1. Building Bridges: Leading Diverse Groups Through Conflict
A model from the National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI)

2. Workshop Overview
Learn a conflict resolution model for working through controversial issues

3. Workshop Agreements
Pairs
Confidentiality

4. Criteria for Controversial Issue
A topic that is often highly emotional
A topic framed in terms of Yes or No
A topic where there is likely to be disagreement within the group
A topic that you would find exciting to examine today with this group of people
A topic about which YOU have a personal story

5. Skill Building
Listening is not the same as agreeing

6. Advocacy
One works to advance a position to favor a cause, to push for change by defeating another

7. Coalition Building
One finds the common elements of agreement among diverse parties in order to accomplish together what each party cannot accomplish alone.
Coalition Builders attempt to understand the issues of all parties concerned about an issue and to create, where it is feasible, a climate of cooperation

8. Listening to the Controversy
One person explains the reasons for her/his position on the issue
Listener repeats to speaker, as precisely as possible, what he/she heard
Listener asks a question in order to gain new information regarding how the speaker personally perceived the issue
(e.g. “What in your life has influenced you to feel this way?”).
Speaker answers question

9. Skill Building
We can choose our attitude toward what we hear.

10. Finding Common Ground
Person
Person
Reason
Reason

11. Umbrella Question
Reframe the issue by asking a question that tries to raise the discussion above the rhetoric and the active disagreement and yet…
Keeps the interest of both parties and guides their work together.

12. Example of Umbrella Question:
“As a society that cares about women and children, how can we best address the issue of unwanted pregnancy?”
“As a society that values life, how can we provide just consequences for those who have committed heinous crimes or taken a life?”

13. “How Can We…While at the Same Time..” Question
This question attempts to link the key concepts of both parties into one question…
and demonstrate how the issue can be bridges

14. Example of “How can we…while at the same time…” questions
“How can we protect the safety of citizens while at the same time offer a significant enough deterrent to crime?”
“How can we effectively punish murderers, while at the same time protect family values in delivering legal justice?”

15. “How can we while at the same time…” question
Finding Common Ground
Umbrella Question
Reframes the issue by asking a question that tries to raise the discussion above the rhetoric and the active disagreement, and yet keeps the interest of both parties and guides their work together.
“How can we while at the same time…” question
Attempts to link the key concerns of both parties in one question and demonstrate how the issue can be bridged