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From Conflict to Consensus: A Catalyst for Healthy Human, Economic and Ecologic Conditions1 Jeff
Goebel2 ABSTRACT
Conflict resolution skills are taught to various participants of the SANREM/CRSP’s Phase II program in Mali, West Africa. The premise of introducing these skills to participants is that unresolved conflict robs communities and institutions of vitality and opportunities to make rapid progress toward important goals and objectives. Appropriate conflict resolving processes can lead to consensual decisions of all involved parties, yielding behavior that is consistent with those agreements. This paper describes the methodology and consequences for bringing together the various stakeholders in the management of the bourgoutières, important riparian areas. The conflict resolving process engages all
conflicting parties in an atmosphere of respectful listening; allows the
expression of concerns; and the fostering of desired outcomes. The participatory process is
easily transferable, particularly when repetition is designed into the
program. The workshops in
Mali are designed around conflict resolution associated with various
situations such as times of scarcity, and issues associated with power and
control, change, and diversity.
These skills are transferred directly to the participants and
consequently capacity is built within the project. Key interest groups are villagers
and herders living from the land; collaborating African agents,
administrators, and scientists; and the array of US-based scholars,
consultants, and institutions involved. INTRODUCTION Unresolved conflict robs communities and
institutions of vitality and opportunities to make rapid progress toward
important goals and objectives, including the research objectives of
SANREM. Conflict resolution
skills are taught to various participants of the SANREM/CRSP’s Phase II
program in Mali, West Africa.
Appropriate conflict resolving processes can lead to consensual
decisions of all involved parties, yielding behavior that is consistent
with those agreements.
Participants in this training include the Natural Resource
Management Advisory Committee (NRMAC) representing village leaders,
farmers and herders; NGO representatives, administrators, and
scientists. This paper
describes the methodology and consequences for bringing together the
various stakeholders in the management of a bourgoutière, an important
riparian area in the SANREM intervention zone. This methodology can be applied
and tested in any conflict setting in which participants realize the value
of confronting and successfully resolving conflicts.
Author Contact: Jeff Goebel, Email:
goebel@wsu.edu 1Paper presented to the SANREM CRSP Research Scientific Synthesis Conference, November 28-30, 2001, Athens, GA 2Savory Center for Holistic
Management Case Study Questions: 1)
What are
effective tools for confronting and successfully resolving the conflict
associated with the regeneration of bourgou? 2)
What is the
rationale for utilizing the tools? 3)
What are the
impacts of utilizing the tools? 4)
What are the
next steps to continue progress toward successful conflict resolution and
consensus building for the management of bourgou regeneration and for the
region? A conflict resolution and consensus building
process is being introduced to the Madiama Commune and associated SANREM
partnerships. This
experiential training addresses the process of conflict resolution and
consensus building through various conflict venues. Basic conflict resolution skills
are applied to intra personal, inter personal, and inter group
conflicts. Various conflict
venues include a basic introduction to conflict resolution, conflicts
associated with scarce resources, conflicts associated with human dynamics
and power relationships, conflicts associated with change and conflicts
associated with embracing diversity.
There is also a set of attitudes and behaviors associated with
successful conflict resolution, which is being learned through modeling
and practice of this process. Over the last two years, three conflict
resolution-training series were provided for the Madiama Commune
NRMAC. The first series, in
November 1999, involved a basic introduction to the conflict resolution
process. The second part of
this series involved the NRMAC members teaching what they learned to other
villagers. The second series,
in May 2000, addressed conflict resolution associated with scarce
resources. The third series,
in October 2001, focused on evaluation, conflict resolution associated
with human power dynamics, and confronting and successfully resolving the
bourgou regeneration issue.
Each series was designed to bring a level of adoption of these
skills, attitudes and behaviors to the NRMAC, building on the past
trainings while discovering new venues of conflict
resolution. This region has a traditional conflict
resolution process, which continues today. Currently, most NRM conflicts are
resolved at the village level by the chief and his counselors. However, if the conflict is not
settled at this level it will continue to the Chef d'arrondissement level
(current pre-commune context), then the Justice Ministry at the Circle
level (Djenne) or the regional authorities in Mopti. Madiama village leaders initially
saw no areas for improvement in the conflict management strategies,
despite a long-simmering conflict with the residents of nearby Nerekoro, a
herder’s village within the Madiama commune (Executive Summary PLLA,
1999). In Nerekoro, ideal NRM
commune level decision-making would include: recognition of Nerekoro land
tenure rights, Nerekoro-authorized natural resource use in their territory
and the creation of a fair tax system relative to animal passage and
potential damage caused by herds in fields. Decentralization presents new problems and
opportunities for conflict resolution. The SANREM West Africa project has
brought together diverse representation from 10 villages and various
backgrounds. Traditional
village leadership recognizes these committee members as representatives
for the villages. The
following describes the status of conflict resolution activities drawn
from a recent trip to Madiama and introduces the methods used to confront
and successfully resolve the bourgou regeneration
issue. METHODOLOGIES This paper describes two sets of tools
introduced in the Madiama commune to help the NRMAC become successful in
confronting and successfully resolving conflicts within and without the
commune and the rationale for using these tools. TOOLS
USED
There are numerous tools used to foster
confrontation and successful resolution of conflicts. Two sets of tools used in Madiama
as a basis for conflict resolution and consensus building follow. Each set of tools has specific
purposes. Clarity of purpose
for each activity used during a conflict resolution session is important
for fostering successful outcomes. Set
One Tools
Set One Tools are used to model effective
behavior when striving for conflict resolution by creating a sense of
potential equity and respectful listening. 1.
The Grounding. An
opening tool in which participants are seated in a circle of chairs and
answer three questions, one person at a time around the circle. The three questions are: 1)
Introduce yourself and your relationship to change?, 2) What are your
expectations of this workshop? and 3) Tell us how you feel about being
here. Participants are free
to say as much as or as little as they want, and usually follow the lead
of the first person. 2.
The Greeting Circle: A Native American Adaptation. The Greeting Circle is a process
to allow participants to introduce themselves directly to each individual
in the meeting. The
participants are standing and the Greeting Circle activity begins with a designated lead
person. The lead person moves
into the center of the circle and turns to the person next to him or her
and greets them. The lead
person moves on to the next person and so on around the circle. Meanwhile, the person first
greeted also steeps into the center of the circle, and following the lead
person, greets the next person in the circular line and continues greeting
people around the circle.
This continues until each person has gone around the inside of the
circle greeting others, and the outside of the circle, being
greeted. 3.
An Adaptive
Learning Process. Adaptive
Learning occurs at the end of any enriching experience such as the
Greeting Circle or at the end of the day. Again, one person at a time
speaks, going around the circle answering two questions: 1) “How do you
feel about the experience or situation?” and 2) “What did you learn from
it that will make you successful?” The Grounding, Greeting Circle, and Adaptive
Learning are repeated throughout the workshop setting in order
to: ·
Establish a
model for listening with respect, a knowing that each person will be
heard. ·
Establish a
verbal territory for each participant, a sense of potential
equity ·
Facilitate
access to both the left and the right brain, engaging the "whole
brain. ·
Allow
apprehensions and hopes for the meeting to be
expressed. ·
Allow
participants to express hidden agendas (manifested by, for example,
leaving early; arriving late due to a flat tire; a sickness;
etc.) ·
Bring people
into the "here and now” ·
Provides
initial information to the facilitator. 4.
The Roles of the Successful Facilitator and Recorder. Often during the beginning of a
workshop, the participants are allowed an opportunity to define successful
roles. Again, continuing in a
circle, one at a time, the following questions are asked and often
recorded on newsprint: 1) “What is the role of a successful facilitator?”
and “What is the role of a successful recorder?” This process facilitates a sense of
empowerment within the group as the facilitator models power sharing
throughout the workshop. Such
facilitator behaviors as allowing the participants to direct themselves,
selecting participants to co-facilitate with the facilitator, and
facilitating from outside the circle create a sense of equity within the
group and further demonstrate the importance of empowerment. Allowing the participants to
define their own concepts of successful facilitator and recorder roles
creates a sense of self-direction.
Throughout the workshop, all small group activities begin by
selecting a new facilitator and the previous activity facilitator becomes
the recorder. This models the
importance of balance of being the powerful facilitator to being the
submissive recorder. Balance
of power is encouraged throughout the workshop and is modeled in such
behaviors as having a representative from one ethnic group begin the
workshop and a representative from another ethnic group close the
workshop, or having a farmer and a herder or Mayor and NRMAC President
serve on a panel. Panels are
formed occasionally to begin the dialogue about specific conflict
issues. Selecting powerful
representatives or spokespeople from the various perspectives allows those
individuals an opportunity to share their perceptions openly and feel
listened to with respect. As time allows, these activities develop
listening skills and foster the importance of respectful listening among
participants. The Grounding,
Adaptive Learning, Defining Successful Roles and Defining the Worst/Best
Possible Outcomes of a workshop allow ample opportunity to practice
listening.
5. Worst/Best/Possibility. Another Step One tool is to allow
the participants to explore and understand the importance of worst and
best outcomes, and possibilities.
The following two questions are asked: 1) “What are the worst
possible outcomes of the workshop?” and 2) “What are the best possible
outcomes of the workshop?” This is important, particularly if the group
is confronting a serious conflict.
Also, allowing the group to express the worst/best outcomes of the
workshop helps the group begin to understand the physiological patterns of
humans with potentially threatening situations or
issues. Worst Outcomes: These are feared future outcomes,
often based on past experience, with a presently experienced
emotion and physical reaction.
When people believe them, they affect their perceptions, beliefs,
values and strategies. They
tend to be self-fulfilling prophecies when strongly
held. Best Outcomes: These are hoped for future outcomes,
sometimes not previously experienced, but intensely imagined, with
a presently experienced emotion and physical response. When people believe them, they
affect their perceptions, beliefs, values and strategies. They tend to be self-fulfilling
prophecies when strongly held. Possibility Thinking: An acknowledgment that both worst and best
outcomes are present and inherent in each moment, up to, and often after
the event. This balanced view
allows the movement toward desired outcomes. Set Two Tools - A Process for Coping with
Conflict. The following set of questions are
asked of the participants to develop an understanding of the conflict,
concerns participants have for confronting the situation, defining their
best outcomes and how to foster the best outcomes of the
situation. 1.
What is the
situation? (Define conflict;
What is the evidence of conflict in your environment?) How do I feel about
it? 2.
What are my
worst outcomes of confronting/not confronting unresolved
conflict? 3.
What are my
best outcomes of confronting and resolving conflict? 4.
What beliefs/
behaviors/ strategies/ actions will foster the best
outcomes? The worst possible outcomes response frees
the group up to explore the possibilities of best possible outcomes of
confronting a situation or issue.
For most people, often paralyzed with the fear of confronting an
issue; the possibility of fostering best possible outcomes of confronting
a situation never arises.
When people are allowed the opportunity to explore best possible
outcomes, they begin to imagine ways to foster these outcomes. A sequence of two questions
following the best possible outcome engages the problem solving nature of
the human mind: “What beliefs and behaviors will foster the best possible
outcomes?” and “What strategies and actions will foster the best possible
outcomes?” Beliefs and
behaviors focus on a fundamental transformational level change within
people. Strategies and
actions are focused on modificational change. Usually in conflict resolution,
transformational change is required to move people to fostering the best
possible outcomes of confronting conflict. Step Two Tools allow participants to
successfully move from a focus on worst possible outcomes to a focus on
best possible outcomes as a distinct possibility. Often, allowing the group to
explore conflict resolution at a generic level, before confronting real,
and potentially threatening issues, provides the group with an
understanding of the human behavior surrounding conflict resolution so
they are more capable of successfully focusing on the issue. These tools are also helpful in
developing a more complete understanding of the issue, particularly if
diverse perspectives are involved.
With this understanding and clarity of the best possible outcomes,
the human mind goes to work to solve the problem of moving from the
present to the desired outcomes of the group. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
What
Conflict?
Results of the conflict resolution training
activities so far have been promising. During the recent conflict
resolution training in Madiama, the group posed the question “What
conflict?” when the focus of the workshop was going to be confronting and
successfully resolving the conflict associated with regeneration of the
bourgou. This has been one of
the most serious conflicts in the region. The group was suggesting that
after two years and three conflict resolution and holistic management
training sessions, they had a confidence in their ability to confront and
successfully resolve this important issue. They had already begun devising
successful strategies to resolve this issue. Their behavior reinforced the
belief that they were indeed capable of resolving numerous issues because
of the skills they now possessed. The conflict resolution process is being
incorporated into traditional conflict resolution processes in the Madiama
commune. There is an
acknowledged recognition in the region that negative conflict behavior is
dissipating and a more respectful tone exists. Village leaders appear to be
comfortable with the work of the NRMAC. The NRMAC is adapting the conflict
resolution process to fit their needs by actions like specific methods for
honoring community members.
Another successful measure occurred during a recent training in
which members of NRMAC taught the entire first day of a three-day workshop
to resolve the bourgou regeneration issues. This training series was taught
two years ago and the delivery was very complete. A movement is occurring in the
region to expand this work to more communes in the surrounding
region. As the process proves
effective with the transhumant population, the opportunity exists for this
process to extend across national boundaries. The following is a list of the evidence
illustrating that the best possible outcomes are already occurring in the
Commune of Madiama developed by a group of local project leaders in
Djenne, Mali, October 4, 2001.
(Goebel, et al., 2001) ·
Participation
of the population in the search for greater control of the development
process ·
Establishment
and reinforcement of the capacities of the NRMAC ·
Several
village level discussion meetings initiated by the NRMAC around the
bourgoutières ·
Good relations
(Protocol of partnership) between the NRMAC and the Communal
authorities ·
Emergence of
some community leaders with developing leadership
skills ·
Initiation of
activities to regenerate natural resources (i.e., bourgoutière
protocols) ·
Signature of a
protocol of partnership with CARE/Djenné ·
Leaders
putting community interests before individual interests (community
spirit) ·
Adoption of
techniques diffused by research ·
Utilization of
radio programs for the diffusion of NRMAC
information ·
Definition of
their own Goal - (See Appendix A) ·
Mobilization
of the internal resources (membership cards and
contributions) CONCLUSIONS This method of conflict resolution is a
consensus building process.
The NRMAC appears to be effectively adopting and adapting this
process at the local level.
Members are finding applications of this conflict resolution
process to aid in resolving real problems in a respectful manner. The NRMAC has matured over the
last two years with the attitudes of consensus as demonstrated through
their behaviors and results in the commune. Is consensus always possible? No. If parties are not willing to
explore solutions together, consensus is not possible. Is it even desired? It depends on the point of
view? If you are the dominant
one and are not bothered by other parties, why would one want to expend
the extra effort? If you are
in the submissive role and asking for a consensus agreement is life
threatening, it may also be wiser to “go along” then try to force
agreement. The conflict
resolution process being taught in Madiama Commune is “a” process not
“the” process. There are many
successful methods to resolve conflict. Future needs to strengthen this work include
more reinforcement of the training on a more frequent basis. These training opportunities need
to focus on modeling the confrontation and successful resolution of
difficult community issues.
The training needs to expand to the Commune leadership such as the
traditional village leadership and discover methods to incorporate the
transhumant population. Other
opportunities to spread the training through the region, such as through
CARE-MALI, need to be developed.
The next set of questions to build upon the work already occurring
is: 1)
Is this
conflict resolving process effective in additional cultural
settings? 2)
What is the
most effective method of delivering the training? 3)
How will the
process be adapted and institutionalized within the
communities? 4)
What will be
the results for the community of institutionalizing the
process? 5)
What is the
most effective method to transfer these skills to a greater
region? REFERENCES Executive Summary
of Mali Participatory Landscape Lifescape Appraisal (PLLA) Activity,
February 17, 1999 Jeff Goebel,
Moore, K., and Nadif, Ahmed. 2001. SANREM CRSP – West Africa Trip Report.
October 1-18, 2001 Best Outcomes for a Strategy of the
NRMAC NRMAC Summary Statement The development of the commune of Madiama is
based on access to health and education.
The strategy is based on the development responsibilities of the
local population. The
foundation of this strategy rests on a rational management of existing
resources. The
appropriation of new techniques, the adoption of various technologies and
their adaptation to local conditions require greater control of the
processes of production of consumer and material goods. NRMAC Full Consensus
Statement The development of the commune of Madiama is
based on access to health and education.
This involves a confidence in oneself, social cohesion and accords
between the communities. To
reach this situation, the NRMAC must completely control the mode of its
operation. The operational
control enables the committee to create many opportunities for conflict
resolution and reduce the incidence of violent conflict. It is at this price that
prosperity, happiness and health will reign in the
villages. The strategy is based on the development
responsibilities of the local population. The communities must define their own goals
to reach them with their own experience. In order to achieve this, the
NRMAC must prioritize its needs and specify clear and precise
objectives. The Process must
begin step with step, initially by a good participation of the
local community, development of a communication program, and monitoring of
successful Community activities.
To arrive at this level, it must make decisions without calling
upon assistance. This can
then become a model for the nation. The foundation of this strategy rests on a
rational management of existing resources.
The Community must develop methods and means allowing them to
generate financial resources and to manage them. This will lead to stable soils and
a rich ground cover, as well as an increasing water table. The landscape will then become
rich in fauna, in flora, with water reservoirs and easy access to drinking
water. The appropriation of new techniques, the
adoption of various technologies and their adaptation to local conditions
require greater control of the processes of production of consumer and
material goods. There is also a need for
institutionalizing the marketing chain for income generating activities
(AGR). This will build the
commune’s capacity to ensure its food self-sufficiency and to play a part
in the national market. |
