World Café
This is an exercise where discussions and exchanges are structured to take place around more tables – for instance, 3 to 5 tables for a group of 20 participants. Every...
What Type of Man Do I Like? What Type of Woman Do I Like?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into four groups: two of just men and two of just women. One male and one female group (separately)...
What Tells Us That We Are (Not) Living in Peace? What Could Lead to a New War? 2
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Instead of splitting up into small groups, wall newspapers can be prepared collectively for each of the three topics. What tells us that...
What Tells Us That We Are (Not) Living in Peace? What Could Lead to a New War?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into three groups. Each group is tasked with preparing a wall newspaper about one of the following topics: What tells us that...
What Should We Remember as a Society?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into smaller groups. Step 1:Prepare a wall newspaper about “What do we remember (from the recent past) as a society?” Step 2:...
What Our Societies Deny
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into groups based on nationality. Their task is to discuss and prepare a presentation about What our society denies (in...
What Can We Do?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Work in four mixed groups of about five participants each. The task is to discuss what they could do to reduce discrimination against women and against...
What Can We Do to Take a Step towards Reconciliation?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Step 1. Split into groups based on home countries and prepare wall newspapers about: “What can we do to take a step towards...
What Can Others Do?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into four mixed small groups. The small groups discuss: “What would I like to hear from others and what would make it...
What Bothers Me About War Stories? What Is Missing?
Exercise description In small groups, the participants discuss what bothers them in war stories and what they think is missing. Discussions in the small groups are followed by a discussion...
What are the Greatest Challenges in Peacebuilding?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into small groups. Discuss and prepare a presentation about: “What are the greatest challenges in peacebuilding?” This is followed by presentations and...
Using a Chart to Analyse Conflict
Materials: Printed out charts for all participants Exercise description The participants are handed out copies of the conflict analysis chart. Their task is to think of a conflict they were...
Then they discuss in small groups, without feedback in the plenary.
Exercise description Split into small groups (of four, for example). Discussion topics: - What do I find hardest in conflicts? - What dilemmas do I have? - In which situations...
The Media Image of the Past
Materials: Different daily newspapers and political magazines from the region, Flipchart paper, scissors, glue Exercise description Split into three groups. Each group gets a few different dailies and political...
The Heroes 2
Subject: Personal heroes. Participants work individually and write down who their heroes were during childhood and who they are now. . They split into small groups (made up of people...
The Heroes
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into small groups based on nationality: Albanians, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Macedonians, etc. Each group should make a list of the...
The Attitude of Our Societies to the Past
Exercise description Discussion in small groups of four or five people (mixed in terms of region, nationality and age) about: “How does your community deal with a painful past? What...
Strengths and Weaknesses in Ways of Decision Making
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into four small groups. Each group is assigned one way of decision making: compromise, consensus, voting and “follow the leader”. The task is...
Social Groups, Power and Privilege
Materials: Large pieces of paper, felt-tips Exercise description Step 1. In plenary put together a wall newspaper on the topic of “Which social groups have more power in our...
Small Groups Discussion about Communication
Exercise description Split into small groups (of 4, for example). Discussion topics: How do I react when I’m bothered by someone’s way of communicating (use concrete examples)? A good reaction...
Situations When We Were Afraid
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into small groups of three or four. In small groups, discuss the topic: “A situation when I felt fear”. Back in plenary,...
Situations When I Had Power
Materials: Large piece of paper, markers Exercise description Divide into small groups. Topics for discussion: ͳ A situation when you had power and how you felt about it. ͳ...
Similarities and Differences 2*
Materials: Worksheets, pencils Exercise description The participants are given copies of the worksheet with the following questions: Three things I like Three things I don’t like ͳ Three things we...
Shame and Pride in the Narratives of My Society
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into small groups based on ethnicity. The task is to prepare wall newspapers about: “Shame in the Narratives of My Society” and “Pride...
Rotating Triplets of Peace Activism
Exercise description Type of exercise: Rotating Triplets Possible questions: How would you describe the work in your organisation to your neighbour (someone who knows nothing about it)? What is...
Rotating Threes
Groups of three chairs are set up to make a circle (see illustration). Participants that make up the group of three are divided into person A, person B and person...
Reflection Groups
The Reflection Groups are conceived of as a space for reflection and exchange among participants without the presence of the trainers. They are formed during the first or second day...
Reflection and Analysis of Teamwork
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Step 1 – Everyone thinks individually about the following: How satisfied am I with my behaviour in teamwork? How satisfied am I with the...
Questions I’m Not Supposed to Ask
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into groups according to the participants’ home countries. The task is to prepare a wall newspaper about “Questions I’m not supposed to...
Pros and Cons
Materials: Large pieces of paper, markers Exercise description Division into small three groups. Step 1. Question: What would those who are against these kinds of meetings say to us? List...
Prejudice against Me and My Prejudice
Exercise description Divide the participants into small groups to discuss two topics. Prejudice against me: Each of the participants describes to their group an experience when someone treated them with...
Prejudice about Ethnic/National Groups
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Step One (prejudice about your own group): The participants split into groups according to ethnicity. Each group should write on the wall newspaper...
Planning Work on Peacebuilding in the Local Community
Materials: A few copies of the handout, a large piece of paper, markers Exercise description Step 1. Three participants from different communities are given a task beforehand (a few days)...
Peacebuilding Priorities in Different Countries
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split based on the countries they come from. Their task is to define the priorities of peacebuilding in their countries. They...
Past, Future
Materials: Paper, felt-tip pens Exercise description Task: Pair up. 1) Think of at least three to five important moments in your relationship to peacebuilding so far. Write each on...
Open Space
This exercise enables the participants to create the content of the workshop. During the previous day, tell the participants to think about a topic or issue they want to discuss,...
My Questions About Gender Roles in Society/Gender Equality
Materials: Paper and pencils Everyone writes down their questions about the topic of the workshop. Then three small groups are formed: “female” – for women who want to talk with...
My Foreign Friend
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, felt-tip pens Exercise description Determine categories beforehand and write them out as titles on flipchart papers/wall newspapers. Examples of categories: my friend from another region, my...
My Conflicts
Materials: Paper and pencils Exercise description Everyone should think of a conflict they were involved in, specifically: a conflict that isn’t yours, but you’re implicated in it; a conflict you...
Mapping the Patriarchy and Militarism
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into two groups. One group is to map the patriarchy and the other is to map militarism in our societies. They should...
Magazine Analysis
Materials: Daily newspapers, weeklies, magazines Exercise description Split into three groups: one “female”, one “male” and one “mixed”. Work in groups. Instructions for the working groups: “Your task is...
Labyrinth of reconciliation
Divided in groups of 5-6, participants receive 20-30 notions written on paper strips, that ought to be categorized whether they belong to the reconciliation process and if not, explain why...
Labyrinth
Materials: Blindfolds, chairs Exercise description Divide into small groups of six or seven people. In each group, one person wears a blindfold. Using chairs, the others make a small...
Justice, Forgiveness, Truth, Reconciliation*
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into four small groups: justice, forgiveness, truth, and reconciliation. The groups discuss and prepare a presentation about: “Why are you...
Jigsaw Puzzle*
Exercise description The participants split into groups of five (the remaining participants can be observers). Everyone stays in the same room, but the groups sit in separate circles. It would...
Iceberg
Materials: Flipchart paper, felt-tip pens, markers Exercise description The trainer introduces the meaning of the term “iceberg”. The iceberg is a symbolic representation of what we show and what we...
I Compete When…
Materials: Flipchart paper, pens Exercise description Split into three groups. Each group is tasked with preparing a wall newspaper about one of the following topics: - I compete when... -...
How We’re Mutually Connected
Exercise description One person stands in the middle of the room and invites someone from the group to briefly explain what connects them. Both persons now remain in the middle...
How I See Peacebuilding
Exercise description Split into smaller groups. Questions for discussion and preparing a presentation: What is peacebuilding for me? Values we connect to peacebuilding. Reasons why peacebuilding is relevant/ needed in...
How I Became a Man/Woman
Materials: Copies of the questionnaire Exercise description The participants split into smaller groups of four or five. Their task is to discuss in their small groups: “How I became a...
Four Colours, Drawing Exercise
Materials: 4 flipchart papers; felt-tip pens, colouring pencils or crayons; questionnaire printout for each participant Exercise description Split into small groups of four. The participants pick a colour (crayons, felt-tip...
Fishbowl: Agreement on Working Together
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Fishbowl Method Step 1 – Split into three groups. Each group prepares a proposal for an agreement on working together. Each group chooses two...
Finishing Sentences
Materials: Big paper, felt-tips Exercise description Big pieces of paper are everywhere on the ground and there is a sentence that has been started on each of them. Participants...
Family Narratives
Exercise description Everyone has ten minutes to think about and note down an outline of narratives they heard in their family about the Second World War and the wars...
Enemy images 2
Split into three smaller groups: The participants discuss: Who are the enemies in our societies, who are the “others”? What are images of the enemy used for? Who constructs these...
Enemy images
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into groups according to the participant’s home country/region. Step 1. The participants are instructed to list the groups their environment presented as enemies...
Discrimination against Women and Discrimination against Men
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into four groups: two of just men and two of just women. One men’s and one women’s group (independently) write...
Developing Ideas About Peace/Nonviolent Activism 2
Exercise description Divide the participants into smaller groups. Participants develop the idea and plan how to implement peace activities using a catalogue of questions as a basis. Then they present...
Developing Ideas About Peace/Nonviolent Activism
Materials: A few copies of the questionnaire, a large piece of paper, markers Exercise description Divide the participants into smaller groups. Each group should talk through ideas for peace...
Denial, Justification, Truth Seeking
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into three smaller groups, each of which is to work on a wall newspaper addressing one of the following types...
Definition of Violence
Materials: Paper and pencils Exercise description Split into pairs or threes. Each pair or group of three is to come up with their definition of violence. The definitions are...
Dealing with the Past in My Society
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into groups based on the countries they come from. Their task is to prepare a presentation on the state of...
Commendations
Materials: Paper and pencils Exercise description The participants write a commendation for a person they know on a piece of paper. All the papers are collected into a “hat”....
Collective Narratives About the 1990s Wars
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into smaller groups based on the countries they come from. Their task is to make a wall newspaper with the...
Box
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description The participants split into men and women. Each group gets a flipchart paper with a rectangle drawn in the middle symbolising the “box”...
Better Understanding
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Split into four groups. Group discussions about: “What contributes to better understanding and constructive dialogue? Which modes of communication shut down dialogue and...
Assigning Identity
Exercise description Everyone writes down five of their identity markers on a piece of paper so others can’t see. Then the participants split into three groups. Each group is given...
Analysing Behaviour in Conflict Using a Chart
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers, prepared conflict behaviour analysis charts Exercise description The participants fill out the chart in small groups. They give presentations in the plenary, followed by a discussion....
Action Pillars*
Materials: Large pieces of paper, markers, “action pillars” model Exercise description The participants are divided into three groups. The groups are given the task of choosing a specific social...
A Fair Attitude to the Past?
Materials: Flipchart paper, markers Exercise description Step1. Split into smaller groups based on nationality, ethnicity or religion. Each group is tasked with making a wall newspaper on: “What would...
“Power” Barometer
Materials: Large piece of paper, markers Exercise description Barometer method Suggestions of issues: Power is a negative attribute. Everyone wants power. I am powerful. Power can always be abused...