by Andrés Martinez-Garcia, Colombia Dear Colleagues, Think about bread. The fluffy kind… To make bread a baker puts together a variety of ingredients. But one is key: Yeast. This is how it works: You grab a [...]
by Billene Seyoum, Ethiopia It is an honor to stand here amongst a cohort of enthusiastic and determined agents of change, whose vision and commitment to seeking ways of making our world a better place is inspiring. At [...]
by Stephanie Billingham, Canada Yesterday saw the end of Day Two of our three day simulation, and what a day it was. An investigation into the explosion at the Georgian/Abkhaz Power Plant revealed an Abkhaz diaspora as [...]
by Alex Hong, United States of America In the fourth and final week of the IPSI Symposium in Bologna, we get to try everything our we have learned so far. Tuesday was the second day [...]
by Imy Jacobs, Australia And so we saw the beginning of the end of the IPSI 2012 Bologna Symposium. We kicked off our final week of classes with a three day simulation, with the objective [...]
by Lauren Squires, United States of America Our first Friday of July began as Dr. Jack Duvall discussed how civil resistance can replace violence and terror. This enlightening and provocative lecture touched on many themes of [...]
by Jenn Buxton, Canada I can’t believe we are starting our last week; the saying “time flies when you’re having fun” really stands true at IPSI. I have appreciated all the speakers and trainers, as well as, [...]
by Chloe Baveas, Australia The dramatic description of the nonviolence discourse by Jack Duvall set the tone for the rest of the day. Keeping up with IPSI calibre of speakers, Mr Duvall passionately delved into the [...]
by Auriel Niemack, South Africa On Thursday we were graced with three speakers from the International Cente on Non-Violent Conflict, Jack Duvall, Maciej Bartkowski and Mary King, who all spoke to various aspects of non-violence and civil [...]
by Emma Hodder, New Zealand Today had to be one of my favourite days of the symposium thus far. In the morning we were treated to the beautiful and engaging Dr Valérie Rosoux talking about reconciliation. After [...]
by Hamdi Aden, Somalia Yesterday, Heidi Ober, from Care International gave an informative workshop on Theories Of Change (TOCs) in the Design, Monitoring and Evaluation (DME) of projects in fragile states. Using examples from Nepal, [...]
by Chris de Wit, The Netherlands In a few years I reckon I’ll look back on today, thinking it was one of these days that has had a significant impact on my ‘road taken’. John and [...]
by Billene Woldeyes, Ethiopia I remember following with intensity the domino effect of the Arab Spring as it hit the North African states in early December 2010. I wondered if a transition in Libya with minimal [...]
by Larissa Alles, Germany Generally speaking, this symposium generates significantly more questions than answers. But what it also does is to shift one's own perspective from left to right, back and forth. Today's session on the Responsibility [...]
by Reem Alsalem, Palestine In the latter half of last week, we were immersed into a mini crash course on negotiating successfully in an international context by professor Wilbur Perlot of the Clingendael Institute in the [...]
by Hamdi Aden, Somalia Although, women are recognized as a fundamental force in the quest to eradicate poverty and maintain the stability of families and societies, human rights violations against women remain at a level where [...]
by Larissa Alles, Germany Coming mostly from Western countries, few of us have ever thought to differentiate between peace and justice or vice versa. Why should we, since we often have both? Yet, when listening [...]
by Jenn Buxton, Canada We are now almost done our second week, but what an awesome week it has been! I am in shock by how quickly the time is passing by. Soon I will [...]
by Hamdi Aden, Somalia There is a surreal experience when you sit listening to a talk by someone whose work you have often quoted (in the hurried pages of the many essays you have written) over [...]
by Emma Hodder, New Zealand After a full day simulation on Tuesday it was nice to have a day of academics today. We spent the morning brainstorming the key aspects for a successful negotiation with Wilburt Perlot [...]
by Alex Hong, United States of America We are in the second week of the IPSI Symposium in Bologna and have been given the opportunity to learn from Dr. Joyce Neu. With over twenty years [...]
by Hamdi Aden, Somalia Week two is promising to be an exciting challenge and learning opportunity for participants as Dr. Joyce Neu took to the lectern yesterday morning. Participants listened enthusiastically as Dr. Neu discussed [...]
by Alex Hong, United States of America We've been in Bologna less than one week for the IPSI Symposium but it feels like we've been here two or three. We had the honor of hearing Roshan [...]
by Diogo Galvão, Brazil This first week of 2012 Bologna Symposium has exceeded my expectations. After quite a few busy days, full of discussions, insights, simulations and practical training, Roshan Paul, Senior Change Maker at Ashoka, [...]
by Kiran Peter, Pakistan The IPSI symposium started yesterday with Michael Shipler, the Asia Director at Search for Common Ground and Rajendra Mulmi, the Director of Programs at Search for Common Ground Nepal, facilitating various [...]
by Hamdi Aden, Somalia Day three of the Summit focused on facilitation training run by representatives from Search for Common Ground Nepal. From the initial outset the facilitators asked us to identify our experience with [...]
by Clare Barclay, Australia Professor Terrence Hopmann’s joyful and passionate countenance again graced our podium, bringing our thoughts to the theoretical considerations we need to face when both judging and acting upon potential conflict scenarios. [...]
by Brigid Furlong, Australia Writing now, during the warm evening at the end of the first day of class, it feels like the Bologna Symposium for 2012 has commenced in an exciting blur. Much of [...]
Hello from the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Center in Bologna, Italy! The 2012 Bologna Symposium will offer an unprecedented line-up of the world's top academics, practitioners, and advocates, and we want to make sure those not present at the program [...]
