Networking Websites

• Alliance for Peacebuilding is a coalition of diverse organizations working together to build sustainable peace and security worldwide.  Members of AfP are directly engaged in applied conflict prevention and resolution.  They provide negotiation and mediation services, train negotiators, facilitate communication to break down barriers, and help find solutions to the issues and pressures that otherwise drive groups and nations to achieve their objectives through violent force. Members also conduct research and provide evaluation and education.  The role of AfP is to bring these organizations together for collaborative peacebuilding.

• Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) is a professional organization dedicated to enhancing the practice and public understanding of conflict resolution. ACR was launched in January 2001, when the Academy of Family Mediators (AFM), the Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet), and the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR) merged into one organization. Prior to the merger, the three separate organizations all required their own staff and office space, produced separate publications, held separate conferences, and tried to meet the multiple needs of their members with limited resources. The Hewlett Foundation and other supporters encouraged the three groups to join forces in order to build a unified voice for the field of conflict resolution and avoid duplication of efforts. By bringing together the members, staff, and financial resources of the three organizations, merger advocates felt that one unified professional association could better serve all its members and offer greater leadership in the public policy, legislative, and public awareness arenas. With the combined support of all our members, we are confident that the goals of the merger can be realized.
  
  ACR represents and serves a diverse national and international audience that includes more than 6000 mediators, arbitrators, facilitators, educators, and others involved in the field of conflict resolution and collaborative decision-making. Anyone interested in the field of conflict resolution is welcome to join.

• Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT) is a non-profit organization, established in February 1999 and dedicated to expanding the knowlege and practice of conflict transformation and peacebuilding within U.S. and international communities.

ACT is an alliance of skilled professionals with advanced degrees and over 50 years of collective professional experience and expertise in community building and conflict resolution. We recognize that conflict is an inseparable part of human interaction. When addressed effectively, it can lead to peaceful and positive change. ACT helps people transform destructive conflicts by addressing underlying needs and concerns, building sustainable relationships, and changing the contexts and conidtion that foster violence.

• Alliance for International Conflict Resolution, formerly know as the Applied Conflict Resolution Organizations Network (ACRON), AICR was born out of a meeting of leading international conflict resolution practitioners held in Washington, D.C., in March 1999. Since that first meeting, AICR has evolved into a dynamic network of over 25 organizations actively engaged in peacebuilding activities around the world. As an organization, AICR seeks to enhance the effectiveness of international conflict resolution and peacebuilding activities by: promoting communication, coordination, and collaboration among applied conflict resolution organizations; increasing awareness of and funding for the field; and building bridges to other applied and academic organizations in related fields. AICR members are mostly - but not exclusively - non-governmental US-based non-profit organizations. All have significant experience in the field of applied conflict resolution and peacebuilding.

• Carter Center, in partnership with Emory University, is guided by a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering; it seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health.

The Peace Programs include the:

• Americas Program to improve the quality of democracy, thwart corruption, decrease social inequities, and reduce trade barriers in the Western Hemisphere Conflict Resolution Program to prevent and resolve armed and political conflicts around the globe
• Democracy Program to work worldwide for the development of democratic societies as the best way to promote human rights, achieve sustainable economic development, and resolve conflicts peacefully, and the
• Global Development Initiative to assist developing countries with the expertise to help them devise their own plans for sustainable development.

Whether we are working on anti-corruption efforts in Latin America, conflict resolution in Sudan, a national development strategy in Guyana, or with civil society groups in Peru or Zambia, the end result is the empowerment of people. Our work creates long-term effects by laying and strengthening frameworks within a country's institutions, whether it's through the electoral commission, judicial circuit, or a network of nongovernmental organizations seeking a voice in the national agenda.

• Caux Scholars Program focuses on the moral and spiritual dimensions of peacemaking and on the relationship between individual transformation and change in the world. It offers students an opportunity to explore the role individuals can play in bringing healing and in building a future where peace, justice and individual freedom flourish. Students learn about the various factors contributing to conflict between individuals, within communities and nations, and between nations. They study the way different worldviews affect the way we perceive and approach issues of contention and different models of conflict intervention. The course examines the personal, religious, social and cultural factors which create and sustain conflict, as well as how to deal with differences.

Developed by academics and practitioners in the field of conflict transformation, the course consists of case studies, simulations, interactive learning and lectures. The group takes a field trip to Geneva to visit non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Further learning comes from interaction with participants in the Caux conferences both formally, in the classroom and at conference events, and informally, through practical work and recreation.

• CDR Associates is a non-profit organization with over 25 years experience in providing conflict resolution services, decision making assistance, dispute resolution systems design, and training. We provide these services domestically and internationally in six program areas.

• Centre for Conflict Resolution (CRC) was established in 1990 at the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford. This was made possible by the generosity of Alec Horsley, a British Quaker and long time supporter of Peace Studies, who provided the funding necessary for the purchase of our first home at Horsley House. Since September 2001 the CCR has been located in the Pemberton Building with the rest of the Peace Studies Department, where we have a dedicated training area and a suite of offices. From the beginning emphasis has been placed on combining the ideas and experiences of both academics and practitioners, and on the transference of research findings into teaching and practical applications.

The key principles which inform and guide the work at the CCR are participation, empowerment, partnership, capacity-building, education, training, complementarity, and academic integrity.

• Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies (PACS) offers graduate education in conflict management and peacemaking leading to the MA degree or graduate certificate. We also offer intervention and consulting services.

The Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies has been established at Fresno Pacific University:

1. to promote greater understanding of the dynamics of conflict,
2. to train persons in the theology, science and art of constructive conflict management,
3. to promote and assist in the development of cooperative dispute resolution and justice programs within the institutions of the church and society.
   
   PACS is rooted in the Hebrew/Christian vision of Shalom (peace and justice) for the church and world. Fresno Pacific University, sponsored by the Mennonite Brethren Churches of the Pacific region of the U.S., stands in a long, historic peace church tradition which has taken this vision of Shalom seriously. PACS is a concrete effort of the University to further realize this vision of Shalom.

• Center for Restorative Justice & Peacemaking - The National Restorative Justice Training Institute is one of the services provided by the Center, which provides training for professionals and community volunteers in corrections and victim services. Trainers are nationally recognized restorative justice leaders and practitioners in the field.

• Center for the Study of Mind and Human Interaction (CSMHI) -uses a synthesis of diplomatic and psychoanalytic techniques and insights to understand group processes and how shared emotions and motivations affect perceptions of economic, political, social, and legal issues. Central to CSMHI's methodology to reduce ethnic tension and promote democratic pluralism is a dialogue between opposing groups that decompresses the exchange of historical grievances and rigid positions typical of many negotiations in order to foster genuine understanding and constructive interaction. CSMHI's methodology involves bringing together influential decision-makers (i.e. legislators, ambassadors, scholars, and others-always in an unofficial capacity) in a process involving multiple meetings over a period of years. CSMHI does not view its activities as a substitute for conventional political and diplomatic processes, but rather as a complement to and catalyst for them.

• CODEP - Conflict, Development and Peace network, was founded in the UK in 1993, as a multi-disciplinary forum for academics, organisations and practitioners involved in exploring the causes of conflict and its impact on people’s lives. It was believed that sharing ideas about policy and practice would help members challenge thinking on international responses to conflict and contribute to the development of good practice.

The aim of the network is to help reduce violent conflict and support those worst affected by it through the improvement of policy and practice in conflict, development and peace work carried out by UK NGOs, academic institutions, consultants and government departments by the facilitation of learning and development by providing a forum for the sharing of knowledge, skills, experience and information.

Ron Kraybill (CTP professor) recommends if you want to stay at the cutting edge of developments and resources in international peacebuilding may want to check out CODEP on a regular basis.

• Community Mediation Center, Harrisonburg, VA.

• Conflict Resolution Network Canada ... — Our Vision is a society where all citizens are engaged in building safe and healthy families, workplaces and communities. We need people who share our vision to help bring about lasting change.

Your membership support will help Conflict Resolution Network Canada to continue to explore and promote better ways to work through conflict AND make conflict resolution strategies available to more and more Canadians. As Canada's largest broad-based conflict resolution organization, we encourage conflict resolution in:

• Schools
• Workplaces
• Communities
• Criminal Justice Settings
• Environment
• Media
• Government
• International Settings

For almost 20 years Conflict Resolution Network Canada has helped people find constructive ways through conflict by encouraging the use of peaceful processes in everyday life. CR Network develops, promotes and extends the use of conflict resolution and restorative justice processes such as negotiation, mediation, consensus building and peacemaking circles. In this work, we have seen firsthand how the hurt, despair and violence of conflict are transformed into healthier relationships, organizations and communities.

• CRInfo: A Comprehensive Gateway to Conflict Resolution Resources. CRInfo (pronounced "See Our Info") is a free service funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. As a "linking" site, our staff of editors maintains a keyword-coded catalog of over 20,000 Web, print, organizational, and other conflict resolution-related resources. These core catalogs are supplemented with a growing collection of secondary catalogs, containing thousands of additional links to Web-based news stories, feature articles, cultural background information, documents describing ongoing conflicts, and government dispute resolution-related Web pages. Many powerful tools are available to help users find information which addresses their specific needs.

• Derechos Human Rights, together with our sister organization Equipo Nizkor, work for the respect and promotion of human rights throughout the world. Our work includes the socialization of human rights related information and analysis through the internet and otehr media, the promotion of prosecutions of human rights violators and the support of local human rights NGOs and activists.

• Initiatives of Change, (formerly Moral Re-Armament) is an international network of people who work towards far-reaching change, locally and globally, by starting with change in their own lives. Everyone can have a part. One of their programs is Hope in the Cities.

Its Purpose...
is to encourage every individual to find their unique contribution to the transformation needed in the world. This often means taking risks for the common good. When people begin by putting right where they themselves are wrong, they set in motion a wave of wider change. Working together, across differences of race, class, nationality or religion, creates a world-wide community with a common purpose. Current initiatives are aimed at:

Healing the wounds of history in order to break cycles of revenge, especially where cultures and civilisations meet; Strengthening the moral and spiritual foundations of democracy that guard against selfish interests, corruption and indifference; Encouraging care and responsibility in family life and personal relationships, in place of 'me-centredness' and blame; Bringing hope in cities and communities by tackling the causes of poverty, discrimination and injustice; Strengthening the motivation of care and moral commitment in economic life and thinking, in order to create jobs, correct economic and environmental imbalance, and tackle the root causes of poverty; Forging networks among people from different faiths and cultures committed to work for reconciliation, justice and peace.

• Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) - is a Washington, DC based, non-profit, 501(c)(3) institution whose mission is to promote the use of peaceful conflict resolution techniques among a generation of future leaders through the design and implementation of unique programs and services.

Since 1996, IIMCR has successfully conducted seven International Symposia in The Netherlands and one Latin American Symposium in Mexico, training over 700 dedicated students and young professionals from over 50 countries.

Noteworthy: Board of Advisors: Morton Abramowitz, Edith Cecil, Kevin Clements, Seymour Hersh, John Ikenberry, Paul Meerts, Joyce Neu, Bonnie Pearlman Giandomenico Picco, William Shawcross, Gary Sick, Richard Walden and William Zartman. Section on jobs and internships in conflict resolution.

• International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) assists countries pursuing accountability for mass atrocity or human rights abuse. The Center works in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict, as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved. It provides comparative information, legal and policy analysis, documentation, and strategic research to justice and truth-seeking institutions, nongovernmental organizations, governments and others. The ICTJ assists in the development of strategies for transitional justice comprising five key elements: prosecuting perpetrators, documenting violations through nonjudicial means such as truth commissions, reforming abusive institutions, providing reparations to victims, and advancing reconciliation. The Center is committed to building local capacity and generally strengthening the emerging field of transitional justice, and works closely with organizations and experts around the world to do so.

• International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is an international spiritually based movement composed of people commited to active nonviolence... Founded in 1919 in response to the horrors of war in Europe, IFOR has taken a consistent stance against war and its preparation throughout its history. Perceiving the need for healing and reconciliation in the world, the founders of IFOR formulated a vision of the human community based upon the belief that love in action has the power to transform unjust political, social, and economic structures.
  

  • FOR believes that without peace, development is impossible, and without women, neither peace nor development can take place. IFOR’s Women Peacemakers Program (WPP) began in 1997 and works to support and strengthen women's peacemaking initiatives. This is accomplished through an annual international training for nonviolence trainers, gender and nonviolence trainings, campaigns such as the annual May 24 International Women's Day for Peace and Disarmament, and through the documentation of women's peace initiatives.
    

• International Forgiveness Institute, Inc. - Established in 1994 as a private, non-profit organization, the International Forgiveness Institute (IFI) was an outgrowth of the social scientific research done at the University of Wisconsin-Madison since 1985 by Robert Enright and his colleagues. Professor Enright was looking for a way to disseminate the findings of that research, and the research and writings by others exploring forgiveness, to interested people in all walks of life. The IFI has served as that forum ever since.

The mission of International Forgiveness Institute is to promote the psychology and education of forgiveness. We continue to disseminate sound, accurate information about forgiveness to people across the globe. We plan to accelerate our action-oriented programs, as we help individuals, families, and communities to explore and implement forgiveness for the purpose of restoring healthy emotions, rebuilding relationships, and establishing more peaceful communities.

• John McCutcheon - (singer and songwriter) We are a violent culture. Almost everything we are taught and exposed to reinforces that fact and continues that trend. In school, our history is a highway of war landmarks: French-Indian War, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, on and on. We are taught to memorize the dates, the names. Our heroes are warriors. Rarely, if ever, are we exposed to the teaching of the great makers of peace in our world. We teach mathematics as though the survival of the species depended on it, yet are not given the simplest tools to assure that we can live peaceably with our neighbors. The American three "R's" are quickly becoming Revenge, Retribution and Reinforcement.

In the wake of the increasingly frequent incidents of violence in our country (and I'm talking not only about school and work place shootings, but about bombing campaigns, anti-immigrant violence and the alarming increase in death penalty executions) we are also increasingly asking, "What can we do to stop this?"

• Mediate.com provides web site development, listing and advertising opportunities for mediation and legal professionals and organizations.

• Network of Communities Peacemaking and Conflict Resoluction (NCPCR)

• promotes the use and acceptance of non-violent approaches to the resolution of conflict and the improvement of conflict resolution theory and practice.
• is committed to using its capabilities and resources to develop an inclusive society that values diveristy and uses collaborative processes to achieve peace and justice.
• provides an international forum for continuing dialogue about the uses of conflict resolution as a tool for social justice and a force for peace.

• Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) has been formed as a result of the merger between the Peace Studies Association (PSA) and the Consortium on Peace Research, Education & Development (COPRED). As a non-profit organization, the PJSA's mission is "dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for social justice and social change." In addition, PJSA serves as a professional association for scholars in the field of peace and conflict studies.

PJSA works to create a just and peaceful world through:

• The promotion of peace studies within universities, colleges and K-12 grade levels
• The forging of alliances among educators, students, activists, and other peace practitioners in order to enhance each other's work on peace, conflict and non-violence

• The creation and nurturing of alternatives to structures of inequality and injustice, war and violence through education, research and action.

• PeaceVox - PeaceVox provides a place for the peacebuilder who, in the midst of the din and the throng, turns to the arts for contemplation. As such, PeaceVox works to link the energies of the arts and peacebuilding, and reflect the experiences of people involved in conflict resolution and peacebuilding work. It explores the ways in which the arts can place experiences of conflict in context and encourage change and engagement. PeaceVox overcomes the barriers of geography, technology, time, and finances. Informed by theories of social change, PeaceVox gives voice to those working for peace through a creative forum. PeaceVox was created by CTP Student, Colleen Malone.

• Promises Project Organization created PROMISES which follows the journey of one of the filmmakers, Israeli-American B.Z. Goldberg. B.Z. travels to a Palestinian refugee camp and to an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, and to the more familiar neighborhoods of Jerusalem where he meets seven Palestinian and Israeli children. Though the children live only 20 minutes apart, they exist in completely separate worlds; the physical, historical and emotional obstacles between them run deep. PROMISES explores the nature of these boundaries and tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors. Rather than focusing on political events, the seven children featured in PROMISES offer a refreshing, human and sometimes humorous portrait of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

• RESOLVE is one of the premier, public policy dispute resolution organizations in the United States and internationally, with expertise in the full range of "alternative dispute resolution" and consensus-building processes and a commitment to understanding how these tools can enhance public decision making.

We are a non-profit organization founded in 1977 and operating from offices in Washington, DC, Denver, CO and Portland, OR.

RESOLVE is known for its ability to help parties produce results on the toughest issues, for enhancing the capacity and competence of others in dealing with conflict, and for intellectual leadership to advance current knowledge about the effective use of ADR and consensus-building processes in public decision making.

• Restorative Justice Online - is a service of the Centre for Justice and Reconciliation of Prison Fellowship International. The purpose of Restorative Justice Online is to be a credible, non-partisan source of information on restorative justice.

The site is divided into sections for ease of use:

• The Introduction includes definitions and slideshow presentations about important issues in restorative justice.
• The Resources section has a searchable, annotated bibliography on restorative justice; annotated links to other sites on restorative justice; and United Nations and Council of Europe documents on restorative topics
• The Action section includes slideshow presentations introducing restorative justice and tutorials on restorative justice theory and practice
• The Chapel contains articles and other materials from the Judeo-Christian tradition
• The site is updated regularly. If you would like to receive an occasional email newsletter, please sign up.

• RestoreJustice.com is an outreach of the California Catholic Conference offering healing and support to everyone affected by the criminal justice system throughout the U.S.  This site is made possible by a grant from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development at the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops.  The purpose of RestoreJustice.com is to offer a place of compassion and assistance, resources and services and educational information for anyone who is affected by crime - victims of crime, offenders and their families, corrections staff, chaplains, criminal justice system employees and management, and advocates for restorative justice.
  

• The Coexistence Initiative (TCI) seeks to catalyze a global awareness of, and commitment to, creating a world safe for difference.

Goals and Objectives

TCI acts as a clearinghouse, convener, and interlocutor for those engaged in coexistence-related work and for those who wish to learn more about this emerging topic. We also act as a strategic partner, working collaboratively with individuals and organizations to strengthen coexistence efforts worldwide. Finally, we are a developer of resources for the field, piloting demonstration projects and encouraging replication as a means of maximizing the limited resources available to the peacebuilding community.

We seek to:

1. Mainstream awareness of coexistence as a practical minimum standard for human relations;
2. Facilitate the exchange of information and best practice in the coexistence sector;
3. Enhance communication and cooperation between and among those within the field as well as those outside of it; and:
4. Enshrine principles of coexistence in policy, curricula, and institutions.

TCI is a lean, results-oriented entity that believes that programmatic success can only be achieved by working collaboratively with individuals and organizations that possess complementary functional, thematic, or geographic expertise.

• Transend Peace University (TPU) handles education/training, delivering on-site and on-line courses. TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) is the educational branch of TRANSCEND: A peace and development network. Our common goal is: "to bring about a more peaceful world by using action, education, networking and research to handle conflicts with creativity, nonviolence and empathy".

TPU is the worlds first truly global, on-line Peace University designed for government and NGO practitioners, policy makers and students at any level working in the fields of peace, conflict transformation, development and global issues. Since 1996 300+ on-site skills institutes have been offered for 6,000+ participants around the world, using the TRANSCEND manual "Conflict Transformation By Peaceful Means," published by the United Nations. There will be certificates; for single courses, diplomas for clusters of courses and eventually BA, MA; and PhD degrees. Participants may combine online and onsite courses.

• United Nations Institute for Training and Research Programme of Correspondence Instruction in Peacekeeping Operations provides peacekeeping training through distance courses. These peacekeeping training courses are for United Nations Peacekeepers, but in addition to UN Peacekeeping, these distance courses also provide training for humanitarian relief workers and other NGO personnel. Topics include Commanding Peacekeeping Operations, Humanitarian Relief Operations, Humanitarian Law, Conflict Resolution, Logistics, Terrorism, Security, and Demining. UNITAR POCI has an open enrollment policy and all students world-wide are accepted, both military and civilian.

• United State Institute for Peace - The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution created by Congress to promote the prevention, management, and peaceful resolution of international conflicts. Established in 1984, the Institute meets its congressional mandate through an array of programs, including research grants, fellowships, professional training, education programs from high school through graduate school, conferences and workshops, library services, and publications. The Institute's Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate.
  

• Victim Offender Mediation Association (VOMA), an international membership association, supports and assists people and communities working at restorative models of justice. VOMA provides resources, training, and technical assistance in victim-offender mediation, conferencing, circles, and related restorative justice practices. CTP is a member of this organzation.

Resources:

• The On-line Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution (OJPCR) is a resource for students, teachers and practitioners in fields relating to the reduction and elimination of destructive conflict. It is a free, yet valuable, source of information to aid anyone trying to work toward a less violent and more cooperative world.