BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
TRANSFORMING CONFLICT

Latest work - July 2010

MLCT is currently working in the UK and Lebanon

• In the UK, in July Andy Mason is training mediators from the Brighton Independent Mediation Service in using nonviolent communication to transform conflict.
• In May and July Andy continued to coach managers of Neopost - suppliers of business postal machines. They attended the two day 'Introduction to Conflict Transformation' (of which one senior HR manager said 'everyone needs to come on this!!') Managers are now reporting stronger relationships with staff, their own managers and customers. The Director of HR is looking for alternative approaches to tackle difficult situations.
• In July Andy is working with a couple to provide support in their relationship - one of whom says 'we could go to couples therapy for years and we would never have had the depth of conversation you helped us have today'
• In May Andy continued to provide long-term support to a local charity in Brighton. He's conducted an organisational review and introduced a new, non hierachial management system. In February and March he led the service users and staff along a process to change the name of the charity. Basing the approach on consensus and understanding has avoided much of the acrimony characteristic of previous name change attempts.

• In southern Lebanon Andy spent four weeks in May and June training staff of ALPHA, a local non-governmental organisation. ALPHA staff work with communities affected by war. Andy's work aimed to help local staff build better relationships with the community.
• In southern Lebanon, Sarri Bater is supporting a child protection project in the Palestinian camps around Tyre in the south. She is helping local staff use conflict transformation ideas to develop relationships in the camps. She is also influencing the nature of the management of the project. The project is for two years.
• Read the evaluation and capitalisation report of our work with NVC in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria in 2008-2009 here.