DPC as a conflict management method is to a certain extend ‘a child of Oikosnet’. It started in June 2004 with a conference, which was attended by 18 participants from all Oikosnet branches in the world. After the initial activities a 5-day-training was developed. At Corrymeela this training was given for the 72nd time. About 1.100 have received the training, many of them apply their learning’s in their daily life, as a volunteer or in their professional life. Trainers during this training were Colin Craig and Ingeberte Uitslag, both active from the very beginning of DPC. For the first half of the training, 22 participants were present. The second half was only available for 16 persons; 6 persons, either staff-members or volunteers of Corrymeela, have to wait for another opportunity to finalise the training by putting all learning’s in practice while playing out some real-life scenario’s, which were gathered all over the globe. It is expected that a reflection about the training will follow in a next issue of this Newsletter.
Anyhow, there are some observations which I want to share already now, also since I was able to be in the room during some parts in the second half of the training. The first is that the quality of the participants was extremely high. Mostly you see a number of people with excellent qualities. This time the quality was overwhelming good, no matter which age the participants had – giving hope for the future. The second: the training was offered to all members of Oikosnet Europe, also with financial support. Nevertheless the high number of different nationalities was mostly caused by the participation of several volunteers at Corrymeela. Participants with a background from other Oikosnet members were a minority. The third observation: the learning came with a lot of laughter and fun. This is always one objective, but never guaranteed. Here it was realised again, thanks to the participants and the trainers!
Jaap van der Sar