Conflict Resolution

A community committed to sustainable development seeks the synergism of ecology and culture, including economy, to promote a healthy, sustainable environment that enriches the lives of all its inhabitants. The future, afterall, is always rooted in the present.

People empower themselves to control their lives by creating authentic choices and establishing collective agreement (resolving conflict) on actions intended to achieve sustainability, according to a groups self- defined values. In this way community development works based on the belief that through collective action people can successfully resolve their issues as well as organize and implement change. The work of the group thus promotes a sense of accomplishment and belonging through shared learning and service in a process of growing self-realization, self-definition, and self-determination.

Dramatic, fundamental change, both frightening and painful, however, is necessary if we are really committed to the children of the world, present and future. Meeting obligations we say we have, whatever we determine they are, will require a renewed sense of personal and social justice, one that causes us as individuals and communities to act now for the simultaneous benefit of both the present and the future.

But this action will undoubtedly cause conflicts among different points of view, for everyone is right from their perspective. We all sense things differently, when we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. Because we sense things differently, we understand them differently. Does this mean that somebody is right and somebody else is wrong? In conflict resolution, the notion of "wrong" is unacceptable!

Conflict can be personally and socially constructive, such as a focused debate on an issue that brings about increased growth in personal and social consciousness.

A conflict becomes destructive when

• it destroys human dignity,
• degrades the productive capacity of an ecosystem, or
• forecloses options for present and/or future generations by squandering finite resources through individual, self-centered competition, which is a luxury society can no longer afford.

Can Conflicts Be Resolved? Yes!

Five E's Unlimited can effectively resolve your group's conflicts. But we firmly believe it requires a civic critical mass of stakeholder involvement and personal change because the level of consciousness that caused the conflict is not the level of consciousness that we will focus upon to help you resolve it. We employ methods like Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Open Space Technology (OST), Future Search Conferencing (FSC) using concepts of vertical conferencing, the Public Participation Spectrum process, Technology of Participation (TOP), Collaborative Community Problem-Solving, Environmental Dispute Mediation, and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

We Can Assist You:

• by reframing your group's understanding of the issues related to the conflict or dispute;
• by maintaining the dignity of each individual involved;
• by resolving group conflicts in a way that will lead to more sustainable lifestyles; and
• by facilitating the conflict to its natural conclusion, a shared vision of a sustainable future toward which to build, that is fully committed to by all parties.

But it is important for potential clients to recognize going in that:

1. We cannot rescue you. We can help you chart a self-actualizing course.
2. We cannot resolve your conflict for you. We can help you resolve it.
3. We cannot grant you choices. We can help you develop your own.
4. We cannot guarantee the outcome. We can help you evaluate the consequences of your decisions.
5. We cannot empower you. We can help you empower yourselves.
6. We cannot help you avoid change. We can help you see the hidden opportunities within change. We can help you see that change is a continual process to be embraced for its positive aspects.

Check out our Transformative Facilitation Approach to Conflict to better understand how Five E's can assist you in making a real difference with the way you resolve conflict in your organization, while achieving consensus on ways to proceed toward sustainable development.