EDUCATION

Educational Program for CeSID’s activists in the field of preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution

The project “Educational Program for CeSID's activists in the field of preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution” came into being as a response to a need for lessening political tension, improving communication and bringing together various participants in the electoral process. CeSID's aim was to influence preventive activities, mediation and resolving conflicts through developing citizens' skills and specific target groups (the unions, non-governmental organizations).

The very realization of the project went into three phases. In the first phase, the training of instructors was conducted in cooperation with a team of experts from Scuola Superiore Sant' Anna, Pisa ( Italy ) and Bradford University ( Great Britain ) in Belgrade from June 24 th to 30 th 2002. 19 CeSID's instructors attended the training.

The second phase was used for the development of field capacities, and within the third phase the training of CeSID's activists was conducted.

In the period September – November 2002 we realized 22 trainings in which 454 CeSID's activists altogether participated. Out of those trainings 21 was conducted on the territory of Serbia without Kosovo and Metohija, whereas one training was conducted on the territory of Southern Kosovo (the municipality of Strpce ). The towns in which the trainings were carried out: Subotica, Novi Sad, Sombor, Zrenjanin, Belgrade, Valjevo, Loznica, Uzice, Kraljevo, Cacak, Kragujevac, Majdanpek, Zajecar, Nis, Pirot, Vranje, Bujanovac, Smederevo, Jagodina, Leskovac and Novi Pazar.

The objectives of the training were:

• To familiarize the participants with the field of conflict resolving
• To help the participants develop a basic understanding of conflicts and processes of conflict resolving
• To enable the participants to develop skills needed for more efficient communication with their surrounding, with members of other organizations and representatives of other local communities

The trainings did not aimed at instructing the participants in how to participate directly, or how to intervene in big and complex issues of long-lasting and violent conflicts, nor did they aim at instructing experienced collaborators in how to perform their activities. The aim of the project was, above all, to present new perspectives of observing conflicts through offering simple tools for their resolving.

The overall comment of instructors was that they were satisfied with the extent of interest of the participants. Often a multi-ethnic make-up of teams resulted in very productive work on the theme of conflicts, for one of the objectives of the training was to heighten the awareness of conflicting situations caused by cultural differences. Also, other objectives of the seminar were achieved and the participants liked playing roles in the field of facilitation most, through which they showed that they had understood the principles of that process. The activeness of all the participants was at a high level and it was not difficult to create a lively and at the same time working atmosphere, in which way the expectations of the instructors and the very participants were met.

Next parameter for the evaluation was participants' feedback after the participation in the electoral process. An interesting thing is that out of total 454 attendants 139 used the acquired knowledge directly at the polling station, that is, they were in situation either to participate or mediate in conflicting situations. On the other hand, representatives of political parties who participated in the activities of the electoral bodies in four municipalities expressed gratitude to municipal coordinators for constructive work of CeSID'S activists. In the same period 89 of CeSID's activists stated that they used actively the skills of facilitation doing their regular job.

The continuation of the project “Building the capacities of the employed in local administration in the field of conflict resolution and non-violent communication”

In the course of the project “Monitoring the local administration' and “Educational Program for CeSID's activists in the field of preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution” we came to the following conclusions:

• on the one hand the employed in the local administration had never been trained and they worked in the conflicting environment and the dissatisfaction of citizens with their work was huge,
• and on the other hand the participants in our workshops accepted the project excellently and suggested extending it as to include other target groups.

As a response to those needs, we designed the project “Building the capacities of the local administration in the field of conflict resolution”. The objectives of this project were to develop a basic understanding of conflicts and conflict-resolving processes, to develop skills that would contribute to better communication with citizens and other employees and to create a better space for improving tolerance and promoting communication.

In the preliminary phase of this project, CeSID's instructors were hired by the Association of judges of Serbia to train newly elected judges and senior associates in the skills of peaceful conflict resolving, facilitation and communication. In the period from September to December 2003 three seminars were held with 120 participants, members of Association of judges of Serbia .

The program “Building the capacities of the employed in the local administration in the field of peaceful conflict resolution and non-violent communication” was realized in 10 municipalities in Serbia in the period from December 1 to June 30 2004 .

The project was carried out through three phases:

• First part represented the preliminary phase, in which we designed a handbook for training, and agreed on conducting two-day trainings for the employed in the local administration in 10 municipalities in Serbia
• Second part included the realization of trainings, given by CeSID's two-member teams through interactive workshops
• Third phase of the project included questioning the heads of municipal services and citizens with the aim of better evaluation of the project

A handbook for training was designed in cooperation with Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna from Pisa , Italy , whose experts helped us adjust their practice of training OEBS's observers to our needs.

In the second phase of the realization of the project, CeSID's instructors conducted the training of 20 employees in local self-governments in the following towns: Sombor, Indjija, Pancevo, Zajecar, Loznica, Kucevo, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Cacak and Leskovac. The trainings met with the absolute support of the heads of municipal administration but also the interest of the local media. The trainings were covered in radio and TV programs as well as in articles of the local press.

The third phase of the project implied conducting evaluation. The evaluation was done with the assistance of CeSID's team specialized in public-opinion researches. The findings pointed out to participants' satisfaction with the organization and realization of the trainings. The participants recognized the need for that kind of training, expressing the attitude that the change of values, ways of communication and promotion of tolerance were also necessary for the other parts of the state administration, and of the society. Special value to the process of evaluation was added by the data obtained from immediate superiors of the program participants (municipal assembly secretaries, the heads of administration departments). They were not the attendants of the seminar, but they expressed their indirect impressions on the seminar based on the observation of changes in work of the clerks, attendants of the seminar.

The mutual estimate of participants (volunteers, direct and indirect beneficiaries) in this project was that the continuation of such and similar educational programs, with the aim of developing capacities and modernizing the local administration and the local self-government in the Republic of Serbia is necessary.