“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi.

Active Visions of Peace (AVP) Peaceful Pathways Peace Leadership Community Conflict Transformation Help Increase the Peace (HIP) Programa Alternativas a la Violencia (PAV) ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE PROJECT (AVP)

AVP is a worldwide network of not-for-profit groups of volunteers  20 hour intensive workshops  On creative conflict transformation  Group experiential learning process  Empowering people to use nonviolent alternative responses to the conflict in their everyday lives  In communities, schools, prisons and traumatised communities ALTERNATIVES TO VOLENCE PROJECT (AVP)

1.Introduction 2.Workshops 3.Activity: Positive Names 4.Start of AVP 5.Research 6.AVP around the world 7.AVP in Australia 8.AVP in NSW 9.Peace Leadership 10.Activity: Positive Pairs EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO RESOLVE CONFLICT IN COMMUNITIES

Violence can -  Be physical, verbal or emotional  Damage or break relationships and communities Alternatives to Violence can -  Heal relationships  Rebuild communities  Build resilience and empowerment  Build mutual respect and tolerance ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE PROJECT (AVP)

Three levels of workshops: 1.Basic 2.Advanced 3.Training for Facilitators AVP WORKSHOPS

AVP BUILDING BLOCKS

AVP PHILOSOPHY

Personal Circles Teams Experiential Reflection AVP LEARNING

 Choose a positive name  Start with the same sound / letter of your first name  Something positive about yourself, or  Something that you would like to be. POSITIVE NAMES

Green Haven Prison, New York in 1975  Prisoners  Quakers  Civil Rights Movement  Children’s Creative Response to Conflict USA - 16,000 workshops with 225,000 people START OF AVP

Prisons  Recidivism (reoffending)  Anger responses Schools  Reduced violent incidents  Improved attitudes  Improved grades AVP RESEARCH

AVP Worldwide

 Started in 1991  In every state and territory  Network of independent state groups  Peace Leadership in Darwin AVP AUSTRALIA

 Communities  Schools  Prisons  Interfaith – partnership with FAIR (Forum for Australian Islamic Relations)  Peace Leadership  Transforming Conflict – spin-0ff with TAFE 2000 AVP IN NSW

Gathering Activity

Small Group Activity

Challenging Activity

 Handle everyday conflict better  Mistrust in new communities  Conflicts with children  Couples relationships  Stress from new norms & values  Stress from challenges to former status  Community members asked to intervene in conflict  Have more peace in your lives  Facilitator training in group process & team leadership What’s in it for people of refugee background

 Community members can train as facilitators  Literacy or fluency not a barrier  Can use interpreters or community languages  Workshops in specific or mixed communities – build connections with wider community  Contact with AVP programs in countries of origin  Mirrors Recovery from Trauma frameworks. What’s in it for people of refugee backgrounds

 Stand up  Divide into pairs  One speaker and one listener  Speaker speak for two minutes on a topic POSITIVE PAIRS

 Listener will “hold a still and generous space for the speaker to speak into.”  First speaker topic – “Something I have done in the last year that I am proud of.”  Swap roles  Second speaker topic – “Something I will do in the next year that I can be proud of.”  Ask “What happened in this activity for you?” POSITIVE PAIRS 2

 Green statements occur when both the speaker and listener are happy to continue to talk  Red statements occur when one person says something that hurts the other person and they want to stop talking  Green go statements, Red stop statements  In pairs or threes  Share 3 green statements  Share 1 green statement response to 1 red statement RED AND GREEN

AVP BUILDING BLOCKS