Understanding, conflict management and inclusion: the second series of mini-seminars took place in Ukrainian communities

Since 2017, the "Regional Union of Youth has been implementing the "Crisis prevention and Peace building in Ukraine – Time to Act!" project, supported with German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Funding programme zivik.

In 2019, two training courses on reconciliation, conflict management and inclusion in local communities were implemented. Participants from the Eastern regions of Ukraine who have an active civil position and are focused on resolving internal conflicts in their communities conduct own one-day seminars on the basis of this TC, during which they transfer the acquired knowledge to peers in their communities. Eleven such mini-seminars were implemented after the second training course.

The concept of "conflict" has a huge number of kinds: from armed to domestic. And, therefore, participants of the project tried to work out the largest number of options and chose the direction according to the type of their occupation.

Olena Romanenko implemented a seminar on "Conflict Management and Inclusion in Local Communities" in Novopskov, Luhansk region.

The seminar was attended by active community representatives interested in creating a safe space, understanding, mastering the tools for overcoming conflicts in Ukraine, as well as creating an inclusive space. The event addressed the following issues:

- conflict as a form of communication;
- sources of conflicts;
- kinds of conflicts;
- methods of conflict analysis;
- conflict resolution: successful cases.

The participants of the seminar had the opportunity to solidify the acquired knowledge during the practical tasks.

Olena Shovhenia, Viktoriia Slobozhan and Viktor Kronin implemented a seminar on "Behaviour in Conflict: Strategy, Analysis, and Communications” in Kharkiv.

The participants of the one-day Kharkiv seminar were specialists of state institutions, as well as civic activists who aim to master the methods of conflict management. The seminar had the following structure:

- The Conflict Behaviour Strategy block covered issues such as basic terms in conflict studies, as well as five conflict behaviour strategies.
- During the Conflict Analysis block, participants learned three methods of conflict analysis.
- The Conflict Communication block provided participants with knowledge on three methods of conflict communication.

Besides, during the practical blocks, participants were convinced of the effectiveness of the acquired knowledge and skills.

Kateryna Yarova implemented a one-day seminar in Lysychansk, Luhansk region.

The event was attended by education workers. The program of the seminar included work with the following skills and methods:

- "conflict" concept definition;
- types of conflicts;
- sources of conflicts;
- roles and behaviour within conflicts;
- methods of conflict analysis;
- acceptance of diversity;
- non-violent communication.

The practical exercises provided the workshop participants with an opportunity to independently develop the acquired knowledge, skills and methods of working with conflicts.

Liliana Semeniuta and Yuliia Tretiak implemented a seminar on "The path to success through conflict" in Kharkiv.

The event was attended by 36 persons – the activists seeking to manage conflicts in their communities. The educational program included the following blocks:

- conflict - benefits and drawbacks;
- causes of conflicts;
- conflict history: context;
- types of conflicts and their impact on us;
- using a conflict situation for personal growth;
- how to listen and hear your opponent;
- forecasting and managing conflicts.

According to the multipliers, the analysis of feedback in questionnaires demonstrates the workshop effectiveness, as well as reveales a high demand for similar events in Ukrainian communities.

Svitlana Staryhina and Yuniada Lalabiekova implemented a seminar in Melitopol.

The event was titled "Effective Communication in the Working Environment". The program included the following blocks, which participants could also develop during practical exercises and group work:

- constructive and destructive ways of conflict;
- "communication in organizations" presentation;
- efficient communication channels;
- strategies for getting out of the conflict.

Iryna Hnezdilova implemented a seminar in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region.

The seminar was attended by 20 people - employees of the Kramatorsk College of Technology and Design. In the feedback questionnaires, participants noted that the most useful knowledge and skills for them were the following:

- working with Karpman Drama Triangle;
- exercises to develop non-violent communication skills;
- "World Cafe" exercise.

Based on the feedback from the audience, it can be concluded that there is a significant demand for mastering skills and knowledge in conflict management.

Iryna Kobzieva implemented a seminar on "Conflict prevention in the educational environment" for pedagogical workers in Dnipro.

The seminar, which was implemented in the Educational and Methodological Laboratory of Health Technologies of Dnipro Academy of Continuing Education, was attended by pedagogical workers of Dnipropetrovsk region.

"The aim of the seminar was to draw the attention of educational institutions employees to non-violent communication through constructive resolution of conflict situations in the pedagogical environment. During the event, the participants walked along the "Meet New People path"; described their expectations; found out the reasons, mechanisms and kinds of conflicts during exercises "Associations", "Orange", "Projection"; mastered the methods and techniques of communication in a conflict and how you can use a conflict situation in a pedagogical environment for personal growth (exercise "Compliments", "My view of relationships", "Thick glass", "How many words do we have in stock?" Now our teachers know exactly how to turn a conflict into a constructive dialogue”, Iryna Kobzieva says.

Besides, Iryna implemented yet another workshop called "To hear and to understand", also in Dnipro.

"The purpose of this seminar was to deepen the participants' knowledge of the specifics of conflict as one of the phenomena of communication; to learn to constructively resolve conflict situations. During the seminar, participants were introduced to the "conflict" concept (exercise "If the conflict is..."), the causes of conflicts in communities. They realized and articulated their strengths in communicating with others and pinpointed their problems that could be solved ("My view of the relationship", "Distance" exercises). Besides, for many participants, the exercise "Me in my own eyes" was not easy, because not everyone was ready to look truthfully at themselves and honestly admit, “whether I conflict often”. The workshop was interesting, dynamic, with lively discussions and working in small groups,” Iryna told.

Yelyzaveta Bonchuzhna implemented a seminar on "Communication in Conflict" in Melitopol.

Students of local higher education institutions took part.

"The main purpose of the event is to show students that a conflict situation can be resolved through non-violent communication and for this it is necessary to be able to analyse the conflict. The students learned the basic methods of conflict analysis and solidified their knowledge with practical examples. Because of the event, participants were able to understand how to behave in certain situations, and how to resolve conflict situations, especially in their team or collective. And as a practical result, personally for the trainer, they invited to implement a similar event for the student council of the Pedagogical University", Yelyzaveta Bonchuzhna shares her impressions.

Iryna Korliakova implemented a seminar on "Conflicts and their resolution in the student educational environment" in Svatovo, Luhansk region.

The seminar aimed to unite people seeking to resolve conflicts in the student environment, to build and develop the local community, as well as to acquire advanced knowledge and practical skills that will help them in their future work.

Maksym Bratochkin and Olena Yefymenko implemented a workshop in Mariupol, Donetsk region.

Employees of the Mariupol Higher Metallurgical Vocational School took part in the seminar, during which participants worked on the following issues:

- introduction to the concept of Conflict: historical, legal, social and psychological aspects;
- structure of conflict and conflict behaviour, types of conflicts;
- strategies of the conflict solution;
- methods of conflict analysis.

Mini-seminars implemented by participants of the second training course on reconciliation, conflict management and inclusion in local lommunities demonstrated a high demand for mastering knowledge for dealing with conflicts, as well as for creating an inclusive safe environment in Ukrainian communities.