War Resisters' International Nonviolence Training Exchange

Bilbao, Basque Country, 26th - 29th of October 2008

WRI's Nonviolence Programme aims to strengthen and deepen our understanding of nonviolence, both from a strategic and campaigning point of view, and to develop and provide tools and support to groups using nonviolence. To advance further towards this goal, WRI is organising an International Nonviolence Training Exchange in Bilbao, the Basque Country from the 26th to the 29th of October, 2008. The event is organised in collaboration with KEM-MOC, WRI's section in the Basque Country, which will be the local host. Practical information (for this event and the WRI Council which follows it) can be found here.

WRI will be launching its new publication, “Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns”, at the exchange. The handbook will provide a framework for analysing our work and sharing experiences about how to develop successful nonviolent campaigns. You can access the online version of the handbook at: http://wri-irg.org/wiki/index.php/Nonviolence_Handbook

The training exchange is open to nonviolence action trainers and to activists who have experience in organising nonviolence action trainings or workshops, although they might not consider themselves as trainers.

We expect participants to actively participate in the exchange by sharing their own knowledge and expertise and analysing how they relate to other contexts by discussing different methods and experiences in nonviolence action training.

Areas that the exchange will cover include:

How nonviolence training has changed and adapted over the years
What role nonviolence action training plays in the movement for social change
New methods of nonviolence training
Challenges we face while doing trainings
How to do training with international participants
Sharing of tools and exercises

Participants that will be present at the event include:

Adriana Castaño: Red Juvenil de Medellin, Colombia
Chesterfield Sambas: GALZ, Zimbabwe
Boro Kitanoski: Peace Action, Macedonia
Pelao Carvallo: Ni Casco Ni Uniforme/GAA, Chile/Paraguay
Andreas Speck: Right to Refuse to Kill Programme of WRI, Germany/Britain
Joanne Sheehan: War Resisters League, USA
Howard Clark: Chair of WRI, Britain/Spain
Jørgen Johansen: Peace researcher, Scandinavia
Stellan Vinthagen: Peace researcher, Sweden
Javier Garate: Nonviolence Programmeof WRI, Chile/Britain
Hilal Demir: Izmir Nonviolence Training, Turkey
Christine Schweitzer: Peace reseacher, Germany
Elena Vilenskaya: House of Peace and Nonviolence, Russia
Roel Stynen, Vredesactie, Bombspotting, Belgium
Turning the Tide, Britain
KEM-MOC and Alternativa Antimilitarista MOC, State of Spain
IfoR WPP
And others, still to be confirmed…

War Resisters' International has a long history of nonviolence action and a significant track record specifically on nonviolence training: it organised the first international seminar on nonviolence training in 1965, cooperated with other organisations in various international exchange in the 1970s,1980s, 1990s, and has had a working group on nonviolence training for some 20 years.

We would like your group to consider participating in this important event, to help us develop better ways of doing trainings in nonviolence action. If you are interested in attending, please get in touch as soon as possible with Javier Garate, from the WRI staff in London, who can give you more information and practical details.

Best wishes on behalf of the organising team.

Contact: Javier Garate
Email: javier@wri-irg.org
Phone Number: +44 207278 4040