World Work: Brighton & Hove, October 10-11, 2008

Door ways to Diversity: Alternatives to Us and Them

By Waleed Abdallah

WORLD WORK - Brighton & Hove 10th & 11th October 2008

Organised by Community Dialogue for Change' (CDC)
In partnership with CFOR www.cfor.info

Doorways to Diversity Alternatives to Us and Them
Processing conflicts around race, religion, diversity and beyond.

Date 10th & 11th October 2008
Venue Brighthelm Community Centre, North Road, Brighton BN1 1YD
Times 9.30 - 5.00pm    Cost £100.00/£140.00 (a few bursaries available)
Contact Femi: 01273 323524
Email: communitydialogueforchange@googlemail.
All of our diversity is welcome and invited to attend.

Diversity is often seen as a cause to celebrate the richness of our variety - the
complementary colours, sounds, styles, tongues, rhythms, shapes, textures, flavours and smells that represent our many dimensions. Diversity as we know, also brings up conflicts around these differences. Recent (and historical) international, national and local events have raised renewed fears around fundamentalism; race and religion have become entangled. Various forms of racism, exclusion, harassment and stereotyping of people casts shadows over humanity and our communities.

What would it sound like to live and work creatively with race, religion and other
interlinked parts of our diversity? What would it feel like to fully engage with all
aspects of our differences and have a deeper understanding of our essential connection? How do we understand the meaning of 'being at home' in our communities in Brighton and Hove, and beyond? What would it take for a future to be possible? Rather than being stuck in an old groove, where conflicts keep cycling, we learn that when we support all aspects and experiences in a conflict, opportunities emerge for us to transform ourselves and our communities, locally and globally.

World Work, an experiential and training workshop, is an innovative approach that goes beyond mere 'correctness', and combines deep reflection with community building.
Its orientation is at once personal, social, and political and draws on the essence behind our humanity and the planet we share. Process Work methods give us an opportunity to deepen our awareness and understanding of the dynamics that keep diversity conflicts going. Drawing on the wisdom of the group to fully explore differences, it is possible tounlock the creative potential within the conflict and find some common ground.

Using Process Work methods and tools, we will learn experientially and from short
presentations, demonstrations and examples. During this workshop we'll learn about Process Work and experience it in action, including:

• The dynamics of power and privilege in the escalation of conflict and its transformation
  Understanding our communication style and how not to repeat cycles of violence
• The underlying roles in transformation and change
• Using our awareness as a tool in relation to handling diversity issues
• "Deep Democracy" (a deeper form of inclusion)
• We further aim to: develop a community of people with an interest in using Process Work to respond to conflict and promote community building in Brighton and Hove.