Dr Alan Channer, who has been one of the organizers of the Caux Dialogues on Land and Security since their inception, was a runner-up for this year's Bremen International Peace Prize.

The prize honours people and organizations that ‘set a good example in their work for peace, justice and the integrity of creation’. Dr Channer was nominated for his work on land, security and climate. The citation said: ‘How does one mutually foster peace and climate protection? What power comes out of local peace initiatives? Alan Channer is providing an important contribution to Muslim-Christian relationships and reconciliation between ethnic groups.’

Dr Channer’s work as a film producer, project director, researcher and writer is tightly linked to Caux. For the Love of Tomorrow Films, his film production company, has its roots in Caux. Dr Channer also met the Imam and Pastor in Caux and this meaningful encounter eventually led to the making of two award-winning documentaries. More recently, Alan launched a Summer Academy on Land, Security and Climate in partnership with the GCSP which took place as part of the Caux Forum 2019.

Download the brochure of the Bremern International Peace Prize

One-man film crew, Oliver Gardiner, travels to remote regions around the world to tell stories of how people have addressed complex issues through food, farming and land use.

When he took part in the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS) in 2017, he was making a documentary for Regeneration International about Mari Oumar Sall, a Mauritanian agri-activist who trains refugees fleeing from violence in northern Mali in dryland farming, so that they can feed their growing community. Oliver brought Mari Oumar Sall to CDLS 2017 with the support of Regeneration International and Land Lives and Peace.

In 2018 Oliver worked with other CDLS participants to film a mangrove restoration project supported by land-mapping and tree-planting drones in the delta region of Myanmar.

Oliver works as the producer and director of Trails of Regeneration, a Regeneration International video series co-produced with Kiss the Ground and the Organic Consumers Association. One of his documentaries, Khasi Mother Earth, tells the story of Kong Spelity Lyngdoh, a 98-year-old Khasi woman in Meghalaya who spent three decades fighting to protect her land from uranium mining. Despite being offered tens of millions of dollars, she vowed to protect her tribe. Society in Meghalaya is matrilineal, with women holding authority and ownership of the land.

He has also made a short film on how agro-ecology was used to stop a regional armed conflict and reverse religious segregation in the Philippines.

Bo Sprotte Kafod volunteered to help organize the Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS) in 2019, after meeting former CDLS participants at the UN climate change conference (UNFCCC COP24) in Katowice, Poland, in December 2018.

Bo is studying Forestry and Landscape Engineering at the University of Copenhagen and is President of the Danish chapter of the International Forestry Student Association. He describes his experience as part of the CDLS organizing team as a steep learning curve, which challenged his skills.

‘Events which include professionals, researchers and the private sector on a global scale tend to be bureaucratic, with slow processes, which are sometimes distanced from practical applications,’ he says. ‘This is not the case with Caux. Caux allows people to meet and discuss freely on common ground, allowing new initiatives to happen – initiatives of change. Many of my values and opinions are reflected in the purpose of Caux, and these have been reaffirmed for me.’

After contacting the Danish branch of IofC in Copenhagen, Bo participated in the UN conference on combating desertification (UNCCD COP14) in Delhi with other CDLS participants.

After the conference, Bo and others from CDLS travelled to Meghalaya in North East India to follow up on contacts from Caux and met the Chief Minister of the State, Conrad Sangma.

While he was there, Bo visited the Mawphlang Sacred Forest, a natural treasure, home to more than 500 indigenous species. Many of Meghalaya’s Khasi people trace their ancestors to the forest and often go there to pray to the trees and stones, especially to get clarity on any dilemma in life. Bo was especially touched by the spiritual importance of the space.

He discovered that the Sacred Forest is threatened by the changing climate and by disease. If nothing is done, it is expected that the trees will continue to die at an increasing rate. To the delight of the caretaker, Bo was able to diagnose the problem as the Sooty Mould fungus, and to suggest a possible solution. He is now working with others to advise the Forest Department of Meghalaya on an action plan to save the forest’s ancient trees.

Do you think that we have way too many ineffective and non-participatory meetings? Your meeting may have not met its objectives, you may feel disengaged or that precious time is being wasted. Brigitt Altwegg, Trustbuilding Programme Manager at IofC Switzerland, and facilitation, coaching and organizational development professional Anna Krebs share some simple tips on how to change this.

Before and at the start of the meeting

Be clear about who is the convener and who is the facilitator of the meeting, and about their respective responsibilities. The convener and the facilitator may or not be the same person. Taking turns to facilitate allows all team members to practise their facilitation skills and to grow together as a group. It is also a good way to change the dynamics and break old habits.

Send a concise invitation to the participants, which mentions agenda items, context, objectives, expected output, leader of the meeting, participants, timing and required reading.

If you doubt whether people will have read the documents in advance, schedule time at the beginning of the meeting to read through them.

In the case of an ad-hoc meeting co-create a ‘flying agenda’ on the spot: ask people to write their most important topics/objectives for the meeting on a post-it, put them up on a flip chart and vote on which items to address and in what  order.

Use the Eisenhower/Covey Quadrant (see image below) as a method of prioritizing items according to their importance and urgency.

Do a mindset check-in round to find out what is on participants’ minds before tackling the topic of the meeting.

Why are mindset check-in rounds important?

• They increase participation. If every person speaks within the first five minutes, they are more likely to express themselves again later on;
• They increase focus on the topic of the meeting because they acknowledge and help people to temporarily put aside other things which are on their minds;
• They allow people space to share on a more personal level what’s happening within them, to the degree that they choose themselves. When this is done regularly and authentically, coherence and trust within the team can increase. Example questions: Before we get started with the agenda, what’s on everyone’s mind? What is one thing you hope to accomplish in this meeting? What one word best describes your mood at this moment?

Shortly frame the meeting:

• Restate the meeting’s purpose and objectives, refer to the mindset which is needed for these to be achieved;
• Clarify expectations;
• Present the agenda and clarify logistics;
• Set, or remind people about, groundrules or guidelines relating to interaction and participation, confidentiality, decision-making and task distribution (i.e. time-keeping, note-taking). You can also use a timer such as a kitchen egg timer.

During the meeting

Use varying participatory formats or facilitation tools which are adapted to the situation and allow all participants to contribute to the conversation equally from the very start of the meeting, taking into account their different learning and personality styles. Empower them to manage their speaking time.

Have standing meetings if the issue can be resolved quickly.

Otherwise, remove tables and arrange chairs in a circle.

Manage participants’ speaking time. For participants who talk too much, you can for example thank them, repeat what they said to acknowledge that you have heard them or occupy them with additional tasks (photos, note-taking, time-keeping, special assistance, etc). To allow participants to speak up, you can, for example, agree on a sign that people make when they have something to say, use silence to give space to think, go around the circle, break into pairs or small groups and ask them to report back, or use other forms of facilitation which do not require speaking.

Use a parking lot flipchart for ideas that are off-topic but important.

Use a visual KANBAN board (see image on top) to keep track of how the meeting is evolving and give a sense of completion in the end.

Use ‘dot voting’ (see image below) if you need to decide on something or choose between different options. Participants vote for their chosen options using a limited number of dot stickers or marks with pens.

When conversation stalls or there is tension, take a moment of silence and a round of insights.

To close the meeting

Celebrate success: Ask one person to share a small success in their work or take a moment to give positive feedback.

Decide on follow-up:

• identify the first small next steps;
• decide who will be in charge of what and how they will keep track of their progress;
• agree on, or be aware of, the consequences of not delivering in time (what it means for the other person);
• send a summary immediately after the meeting;

it is also possible to brainstorm the agenda for the next meeting.

Review: take a few minutes to ask how the meeting could be improved next time.

Check-out: As with the check-in, you can do a quick check-out round by, for example, asking participants to state their mood or take-away in one word.

We look forward to hearing your own comments and tips on making meetings more effective. Who knows, maybe we will soon meet at an event or facilitation training?

N.B. Check out the upcoming Facilitation Training on 28-31 October in Geneva and contact us if you are interested in facilitation services for your event or dialogue!

The Caux Dialogue on Land and Security (CDLS) in 2017 was a ‘turning point’ for sustainable investment professional, Micheál Akampa, who was invited to speak at its Invest in Peace conference. ‘I met like-minded people who were doing very inspiring things,’ he says. ‘This gave me a sense of renewed optimism and of family, as I was no longer alone on this challenging journey. I also had the opportunity to pause, reflect and connect with my inner self on what really matters most to me, both personally and professionally. When you leave Caux, you want to do more.’

It became clear to Micheál that investors needed to channel more capital into land restoration and creating the conditions for peace and well-being. After leaving Caux, he started work on setting up the Invest in Peace Fund, to raise money to fund land restoration and reverse desertification and climate change. ‘Initially I was working through my Africa-focused impact investment company, Traction Capital, but we quickly realized that we needed to have a global company.’ They set up RE Equity Partners, where Micheál is Managing Partner.

Some of those Micheál met in Caux are now part of his team and advisory board. ‘We also realized that we needed to work in partnership with other like-minded people and organizations so as to leverage our collective strength and build synergies rather than duplicating our efforts.’

Micheál’s experience working with funds has shown him that investments from grants, funds or equity tend to be disjointed and not to reinforce each other. Combining and blending these sources can give high impact to a small amount of capital.

How would he explain his work to people who do not know much about investment and finance? ‘That’s precisely the core of my work,’ he says, ‘to simplify the mysterious world of investment and finance, so that it can work for people and the planet as it’s supposed to. There is a big mismatch between investors and projects which have positive environmental or social impact. We aim to develop investments strategies and structures to bridge this gap.’

RE Equity’s investment models are developed for and with local people, to solve the challenges they are facing. ‘We then add structure and try to de-risk and present the projects, so that investors understand them. My wife is a priest in the Swedish church and doesn’t know much about investment and finance, so I often ask her if a structure we have developed makes sense to her. She always challenges me to focus on the people who are most impacted. If it works for them, then it works!’ 

Interview: Nicole Walther

Author: Mary Lean

Photo: Paula Mariane

‘Peace work is not for pessimists or even for realists,’ mediator Antje Herrberg told this year’s Geneva Peace Talks on the International Day of Peace, 21 September, in the Office of the United Nations. ‘You need to be able to give people hope, you have to yourself believe there is hope. Therefore it will be important for you to always trust your own inner compass.’ It takes courage to work for peace and build trust day after day, encounter after encounter.

Antje Herrberg, a former Caux Forum speaker and senior mediation advisor at the EU’s European External Action Service, was one of eight people who spoke on ‘Trust Matters’ at the event, which was moderated by IofC’s Rainer Gude and by Sarah Noble, Curator and Co-Creator of the Peace Talks.. Listening to their stories of building trust in different contexts brought not only inspiration but also hope that things can still change.

As Dina Alami, a young activist from Sweden, said, it’s when you feel hopeless that it’s dangerous – when you have nothing to lose, nowhere to belong. You feel hopeless when you are always part of the problem. It takes courage to go beyond this, to decide to trust that there is hope but also to trust in people again.

A young policewoman from Colombia, Coronel Lurangeli Franco, agreed: the first step is always taken with some fear. But, as Eleanor Roosevelt once said: ’Do one thing every day that scares you.’ When we go beyond our fears, we often realize that we did not need to be so fearful after all.

One thing that stayed with me was what Bernardo Arévalo de León said. A former diplomat, who has now been elected to Congress in Guatemala, he acknowledged the current lack of trust in political institutions and authorities. He made the point that trust needs to be earned, but also needs engagement. ‘Stay engaged and trust but verify,’ he said. ‘Trust a bit, then verify if you can keep trusting, then trust a bit more….’

Award-winning Guatemalan filmmaker, César Díaz, maintained that lack of dialogue is a major reason why there is a lack of trust. ‘We don’t have to agree, but we should at least talk with each other, be able to exchange our thoughts and opinions.’ Often the personal story is a reflection of the collective/ societal story. He argued that dialogue can be facilitated in different ways, including through art and cinema. He presented his film about Guatemala’s unresolved past, which he hopes will spark conversations that will ultimately contribute to healing personal and global memory. His message was similar to that of the Duo Pososhok, who use music as a tool for catharsis and communication, and performed twice, making the UN clap, sometimes a bit off rhythm.

Being brave is also about telling one’s story on stage at the UN. Dina Alami told us that she used to think her story wouldn’t interest anyone until she raised her voice and discovered its impact. Zainab Nankya and Salama Ibrahim, who work to bridge inter-religious divides in Uganda and Nigeria respectively, had also had to overcome their fear to speak here – just as they had when they decided to get to know and trust each other. They had both grown up with narratives about ‘others’ that they were able to deconstruct through taking a leap of faith, believing in hope, deciding to trust.

A call to action came from Mo Ibrahim, founder of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation supporting good governance and great leadership in Africa, telling the young generations of today: “It’s your future, not ours. Act. Vote.” It take courage to change and to shape new systems but there is a great opportunity at the moment according to him.

Eight stories, each of them well prepared and timed, in different languages and in no less a setting than the UN building in Geneva, organized by the UN Office at Geneva, Interpeace and the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform. As we know in IofC, well prepared and genuine storysharing is a powerful tool, which can inspire action like nothing else. It reinforces the role that we each have in building trust and lasting peace, and clearly restates the link between the personal and the global/the collective.

Text: Stephanie Buri

Photos: Antoine Tardy for Interpeace