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UPCOMING CONFERENCE in
2009 ~
November,
'09 Registration
is open
4th
Annual International Conference on
"Engaging The
Other:"
The Power
of Compassion November
12-15, 2009
San
Francisco, California USA
Keynote
by Huston Smith
Now
More Than Ever...
At
a time of rising turmoil - a time that calls for new thinking, new vision, new
understanding, and new ways of relating in an increasingly interconnected and
interdependent global community. Common
Bond Institute
invites you to join in supporting international efforts advancing the consciousness
of peace and healing by raising the capacity of the individual in society to compassionately
transform conflict in their daily lives. 
Who We Are and What We Do Common
Bond Institute
(CBI) is a U.S. based Non-Governmental
Organization that grew out of the Association for Humanistic Psychology's
International (Soviet-American) Professional Exchange. The
Professional Exchange was initiated in 1982 as one of the first Soviet-American
non-governmental human service exchanges. CBI organizes and sponsors conferences,
professional training programs, relief efforts, and professional exchanges internationally,
and actively provides networking and coordination support to assist newly emerging
human service and civil society organizations in developing countries.
Our Mission Cultivating
the fundamental elements of a consciousness of peace, and local capacity
building, are seen as natural, effective antidotes to small group radical
extremism and large group despair, as well as to hardship and suffering in the
human condition. To this end, enabling each society to effectively resolve and
transform conflicts, satisfy core human needs within their communities, and construct
effective, holistic mechanisms for self determination, self esteem, and fundamental
human dignity and worth is the purpose of our work. CBI
is grounded in the application of humanistic psychology's principles in it's commitment
to capacity building at both the grass roots and social institutional level. It
works to actively form strategic alliances and partnerships with organizations,
groups, and individuals dedicated to nurturing global relationships as a whole
in creating and promoting an authentic world culture of peace.
Our Style and Commitment By
design, our efforts are fundamentally collaborative for a larger impact. We maintain
an expanding global network of partner groups and organizations that cooperate
in pulling the requisite pieces together to create and operate programs, while
minimizing the drain on individual group resources. The focus is on increasing
skills and services, exploration of human relationship dynamics, and expanding
public dialogue and awareness of critical issues.
Intentional Community: Essentially all of our efforts, and particularly
the conferences, are designed to be living laboratories for creating and participating
in deep, authentic community as a common ground of reference for exploring core
themes and integrating formal learning. They offer a dynamic microcosm of the
larger, diverse, global community for a first hand personal experience of moving
beyond artificial barriers to the reality of what is both possible and practical.
The purposeful use of intentional community is a central element of our work.
It assumes the basic drive/need for integration through inter-connectedness and
belonging that can be nurtured to develop conscious intent toward harmony and
peace in our relationships. Please
join us for any of our programs by contacting
CBI
Current Conferences:
November,
'09 Register
Now
4th
Annual International Conference on
"Engaging The OTHER": The
Power of Compassion
(ETO)
November
12-15, 2009,
San Francisco, California USA
Co-sponsored
by:
Common
Bond Institute (CBI),
National Coalition for
Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD),
Meridian
University, and
International
Humanistic Psychology Association (IHPA)
Keynote
by Huston Smith
An International, Multidisciplinary, Multicultural
Conference examining concepts of "The OTHER" from a universal, cross-cultural
perspective to promote wider public dialogue about images of "Us and Them."
The conference addresses the roots of negative stereotyping and prejudice, how
to move past artificial barriers of misunderstanding and distrust to cultivate
compassion and capacity for appreciation of diversity, reconciliation, and peace,
and how to apply the results to the current state of world relationships. It is
held in conjunction with an upcoming edited book in progress of the same name
addressing psycho-social concepts of "The Other" in a cross-cultural
forum. The ETO Conference, like the edited book, is an integrated collaboration
to examine this fundamentally subjective phenomenon with an inclusive, multicultural
eye.
C
B I 
I H
P A
Registration
is Open to All
~
Continuing Education Credits Available ~
Register
Now
Presenter
Proposal Form
Submit by July 1
Dialogue
Group Facilitator Application Form
Program
Overview, Guidelines for Proposals
and Dialogue
Press
Room
1
page Color Conference Flyer (in pdf)
1
page Black & White Conference Flyer (in pdf)
1
page Color Conference Poster - 8 1/2 X 14 (in pdf)
Update:
See
Content
of ETO '08 Facilitated Dialogue Group Notes
San Francisco Bay Area
Spring
2010
~
2009
Event Completed ~
Watch
for Spring 2010 2nd
Annual RCP Conference
An
"Official Pre-Parliament Event"
of the
2009 Parliament of World Religions
March
13-15 , 2009
Oakland
University ~ Rochester, Michigan USA
An
international forum promoting an
inclusive, Inter-religious and
Intra-religious dialogue to explore the challenges
of Extremism, Intolerance, Scapegoating, and Islamophobia, and the promise of
Reason, Understanding, Compassion, and Cultural Harmony
Culture Peace
of 16th
International Conference on Conflict Resolution (ICR)
(dates and full details to be posted in the
near future)
An international conference
established in 1992, the ICR Conference is a major international event open
to all participants globally. This multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary conference
has received support over the years from the President's of the US, Russia, and
Governor of St. Petersburg, and is endorsed by over 90 organizations internationally.
It brings together hundreds of presenters and participants from around the world
for skills training in conflict resolution and for exploration of the essential
elements of conflict, transformation, and healing. It maintains an extensive international
network and each year promotes active cooperation and collaboration on various
projects between participants and organizations represented. The ICR Conference
also serves as a major networking and recruiting source for our training projects.
Registration
is Open to All
2009
ICR Conference Proposal Form
New
Upcoming
International Conference Watch
for details on a new international conference
on conflict transformation and bridging the divide
to be launched in
Cyprus
A collaboration between
CBI, International
Humanistic Psychology Association, Near East University,
and the North Cyprus Ministry of Education
Registration
is Open to All
International
Youth Conference on "The Ecology of War and Peace (EWP)"
An international youth conference
established in 2004 and sponsored by CBI and HARMONY Institute, in cooperation
with the International Humanistic Psychology Association and the Jane Goodall
Institute. The EWP Conference is a youth event for participants 14-18 years of
age addressing issues of negative stereotypes, prejudice, and the demonizing and
dehumanizing of "The Other." Working in cooperation with the Jane Goodall
Institute's Roots & Shoots Program, the theme of ecology has been integrated
as a common link all parties can resonate with as they delve into personal interactions
and, as a community, explore these relationship dynamics.
Registration
is Open to All
In 2004 CBI initiated an experiment to coordinate an integrated series of 5
international conferences in 3 countries that shared a focus
on exploring and advancing a consciousness of peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
While each was independent with variations in partners, content, and goals, all
events in this series were programmatically linked to build on each other for
an energetic flow and larger impact. As a result of continuing this cooperation
each year, outcomes have emerged and coalesced synergistically, inspiring promising
new collaborative projects and partnerships, some of which CBI is directly
involved in. Following the success of this model we have continued
the process each year, adding new conferences and inviting
other international conferences to join in maximizing the energy and products
of each event and promote an expanding network of social activists and healers
for greater mutual benefit. A major goal is to raise the level, depth,
and breadth of public awareness and dialogue on vital issues in exploring a consciousness
of peace, to instill empowerment in the general public, and to foster proactive
networks that create practical strategies for applying results
in advancing capacity for a global culture of peace. This model of integrated
events continues through 2009.
Current Training Projects In
1998, CBI
established the International Training Program in Conflict Transformation
as an extension of the ICR Conference. In addition to it's ongoing purposes, the
ICR Conference serves as a major networking and recruiting source for training
in this program. Currently two projects are operated out of this program:
Catastrophic
Trauma Recovery Training (CTR)
A humanitarian
relief effort established in 1998, designed to provide intensive "training
of trainers" in catastrophic trauma recovery skills by expert teams of mental
health specialists to local professionals and relief workers in regions of conflict
assisting large civilian populations experiencing trauma from war and violence.
Some of the regions represented are Russia, the Caucuses, Middle East, and Balkans.
The project uses a comprehensive, integrated training/treatment model (CTR) for
working with large populations of catastrophic trauma victims that is simple,
standardized, repeatable, time sensitive, easily taught, and applicable cross-culturally.
Assistance is intended for health professionals and relief workers from anywhere
and is also appropriate for treating trauma due to natural catastrophe. CTR training
teams are provided by an international consortium of professional training organizations.
This humanitarian relief effort is endorsed and supported by NGO coordinating
organizations within the regions served. As part of the training structure, CTR
trainings are also typically attached to the ICR
Conference and conducted immediately after. Find
Out How to Help Provide Trauma Treatment to War Victims
Capacity
For Peace and Democracy - Palestine
A collaborative project
with Al Azhar University In Gaza and the Arab American University In Jenin - AAUJ
(West Bank) in the West Bank to establish a Center for Conflict Resolution and
Human Rights at each university, and provide a pool of visiting professors and
curriculum in Human Services (psychology, social work, health science, education)
and Civil Society (democratic studies, conflict resolution/mediation, government,
political science, economics/business). The
purpose is to help prepare future leaders in Palestinian society and local professionals
skilled in providing critical human services to the population, all to increase
capacity for a viable, peaceful Palestinian nation. Another aspect is creating
opportunities for NGO's and community based institutions and universities in Palestine
and Israel to cooperate on issues that promote understanding, acceptance, reconciliation,
and forgiveness. The hope is that a new international conference being organized
on "Engaging The Other" will eventually be hosted at one of these universities,
with the joint sponsorship of an Israeli University. To date a Center for Conflict
Resolution and Human Rights has been established at Al Azhar University.
Additional Efforts Under Development To learn more
about Common
Bond Institute's
following projects - some in their early stages of organization and some
currently being put into action - please visit our page on Additional
Efforts.
- "Engaging
The Other": edited multicultural book on "The Other"
in conjunction with the above conference.
- "Engaging
The Other" sensitivity training program geared toward the lay public
addressing fear-based belief systems, negative stereotypes, and prejudice.
- Children's Trauma Treatment Center. A
project to create the 1st children's trauma treatment center in Nablus, West Bank.
- Joint Palestinian/Israeli Trauma
Treatment Training
- Iraqi
Trauma Treatment Training
- Cooperative
Publishing Vehicle for voices of reason - individuals from around the world
with important, cutting edge ideas to stimulate and contribute to the public dialogue.
- Expanding our Website as a vehicle
for networking, exploratory dialogue, collaboration, education, follow-up to training,
and virtual community. (Among the features included will be the Journal of Conflict
Transformation, an E-newsletter, topical E-dialogues, E-working groups, a resource
library, clinical consultation seminars for trainees, etc).
- Establishing and developing locally based Professional
Schools and Practical Training Programs In Human Services
How You Can Be Involved in Volunteering or Interning
We invite you to contact us if you are interested in contributing
your time, energy, and talents
to assist our international efforts, and in doing so:
- Create
new possibilities for conflict transformation, prevention and healing in this
pivotal time,
- Form unique relationships with individuals and
organizations throughout the world, and
- Gain invaluable professional
and personal experiences along the way
More
About Becoming Involved with Common Bond Institute
Contact Us To inquire about
the activities and projects of
CBI
please contact: - Steve Olweean, Director and Conference
Co-Coordinator
- E-mail: SOlweean@aol.com
- Telephone/Fax: 269-665-9393
- Postal Address: 12170
South Pine Ayr Drive
Climax,
Michigan 49034 USA Common Bond Institute on
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