Crisis prevention and Peace building in Ukraine – Time to Act!: participants held their own events in local communities

Within the "Crisis prevention and Peace building in Ukraine – Time to Act!" project, which the "Regional Union of Youth" has been implementing for the fourth year, participants implemented their own events in their communities.

Workshops and one-day seminars were supported with German Federal Foreign Office’s funds by IFA (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen), Funding programme zivik. They are aimed at deepening the peacebuilding processes in the context of the military conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Conflict prevention in the educational space: workshop for educators took place in Kostiantynivka

Valeria Tishchenko, Natalia Korchak, Olena Korchak and Halyna Shekhova ("Pravopolis", "Zoopatrol") conducted a workshop Prevention of conflicts in the educational process through communication strategies" in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region.

"The target audience is the pedagogical community – educators. The event was attended by teachers: primary foreign language, Ukrainian language and literature, mathematics, music, labour training, a psychologist, and an assistant teacher in inclusive classes. The workshop was also attended by the school administration. It consisted of four separate blocks", the facilitators said.

Topics have been worked out regarding the definition and detailed explanation with examples and context of the following terms and concepts:
- conflict, its types, causes, and stages;
- values, their types, meaning and varieties;
- mediator, mediator’s functions and features of the mediation process;
- communication and communication strategy, its practical application;
- bullying as a kind of conflict, its early detection and prevention both among students and teachers;
- how to protect yourself from the manifestations of conflict behaviour, not to be exposed to the conflict and to have the means to "softly" resolve it.

Participants were asked to make up their "Personality Quadrant", two "Icebreakers" were used. The theoretical part was consolidated by the thematic game "Balloon", with which participants could rethink their values and the values of others, as well as discuss and draw conclusions. The last block considered the manifestations of conflict in communication with the outside world, namely with the world of nature: fauna and flora. The causal relationship between a person’s attitude to nature and to other people has been identified.

Means of Conflict management: workshop for cultural workers took place in Kharkiv region

Sakhnovshchyna District House of Culture hosted a workshop for cultural workers of the village of Sakhnovshchyna, Kharkiv region, entitled "Conflicts in the field of culture". The organizer of the event is the head of the local lore sector of Sakhnovshchyna DHC, a participant in a training course on conflict management and inclusion in local communities.

The target audience are employees of the department of culture, youth and sports of Sakhnovshchyna Municipal State Administration, Sakhnovshchyna District House of Culture, municipal institutions "Sakhnovshchyna Centralized Library System" (children's and adult libraries) and "Sakhnovshchyna District Museum of History and Local Lore".

According to the workshop program, the following topics were considered:
- conflict and conflict situation, types of conflicts, conflict model;
- culture of communication, "correct no", non-violent communication;
- self-motivation, search for opportunities.

Three exercises were suggested: "My coat of arms" (for getting to know each other), "Balloon" (for team building, improving communication skills, persuasion skills, reaching a compromise), "Bend a sheet" (for team building), "Learning to say compliments" (for the culture of communication, expression of emotions), icebreaker "Rain" (for letting masks slip and relaxation).

Three information posters were developed – "Training "Conflicts within the field of culture", "Iceberg of conflict", "Types of conflicts". Following the workshop, participants received certificates.

"Creative Laboratory for Peacebuilding": Conflict Management workshop was implemented in Melitopol

Olha Frolova and Olha Serbova implemented a training "Creative Laboratory for Peacebuilding", within the framework of the All-Ukrainian Festival of Practical Psychology and Art Therapy "ARTDYVOSVIT" in Melitopol.

The event was attended by school teachers, psychologists and a teacher at the Academy of Internal Affairs.

We received positive feedback from the participants: an interesting effective tool for studying the topic of peacebuilding, simple real actions that change the world. After the workshop, we further discussed the methodology of conducting such a form of group work as "creative laboratory", summed up the facilitators.

Conflict Management and Prevention in the Social Sphere: mini-seminar for Social Work Specialists was implemented in Zaporizhzhia

The two-day seminar  "Management and prevention of conflicts in the social sphere" was held in Zaporizhzhia for specialists of regional centre of social services for children, family and youth.

The initial part of the seminar was the "Conflict ABC": conflict as a form of communication and an interactive exercise "Adventure on a Hot Air Balloon". The second part covered the issues of awareness and management of one's emotions and the basics of non-violent communication. The first day ended with the topic "Focused conversation", the second day was devoted to tools that serve to resolve conflicts. The final part included the topic of negotiating and establishing personal communication.

"Participants' impressions were generally positive; they noted that there were many practical exercises, and beyond that – that they are ready to implement the tools, knowledge and skills they acquired", summed up the facilitator.

How to reconcile neighbours: mini-seminar for house managers was implemented in Berdiansk

In the First Berdiansk Anti-Cafe "There is time!" mini-seminar called "Working with conflicts for house managers. How to reconcile neighbours" took place.

The target audience was people who work in hause management offices and communicate directly with participants in housing conflicts. The seminar's subject was working with conflicts between neighbours, the causes of conflicts, studying the needs of conflict participants, and possible ways of resolving conflicts.

The program included practical exercises and a mini-lecture. The following methods were used: discussion, work in mini-groups, creative laboratory, games, aquarium, mini-lecture, reflection in a circle format.

The event started with the game "Marfusha". Four participants retold the story, the rest watched. Due to the analysis of the game, various channels of obtaining information were analysed. Then the participants took part in the role-play game "Neighbours". Two participants, according to the assigned role, tried to agree on the purchase / sale of a land plot. The others observed and analysed the progress of the negotiations. After the negotiations, a map of the conflicts causes was created. Then two participants had the opportunity to consult with the support group. During the discussion, participants tried to study the needs of each "participant in the conflict". Then representatives of their "support group" had the opportunity to negotiate on behalf of the "participants in the conflict", trying to get into account the needs of each party to reach an understanding", the facilitator said.

To facilitate the study of the conflict situation, the facilitator gave a mini-lecture on the "conflict triangle" and participants tried to use it in a real-case scenario, analysing the course of negotiations.

"Parents and children - working with conflicts": workshop on peacebuilding was implemented in Energodar

People who work with children or have children took part in the event. The topics of the workshop were working with conflicts between parents and children, the causes of conflicts, studying the needs of the parties of the conflict, and possible ways to resolve conflicts.

The following methods were used during the workshop: discussion, work in mini-groups, creative laboratory, games, aquarium, mini-lecture, reflection in a circle format, personal coaching.

"During the reflection, participants noted that they have become better aware of the conflicts in their families and now have the tools to analyse the situation. They pointed out the importance of trying to put themselves in the other person's position. The director of the educational institution confirmed her opinion that it is important to involve a qualified psychologist in resolving conflicts. The participants paid attention to the fact that conflict between the parties can start at different times. There was a request to continue the education", the facilitator summed up.

Ways out of the conflict: a psychological workshop for students was implemented in Kamianske

The Kamianske College of Physical Education hosted a training-like psychological workshop "Conflict and ways out of it". The event was attended by third-year students.

The following aspects were worked out during the event:
- conflict and ways out of it;
- what is conflict;
- what kind of conflicts are there;
- how to find your way out of a conflict situation.

Besides, the facilitator spoke with the audience about creating a team and about leaders, the ability to work together and share knowledge, respect for others and the ability to share their thoughts.

"The students have something to think and remember about during distance learning; the acquired knowledge and skills will definitely come in hand in everyday life", the facilitator summed up.

Peacebuilding: Basic approaches to Conflict management were studied in Pershotravneve

The workshop "Basic Approaches to Conflict Management" took place in the urban-type settlement of Pershotravneve.

During the workshop, exercises and techniques were used to facilitate communication in the group, including the exercise "Indian Names". Besides, the facilitator provided the group with an explanation of the main approaches to conflict management, outlining mechanisms for identifying and studying the needs, interests and positions of the parties in a conflict situation.

"During the event, an analysis of conflict situations in groups was also carried out according to basic conflict management approaches", the facilitator said.

"Communication as a way to resolve conflicts": the subject of peacebuilding was studied in Kryvyi Rih

The event was attended by teenagers from among internally displaced persons and members of the families of ATO/OOS soldiers who were the participants in the social city project "Peace Camp. Kryvbas – Donbass – Ukraine".

The purpose of the event is to gain an understanding that effective communication can help to find ways out of conflict situations; to master effective communication strategies, prevention and management of conflict situations.

The group was quite active, the participants knew each other quite well, they have been taking part in the social city project "Peace Camp. Kryvbas – Donbass – Ukraine" for a year and attended (optionally) one-day training camps in different locations of the city, workshops and other events. The microclimate in the group was positive, the participants communicated with each other freely and kindly. During the seminar, the interest of the participants grew, the activity during the group work was high, the interactive exercises attracted particular attention. After one of the sessions, the group worked out a general definition of conflict. Besides, an interactive exercise "Balloon Crash" was used.

"Interactive exercises are generally a very good method of working with teenagers. This exercise was expected to arouse great interest and long discussions inside the group. Exercises "Conflict nonverbally" and "Persistence – resistance" were performed in pairs, with the goal for the group members to live the conflict situations on a "physical" and emotional levels at different stages of the conflict", facilitator Svitlana said.

She added that during the discussion of the exercises, the participants analysed the possible actions, physical reactions, emotions and feelings that accompanied the conflict.

Exercise "Choice of strategy" was performed by 3 subgroups. During the performance, participants had the opportunity to identify their preferred strategy of behaviour in the conflict and analyse its features. During the discussion, participants shared their experiences and summarized the features typical for the selected strategies. Interactive exercise "Cinderella" increased group's ability to consider the situation from different points of view. The members of the group received cards with the definition of various characters of the famous fairy tale; after the preparation they gave a description and assessment of the situation from the point of view of their characters", the facilitator told.

The group also received theoretical knowledge on the nature of the conflict, stages of the conflict, basic behavioural strategies in a conflict situation, methods of conflict analysis and general recommendations for resolving conflicts.

"Thus, during the seminar, participants learned to understand the nature of a conflict, develop a strategy of behaviour in conflict situations, manage and overcome conflict situations, the necessary tools for managing conflict situations and their proper application in practice", the facilitator said.

Conflicts and ways to manage them: workshop was held in Kharkiv

Liudmyla Tabolina, Coordinator of the Association of Euroclubs of Kharkiv, participant of the training course on conflict management and inclusion in local communities organized and conducted a thematic event for students based on what she had learned.

The target audience was the proactive youth of Osnovianskyi and other districts of Kharkiv. According to the workshop program, the following topics were considered:
- conflict and conflict situations, conflict types;
- how to conduct a dialogue, culture of communication;
- causes and consequences of conflicts;
- how a leader should behave if there are conflict situations in the team.

Various exercises were performed:
- "My family coat of arms" (get-to-know each other game);
- "Balloon" (for team building, improving communication and persuasion skills);
- "Learning to say compliments" (communication culture);
- "Leader" (associative bush, substantiation of one's own vision of the qualities of a leader).