In late December I set out on another workshop tour to India and this time also to Cambodia. For ICfC, I am co-facilitating the advanced bi-annual workshop on conflict resolution and peace-building skills (January 14 - 27) at our partner organization, the Henry Martyn Institute in Hyderabad. This workshop focuses on history and memory and their use in peace-building.

From Hyderabad I will join ICfC fellow Adam Saltsman in Phnom Penh for three workshops. First is for students at Pannasatra University. The second one is designed for non-governmental organizations engaged in conflict resolution, human rights and peace-building fields, with which ICfC will share its methods of historical conciliation and its application through sustained dialogues. The final workshop will be an intensive five day long training for young activists involved in the Cambodia -Vietnam dialogues. Two groups from both countries are preparing for the third round of ongoing dialogues and ICfC will help participants to tackle issues of pained memories, reconciling diverging historical narratives, as well as further develop skills for a successful continuation of this unique initiative.

On February 11, I will join the rest of the fellows in the U.S. to conduct a workshop at the Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

In the next months, we are planning work that will bring us back to Amsterdam for workshops with municipal government officials from Western European cities that deal with integration of Muslim immigrants into European societies. In May, we will be returning to Hyderabad to the prestigious Indian School of Business to launch what we hope will become a series of workshops for business students and leaders throughout India to educate a network of future elite of Indian society to stop ethnic violence.

We will recharge our energy and plan summer and fall activities at our annual Spring Retreat for ICfC fellows and staff in late March. There is much to recharge for, as many of our workshops are becoming annual events and new ones are packing into the Institute’s snowball at a fast pace.