草莓社区 will host its third annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) Community Day Friday, Feb. 2.
Titled 鈥淧ractical Tools for Hard Problems in Our Communities,鈥� the day鈥檚 workshops will offer practical tools and build skills for peacebuilding, conflict transformation in the workplace, and facilitation and community organizing. The day will also include a morning plenary speaker, opportunities for networking, and a lunch presentation by regional community leaders.
The event is also designed to give participants a preview of the community atmosphere and courses offered at , a program of the (CJP). SPI鈥檚 five sessions in May and June focus on a variety of topics including trauma awareness, restorative justice, leadership, program management and responding to violent extremism.
More than 200 people from approximately 40 countries attend SPI each year. While the early years of SPI were geared more towards international participants, in recent years the program has also attracted local participants and responded to local situations.
鈥淲e want to support the efforts of local individuals in a variety of positions and occupations who are already engaged in addressing the hard topics in our communities,鈥� said Christi Hoover Seidel, director of admissions for CJP. 鈥淲e see SPI Community Day as an opportunity for support, expansion, and connection for those who are committed to peacebuilding, even if they don’t self-identify as 鈥榩eacebuilders.鈥� Our goal is to offer practical tools to help sustain their work.鈥�
The 72 participants in last year鈥檚 Community Day represented a wide range of professional interests: offender reentry, youth empowerment, adult career education, mediation, climate activism and filmmaking. More than half were from Harrisonburg, with the remainder from Virginia, Maryland, Washington D.C., West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Workshops and presenters this year include:
- Transformative Leadership for Organizational Development, with Elizabeth Girvan, executive director of Skyline Literacy and , professor of organizational leadership, EMU;
- How to be a Conflict Competent Leader, with , professor of applied social sciences, EMU;
- Peace Education Prelude, with Ed Brantmeier, professor of education, JMU;
- Organizing Your Community for Change, with , professor of applied social sciences, EMU;
- Building Resilience in Body, Mind and Spirit, with , director of the Strategies for Trauma Awareness & Resilience program, EMU;
- Mapping the Justice Needs of Your Community, with , professor and co-director of the Zehr Institute of Restorative Justice; and
- The Relational Importance of One-on-One Meetings, with ,聽professor聽of Restorative Justice and Peacebuilding, EMU.
Registration cost is $50 ($25 for students), and includes two workshops, a catered lunch, plus a $50 application fee waiver for SPI 2018.
Learn more about SPI Community Day .