Development action with informed and engaged societies

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

Time to read
1 minute
Read so far

Compassionate Listening: An Exploratory Sourcebook About Conflict Transformation

1 comment

Author

SummaryText
This 25-page e-book shares the work of Quaker peace activist and pastoral counselor Gene Knudsen Hoffman. In her work, Hoffman has drawn on the practise of compassionate listening to guide those experiencing and trying to address conflict in Russia and the Middle East. This book includes both her lesson plans for Compassionate Listening Workshops and reports from Leah Green and Cynthia Monroe, two of her co-pioneers and creative colleagues.

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction (by Dennis Rivers): "Compassionate Listening is not about resolving conflicts directly. It is about helping conflict participants see one another as human, which creates a new mental and emotional space out of which resolutions can emerge. In this respect, Compassionate Listening represents the next step beyond the "interest-based bargaining." Conflict resolutions based only on interests, even on the interests of all the parties to a conflict, are vulnerable to fall apart as soon as someone's material circumstances shift. What is needed is for the conflict participants to be able to identify with one another's sorrows and joys, to feel connected enough to one another to make the peace worth keeping."

Table of Contents:
  1. "Compassionate Listening: A First Step Toward Reconciliation" - Gene Knudsen Hoffman
  2. "Listening to the Children of Abraham" - Gene Knudsen Hoffman introduces the work of Leah Green and the Mid East Citizen Diplomacy Project
  3. Compassionate Listening in the Middle East - Leah Green
  4. Working for Reconciliation Under the Northern Lights - Gene Knudsen Hoffman introduces the work of Cynthia Monroe and the Alaskans Listening to Alaskans about Subsistence Project
  5. Compassionate Listening as Practiced in Alaska - Cynthia Monroe
  6. Lesson Plans for a Course in Compassionate Listening - Gene Knudsen Hoffman
    • Introduction: An Evocative Approach to Teaching & Learning
    • Session One - Compassion
    • Session Two - Hatred
    • Session Three - Denial
    • Session Four - Forgiveness
    • Session Five - Reconciliation
    • Session Six - Exploring Thich Nhat Hanh's Approach to the Art of Listening
    • Session Seven - Adam Curle's Tools for Transformation
    • Homework and Class Exercises
Click here to view the book in HTML format (English language), chapter-by-chapter.

Click here to download the entire book in PDF format (English language).

Click here to download the entire book in PDF format (Portuguese language).
Languages
English and Portuguese
Number of Pages
25
Source

Email from Dennis Rivers to The Communication Initiative on March 7 2006; and New Conversations website.

Comments

User Image
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 11/30/1999 - 00:00 Permalink

Many thanks for excellent insight and new Effective Communication tools applicable to Family Structured Interventions.

Deborah Dupre'
duprevent@bigpond.com