Working with community tensions, Jan-Mar 2010

This new and fascinating area of study - applying learning from international conflict resolution approaches to UK urban environments - is relevant to anyone working in community-related roles. It is equally appropriate for front-line workers, managers, consultants, policy-makers and academics.

Over the six days, lecturers will present related theory and practice from disciplines as diverse as conflict transformation; systems theory; psycho-social studies; international relations; cultural studies; and sociology. As a group, we will be exploring the potential of international conflict resolution work to provide a new direction for contemporary urban conflicts in the UK, including those created by mobile populations.

The learning will be rooted in real case studies drawn from UK practice over the last three years, and participants will leave with a clear idea of how to analyse, intervene and evaluate engagement with local conflicts.

Course dates/venue: Jan 21/22nd, Feb 24/25, March 18/19th 2010, Bristol

Course aims
This highly interactive and participative course is taught in three two-day teaching blocks using a variety of methods - experiential exercises, group discussions, lectures and project work. Peer learning is encouraged through small group work, student presentations and projects, and participants are encouraged to bring their own ideas, experience and case studies into the room.

By the end of the course, participants will have:

• An understanding of the universal dynamics of conflict, including the significance of individual communication and conflict styles
• Personal reflection on their own relationship to conflict, including the impact of culturally informed responses
• Knowledge of the scope and variety of conflict resolution approaches and of their limitations
• The learning that can be drawn from the experiences of international peace-building initiatives
• An understanding of the significance of individual, cultural and social context in community conflicts
• An awareness of the range of methods used to analyse and address community conflicts nationally and internationally
• Reflection as to how these strategies can be used to develop positive communities in participants' own local arenas.

This highly interactive

Between the two-day workshops, participants will be encouraged to follow a programme of personal reflection by keeping a continuous reflexive learning journal related to the material presented and its relevance to their work beyond the course. Those who wish to have the course accredited (additional fees and prior agreement apply) will also present a written presentation for assessment at the end of the course based on a case study of their own choice and drawing in elements of background reading, theory and practice models.

Block 1 Understanding conflict
Course overview
Defining terms
Benefits of conflict
Conflict dynamics
Brief history of contemporary conflict resolution theory and practice
Emotions and identity in conflict - key theory
Social identity theory
Conflict analysis techniques

Block 2 - Critical issues
Recap and review
Power relations in daily interaction
Culture and conflict
Gender and conflict
Key thinkers
Introduction to mediation skills
Case study analysis
Intervention/strategy design

Block 3 - Interventions and implications
Group relations
Action research/learning
Conflict transformation - theory and practice
Evaluation and dissemination
Applying learning to live case studies
Case study presentation and reflection
Course summary

This course is jointly presented by Community Resolve and the Centre for Psycho-Social Studies at the University of West of England (UWE).

Community Resolve
Since 2003, Community Resolve has worked widely across Bristol to promote conflict resolution approaches in areas of community tension. Their partners include many city council departments, statutory agencies including police, and most primary, secondary and further education bodies in the city. Their highly successful interventions include community conflict involving whole tower blocks; a street at war with itself; and longterm harassment of community elders by younger people over eight years or more. In all examples, entrenched conflicts that other agencies struggled to deal with were brought to a rapid close.

Hen Wilkinson, leader of the course, is the founder and director of Community Resolve, She has been a practicing mediator since the early 1990s, as well as being a Visiting Fellow at CPSS and lecturer at Bath and Birkbeck, London University.

The Centre for Psycho-Social Studies
UWE's CPSS has developed as a Centre of Excellence in the subject discipline. The Centre regularly hosts conferences, guest speakers and has an annual seminar programme. The Centre is home to three academic journals: Journal of Psycho-Social Studies, Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society and Organisational and Social Dynamics. Students will benefit from a thriving research culture and contact with academics who are at the cutting edge of this field.

Professor Paul Hoggett, a leading academic in this area, is co-leader of the course. His extensive academic teaching and research record has focused on community development and tensions, with a particular interest in conflict.

Community Resolve and CPSS recently completed a widely quoted research into race/class unrest in the Hillfields area of Bristol. A summary of the research can be seen on the Community Resolve website, along with other research by the organization.