JERUSALEM | Seeds of Peace is set to resume its Dialogue Facilitation and Conflict Transformation Course led by Farhat Agbaria and Danny Metzl and held at its offices in Jerusalem.
This is the seventh year that Seeds of Peace has offered the professional certification to Palestinians and Israelis, including Seeds. Over 100 facilitators have graduated from the course.
“For the course starting October, more than one hundred candidates applied and many of them are Seeds,” says Course Coordinator Farhat Agbaria, who expects 25 of the applicants to be accepted and enroll in the course.
“The experience is very unique and very special for them,” says Agbaria. “Besides the training as professionals, one of the aspects we emphasize is personal growth and the outcome is very mature people and professionals.”
The nine-month intensive training program is unique in its experience-based learning and practice methodology designed for those living in conflict-affected communities.
The course provides individuals with personal and professional skills that can be applied to their careers and everyday life situations.
“Taking this facilitation course with Seeds of Peace has helped me tremendously,” says Hiba, a Seed and Facilitation Course graduate. “I believe the skills that I have learned at the facilitation course are long-life skills that I apply in my daily life with my friends and family and professional career.”
“It is experience-based and very different from other courses,” says Seeds of Peace’s Danny Metzl, one of the two Course Coordinators. “Participants don’t know when a subject will come up.”
Participants explore the conflict to get a deep understanding of each other’s narratives and acquire practical skills to become effective peacebuilders.
“The difference is that our program is much more psychologically-oriented,” says Metzl. “It affects people for life and it is the only on-going dialogue that goes down all year long in a systematic way, no other body that does that. It’s by itself very valuable.”
The Course is open to both Seeds of Peace alumni and to those who haven’t been part of any Seeds of Peace program before. After graduating from the course, participants will be eligible to facilitate dialogue sessions at the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine. Graduates have also worked with over 50 peacebuilding projects and institutions within Palestine and Israel.
“I will say the course has been one of the best educational experiences in my life. Mainly because it gave me an opportunity to work with other Seeds on a concrete project together,” says Tomer, a Seed and Facilitation Course graduate. “We were continuing the [Camp] dialogue in the context that provided us professional and individual development.”
Hello,
I saw your listing for a facilitator for Seeds of Peace and I would like to learn more about your program. I retired from the US Government after 27 years of service. This past summer, I participated in a Rotary International Peace Fellowship in Bangkok and it has inspired the desire find venues of facilitation and mediation. I would appreciate learning more about your facilitation training program and how does one learn more.
Thank you