OxPeace invites applications for its three-day intensive Training Workshop on ‘Negotiating and mediating successfully in international and grassroots conflict resolution’, in person, in Oxford.
This workshop welcomes graduate students, academics, practitioners, and policy-makers, and will be limited to 30 participants. Please apply as soon as possible.
Course summary
This workshop will give you an overview of the fundamentals as well as real-life practice of Peace Negotiation and Mediation. It will allow you to immediately apply what you have learned in a series of increasingly complex simulations and to exchange with practitioners about lessons learned from the field.
The first day of the course is devoted to the core principles of negotiating successfully, that is moving beyond the basic concept of claiming value to strategies that create satisfying outcomes for all sides. We will also look at the importance of mindsets and psychological factors in negotiations. Several roleplays and short simulations allow participants to apply and finetune these techniques.
On the second day we will explore fundamental concepts and best practices in conflict mediation on the international, national and grassroots level (tracks I, II and III). Drawing on lessons learned from mediation efforts in recent conflicts, in particular in Africa and the Middle East, we will identify current trends and challenges in the increasingly professionalised field of peace mediation.
The third day of the course will give participants the opportunity to apply the concepts of successful negotiation and mediation previously acquired to a comprehensive capstone exercise. Drawing closely on real-life cases, this multi-party role play simulates international mediation of peace negotiations in a protracted crisis in a fragile state.
This interactive workshop draws heavily on real-life examples from the lecturers’ experience in supporting peace mediations as well as their latest research on political negotiations. Participants are encouraged to contribute lessons learned from their own cases and peer-to-peer learning will be facilitated.
Course leaders
Martin Albani is a diplomat currently serving in the Mediation Support Team of the Foreign service of the European Union (EEAS). He has more than 12 years’ experience negotiating in international, European and national politics and administration. Martin focuses on peace negotiations and mediation support in conflicts in Africa and the Middle East. In addition to his diplomatic career, Martin has been lecturing and giving workshops on political negotiations and peacebuilding at the universities of St Gallen (Switzerland), Sciences Po (Paris) and for OxPeace since 2017.
Dr Valentin Ade is a negotiation trainer and researcher. As founder of The Negotiation Studio, he has been (co-)leading training workshops for the UN, OxPeace, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other public and private organisations. Val teaches political negotiations for instance at the University of St. Gallen's executive school and at Sciences Po Paris.
Fees
This workshop is heavily subsidised by an independent charity, the Oxford Peace Research Trust (OPRT). This allows the fee to be just £50 for students (Note for GGD students: the first 15 GGD Masters students will receive a £30 bursary).
The basic fee for non-students is £100, with the option instead to help subsidise the student fee by paying a supporting fee of £150.
Please note! The fee includes teas, coffees and a sandwich lunch but does NOT include accommodation. The course organisers are not able to help participants to find accommodation, which is expensive in Oxford and needs to be booked well in advance.
The course runs from 9.30am to 5pm each day, possibly with additional optional evening activities.
Applications
To apply please send a brief statement saying why you would like to participate, and a brief CV (including your current course if you are a student) and contact details (email, phone, and postal address) to the Assistant Organiser, Megan McDowell at Megan.mcdowell@hotmail.co.uk
We will let you know within a short time whether your application is successful, and will send you the bank details for payment.
Some comments from the 2021 Workshop
… a wonderfully engaging and educational training programme. I had fairly high expectations prior to the start of the programme, and even these were exceeded.
... it was a brilliant learning experience.
… I found it enormously valuable and took away many very applicable lessons.
OxPeace (Oxford Network of Peace Studies) is an associated project of the Centre for International Studies in the Department or Politics and International Relations.