always has been part of who we are as well. We know a lot more about how to create peace than we think we do. We\u2019re perfectly capable of transcending violent solutions to our troubles and building a sustainable future. The first step is to take our conflicts out of isolation.<\/p>\n

And it is in this context that I reintroduce the National Peace Academy, which came into being in the wake of a conference<\/a> at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland seven years ago, and since then has been in the process of creating partnerships, facilitating workshops and quietly helping to expand the American and global culture of peace.<\/p>\n

Last week, the NPA took a crucial step in its becoming. It has established a partnership with George Mason University, near Washington, D.C., and will join forces with the university\u2019s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, the oldest peace studies program in the country.<\/p>\n

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 6, the university opened Point of View<\/a>, \u201ca peacebuilding research and conference center in Lorton, Virginia, dedicated to teaching and learning, research, and a commitment to engagement and practice,\u201d according to the NPA\u2019s press release. The Peace Academy, as part of the peacebuilding center, plans soon to break ground on its own facility at Point of View, the Elise Boulding National Peace Academy House, a residence, according to the press release, that \u201cwill allow for on-site peacebuilding training, conflict resolution, dialogue, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, U.S. Rep. Donald S. Beyer of Virginia said of Point of View: \u201cThis unique human resource . . . is part of the new geography of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

I see it as the concept of peace claiming realness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are good people out there doing (peace) work already, but they\u2019re not always connected,\u201d Kristin Famula told me the other day. NPA\u2019s role is to bring these people together and \u201cdeepen the impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

More specifically: The vision, Famula said, is to establish a center where parties involved in serious conflict \u2014 think Ferguson residents and the police \u2014 can come together to address the situation in a context capable of acknowledging and valuing all points of view and committed to finding a solution that transcends the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnvision having access to a wealth of people who can help do research and thinking about this,\u201d she said. \u201cConflict happens in isolation\u201d \u2014 but the vision is to create the infrastructure for putting even the biggest, thorniest social conflicts into a healing context.<\/p>\n

Dot Maver, NPA co-founder and former president, said of the academy\u2019s partnership with George Mason University \u2014 which resulted from her connection with Kevin Avruch, dean of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution \u2014 that it will \u201cprovide necessary connective tissue to help create . . . safe and resilient communities.\u201d Indeed, NPA\u2019s mission includes \u201chelping communities become trauma-resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

To which I cry hallelujah! It may not be obvious, but we are moving beyond a domination- and punishment-based social structure. Creating resilient communities, providing the resources that can take conflict out of isolation and put it into a constructive context, strike me as a crucial step in our social evolution.<\/p>\n

More than 90 years ago, social visionary and management consultant Mary Parker-Follett wrote: \u201cAs conflict \u2014 difference \u2014 is here in the world, as we cannot avoid it, we should, I think, use it. Instead of condemning it, we should set it to work for us. . . . The transmission of power by belts depends on friction between the belt and the pulley. The friction between the driving wheel of the locomotive and the track is necessary to haul the train. All polishing is done by friction. The music of the violin we get by friction.\u201d<\/p>\n

_____________________________________<\/p>\n

Robert C. Koehler is an award-winning, Chicago-based peace journalist and nationally syndicated writer. His book, <\/em>Courage Grows Strong at the Wound (Xenos Press) is still available. Contact him at koehlercw@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 commonwonders.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real peace \u2014 positive peace, which transcends violence and turns conflict into opportunity \u2014 is and always has been part of who we are. We know a lot more about how to create peace than we think we do. We\u2019re perfectly capable of transcending violent solutions to our troubles and building a sustainable future. The first step is to take our conflicts out of isolation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tms-peace-journalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72280\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}