Gini Nelson’s Engaging Conflicts

Attorney-mediator Victoria Pynchon has an inspired tribute to the Mediators Without Borders project, as well as links for more information. As further stated here:

A key goal of MWOB is to develop indigenous skills for group facilitation, public dialogue, strategic planning, collaborative negotiation, and peer mediation.

The concept is for teams of volunteer mediators to conduct skill-building workshops consistent with the norms, values, and culture of the locale.

The mission is to increase the capacity of hostile communities to prevent, resolve, and recover from violent conflict.

Ken Cloke’s article, Mediators Without Borders: A Proposal to Resolve Political Conflicts, is posted online at Guy and Heidi Burgess’ Beyond Intractability Project (”Beyond Intractability: A Free Knowledge Base on More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict”). Ken is the key founder of MWOB.

Colin Rule is one of the leaders in online dispute resolution — possibly even “the” leader, given his extensive and unique experience which includes his current position as director of dispute resolution for ebay.com. He has a short article over at mediate.com overviewing the rich toolbox that can be utilized by web designers and programmers, including use of audio and video over the internet, for conflict resolution.

With this rich season of holidays and celebrations, here are some online selections to inform our actions, and aid charitable giving:
“Why We Shop” by Jennifer Michael Hecht (will require a subscription to the New York Times’ Times Select to access): “History suggests that holiday shopping fills an ancient need to gather and tithe, and serves as a modern-day ritual of renewal;”
Some “ethical shopping sites”, thanks to the Thinking Ethics blog; and — my favorite online donation site — The Hunger Site, where “[y]our click helps feed the hungry with the value of 1.1 cups of staple food.” I love this site especially because it also has tabs across the top for donations to The Breast Cancer Site, where “[y]our click, along with others today, will fund free mammograms for women in need;” The Child Health Site, where “[y]our click, along with others’ today, provides basic but critical health services to more than 1,000 children. Each click helps prevent life-threatening diseases, restore vision to blind children, and enable child amputees to walk; The Literacy Site, where “[y]our click, along with others’ today, helps children in need discover the joy of books;” The Rainforest Site, where “[y]our click has funded the preservation of 11.4 square feet of endangered rainforest;” and The Animal Rescue Site, where “[y]our click provided the value of .6 bowls of food and care to a rescued animal in a shelter or sanctuary.”

Just clicking where indicated gives the donation — all you spend is a little time. You can sign up for emailed reminders to visit the site.

Skype has announced that effective January 1, 2007, it will offer unlimited calling to landlines and cellphones in the US and Canada for $30/year, the New York Times reported this week. And, even better, the cost is only $15 if you sign up by January 31, 2007. The plan also provides at least an hour of international calling, and coupons for discounts on Skype tech purchases.
Skype has 136 million registered users worldwide, and calls between them are always free. Here’s the Skype link, for more information.

I’m still in the process of moving my blog from the Wordpress site to here, at EngagingConflicts.com. Please bear with me! But here’s a photo showing the range of experiences offered at Podcamp from one of the panels I was on — from l., Matthew Wayne Selznick, author of Brave Men Run – A Novel of the Soveriegn Era, DIY (Do It Yourself) advocate and founding member of the Podcast Guild; me, Engaging Conflicts author and host Gini Nelson; Shahram Shokrian, Podcast Hosting PODKIVE; and Tim Street, Exec. Producer, French Maid TV.