NVC Convention, Orissa

Welcome to our Annual International Nonviolent Communication Convention, Orissa – January 15-21, 2012

Registration:

Registration is open now and through until December 20, 2011. To register, please click here.

Convention Theme:

“From Inner Transformation to Outer Transformation”

Through our awareness of our needs and those of others, through the power of inner clarity and compassionate connection to others, NVC empowers not only individual transformation, but also helps us develop awareness of collective transformation. For those of us who are actively involved in Social Change, we can learn to empower our organisations and structures by empowering ourselves first. INVCI is pleased to announce the presence of 12 International Certified Trainers who have the experience and know-how to guide us through this two-dimensional aspect of Social Change.

What to Expect:

* NVC Basics for Newcomers
* Intermediate and Advanced Workshops
* Sharing and Community Building
* Support for new and on-going Social Change Projects

Our Host-Partner:

For the last two years INVCI has been closely collaborating with SFDC (Solidarity for Developing Communities), an NGO based in Orissa (link coming soon). We feel privileged to announce that SFDC, with whom we have an on-going NVC-based project, is working hand-in-hand with us for the organisation of this Convention.

Daily Schedule:

ARRIVAL, REGISTRATION and WELCOME DINNER:
Sunday, January 15, 2012 (between 3-7pm, at St. Vincent Centre)

TIMING	DAILY ACTIVITIES (Mon, Jan 15 – Fri, Jan 20)	WELCOME/CLOSING SCHEDULE
7.30 – 8.30am	BREAKFAST (at St. Vincent)
8.45 – 9.45am	Opening	Mon, Jan 16: Welcome and Opening
9.45 – 10.00am	Planning for the Day
10.00 – 10.20am	TEA
10.20am -12.30pm	Workshop 1
12.30 – 2.15pm	LUNCH (at St. Vincent)
2.15 – 4.00pm	Workshop 2
4.00 – 4.20pm	TEA
4.20 – 5.20pm	Home Groups	Fri, Jan 20: Final Closing
5.20 – 6.00pm	Celebrations
6.00 – 7.00pm	Independent Workshops
7.30pm	DINNER (at St. Vincent)

CHECK-OUT and DEPARTURE:
Saturday, January 21, 2012 (after breakfast)

Trainers:

Alexis Proniewski, France (Certification Candidate)

Alexis started his career as a social worker supporting teenagers living in difficult environments. Due to his personal interests in conflict resolution and interpersonal relationships, Alexis expanded his career into mediation where he discovered NVC. In 2004, he gave the very first introductory training on Nonviolent Communication to teenagers in France. Ever since then, he has been giving workshops for various companies and organizations all across Europe, as well as for families and individuals.

Charlotte Duprez, France

“I feel very honoured to participate in this Convention because the theme is central to my own life as well at the core of my personal commitments. I had a dream, even as a child, that strongly resonated with Martin Luther King’s “We will be able to work together, pray together. We will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nations into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” Even then I used to ask myself how I could be connected to myself and to others within a spirit of co-operation, mutual satisfaction and equity. Obviously, NVC opened a huge door to the awareness of my own needs and priorities. It helped me to connect to others and to develop a spirit of co-operation. Experiencing this quality of connection with self and others raised the question of self governance and collective governance.

I’d like to pay tribute to the long-existing spiritual and meditation practices of India, which deeply inspired me on this journey. They allowed me to develop the awareness that every human being is a mere microcosm within a greater macrocosm. The challenge then is to clarify how I can develop greater coherence between what goes in me and my own behaviour within the world at large, and how one strongly influences the other. We are at the core of the theme of the Convention.

What I find meaningful is how I can contribute to the value of ‘being’ as opposed to ‘having’ – and to support organisations within which each human being can be fulfilled, live in integrity, as well as be involved in a collective project that can sustain society as a whole.

This Convention is therefore an opportunity for me to serve Marshall Rosenberg’s vision as well as to embody my own spirituality.”

Farrah Baut-Carlier, Luxembourg

“In 1999, I attended my first NVC seminar in Belgium. Within an hour of hearing about NVC, I was clear that developing skills in expressing feeling and identifying needs would help me improve the quality of my relationships. I spent some years just doing that – expressing how I felt and trying to identify the needs behind anything I did or say and developing more heart-to-heart connections.

NVC also helped me in my work, where I least expected it. As a translator, I was trained to use my brain to listen and convey into another language what was going on in people’s heads. In 2005, I was asked to translate Marshall Rosenberg during an IIT (International Intensive Training) he was offering in Belgium. During nine days, participants from several different countries and cultures, speaking different languages, were gathered to live NVC with a community, with the intention to develop NVC skills and consciousness. My translation work primarily involved empathically connecting with what was going on in people’s hearts – putting the judgmental parts of my brain at sleep and allowing my heart to expand – which increased my effectiveness and enjoyment of translation, and made me feel more confident and secure. Within a minute of sitting next to Marshall Rosenberg, I knew that NVC would be key to bringing about the peaceful change I wanted to see in the world. This is the first time I experienced “From Inner Transformation to Outer Transformation” so clearly.

Further, during this IIT in 2005, I met Saleem with whom I felt instantly and deeply connected. We had two things in common at the time: our Indian origins and our willingness to travel together to India! I will skip the funny anecdotes around our missed appointments, but this dream finally came through last year at the 2nd INVCI Convention in Pondicherry. I am excited and looking forward to coming to Orissa, to meeting those at INVCI who are already dear to my heart, to (re)connecting with people from India and from around the world, and to living NVC consciousness all together with the team of trainers and participants.

With gratitude to INVCI who have offered me for the past three years an opportunity to reconnect with my mother country and a space to live compassionately.”

Godfrey Spencer, Belgium

“Whether as a linguist or as a philosopher, I long thought that communication was the result of lining up semantic fields. That is no longer my belief, and the meanings of words now maintain all their importance in synergy with intonation, gesture, grimace, silence, presence, absence, intention… It is my experience, and this is such a passion for me, but we cannot not communicate! Communication with another stems from my relationship to myself. The relationship to myself derives from a consciousness of what is alive in my innermost depths. Empathy is not divisible! When it comes to our interdependence, I am convinced that willingness and the quality of relationships are key: fear and obligation are poor counsellors… So let us invest in the quality of our connections, with both ourselves and others, trusting that solutions will arise.

This trip to India is a return home. My grandmother lived for years in Delhi in circumstances that brought both sadness to her view of England and some of the most wonderful friendships with Indians that marked both her life and mine.”

Kirsten Kristensen, Denmark

Kirsten is a family therapist, supervisor, mediator and CNVC certified trainer. She has worked for 20 years in business companies with economics and production planning. Since 1984 she has spent a good deal of her time on various self-development workshops, and since 1994 she has devoted her working life to support others in personal development. In 1998 she met Nonviolent Communication and found that NVC was adding a very deep and life changing dimension to her work as a therapist. Now she leads year long NVC trainings in three countries as well as serves as a consultant and supervisor for institutions and organizations. She also publishes NVC books in Danish. Her website is www.kommunikationforlivet.dk

“I spent more than a year in India when I was young – back in 1983-84, and all the time since then I have carried a wish to return to this country, where I hear the heart beat of mother earth closer than any other place I have been.”

L’aura Joy, India

“This Convention theme speaks directly to my heart, as I cannot imagine looking at Social Change without looking within simultaneously. For me there is so much resonance between what’s happening inside my being and what’s happening on the larger global level (and beyond!). With NVC in my life, it has become so clear that my work is primarily about inner transformation, and as I clean up some of my inner messes, I can see how directly it supports my external activities to come together harmoniously. And yet, there is no time to waste on the global level, so how perfect it seems to combine these two aspects into a dance of interdependent transformation!

On a different note, as a relatively new trainer, it feels a bit daunting to think of myself as being an official part of the ‘Trainers’ Team,’ and yet it seems perfectly meaningful and nourishing at this point in my journey with NVC. It comes as a natural progression, having supported the organization of our last 2 Conventions and witnessing what worked well and where we could still make improvements. I’m very excited about this upcoming Convention, because I believe we’ll be integrating so many aspects of our learning from the past 2 years, as well as moving concretely forwards with a cohesive vision for the future of NVC in India. I feel blessed to be experiencing so much abundance and dedicated support from our international NVC community.”

Miki Kashtan, USA

Miki Kashtan, Ph.D., is a co-founder of Bay Area Nonviolent Communication (www.baynvc.org). She is inspired by the role of visionary leadership in shaping a livable future, and works toward that vision by sharing the principles and practices of Nonviolent Communication through mediation, meeting facilitation, coaching, consulting, and training for organizations and for committed individuals. Miki hosts the Conflict Hotline TV show (http://bit.ly/conflict-hotline), and blogs at the Fearless Heart (http://baynvc.blogspot.com) and on Psychology Today. Her articles have appeared in Tikkun magazine and elsewhere.

“I have several reasons to want to visit India. This is the country that gave rise to the person whose work I most look to for inspiration – Mahatma Gandhi. I have studied and written about the connection between Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and Gandhi’s legacy, and feel ever more connected to NVC because of these roots. The uncompromising commitment to care about each person’s humanity resonates so deeply with my soul. I derive so much hope and sustenance from the faith that we can create a world that works for everyone, not just some people; truly all of us, including today’s “villains.” I am excited to see the role that NVC can play in creating such a world. In part it’s about shedding the habit of making some people wrong, which allows us to make anything happen at the expense of others. In part it’s because of the very theme of this Convention, because I so completely see the inevitable mutual reinforcement of inner and outer transformation. If we don’t create our inside to match our vision, what we create outside will look like the old way. If we don’t make conditions more livable all around, we can be limited in how far our inner transformation can go. The two are deeply linked. I am delighted to have the opportunity to support this vision and to visit India. Not only did it give rise to Gandhi. It also gave rise to two major spiritual traditions and to a way of being that honors the human spirit. I am honored to touch that spirit.”

Nicole Azincourt, France

“In 1993, listening to Marshall’s tape ‘Introduction to NVC,’ I was deeply touched to hear that “all judgments are a tragic expression of unmet needs.” That has so much meaning. Saturated with words which support the belief that one could judge the experience of another human being, I was longing to find a way to communicate which encouraged the awareness of the uniqueness of each one. Thanks to life, I found it! NVC encourages me to connect with the essence of Humanity in all of us.

So I became one of the pioneers of NVC in France, and later, in 1996, a CNVC Certified Trainer. Now I also contribute as a member of the Board of Directors of the French NVC Association. And it is with great joy and humility that I offer NVC trainings and lectures, so I may contribute towards spreading awareness, acceptance, peace and harmony. In this field inner transformation is the key. The more one evolves in awareness, the more one lives in peace and spreads it. As the topic of transformation has been chosen for this 2012 Convention, I feel very happy, as it carries a lot of meaning for me. And I enjoy to come back in India for the connections too!”

Saleem Ebrahim, France

“I have been involved in corporate training for about twenty years and have worked internationally. I’ve been a Certified NVC Trainer for the last 8 years and have also been actively involved with NVC in India since my first International Intensive Training with Marshall Rosenberg in Pune in 2007. Based in Paris, I’m also an active member of the French NVC organisation. As a former Aïkido teacher, I immediately saw the deep underlying connection between the Art of Peace which Aikido is, and compassionate language as we learn it in NVC. Since the very beginning I have been sharing both arts together, as I see them as deeply mirroring each other’s essence.

My active involvement and sharing of NVC with different populations in India have strengthened my desire to contribute to social transformation. I have also seen that the root of all sustainable changes are within oneself first – if inner transformation does not come first, then I do not believe I can contribute to the emergence of change outside. This quest for inner/outer coherence, which is also the theme of the 2012 NVC Convention in Orissa, is what drives me, fuels me, inspires me – and gives me deep hope that each one of us can contribute to a better world, no matter who we are or where we stand.”

Shantigarbha, UK

“When I was a child, I wanted to change the world. As a teenager and young adult, I learned that to change the world, I needed to change myself. I love the way, with NVC, I can flow between the two: working on my inner world, on relationships, and social change – the practices and institutions of society.

I’ve been running trainings in India for a number of years for ‘Dalits’ and others. I’ve also done work in Sri Lanka, during and post-conflict. I’m excited to meet old friends at the Indian NVC Convention and make new friends!”

For more information about Shantigarbha and his trainings, visit http://www.seedofpeace.org.

Simone Anliker, Switzerland

Simone Anliker is a CNVC Certified Trainer in Switzerland, an iEMDR-Coach and owner of Compassion & Voice. She completed the LIFE 08 training with Robert Gonzales and is now assisting him in his EURO LIFE 2010/2011 training in Germany, as well as organizing the EURO LIFE for 2012/13. She is deeply touched by the deepening of NVC into the Living Compassion in daily life. As an NVC trainer, she has worked amongst others with the training team of Marshall Rosenberg at the IIT in Switzerland and with Susan Skye in Germany. She is organizing the October 2011 Living Energy of Needs (LEN) in Switzerland. Her heart is with any kind of healing work. She is a co-worker of the trilingual (German, English, Spanish) magazine Paracelsus Health & Healing. As a member of the Women’s Association, she is a co-founder of the Center for Self-Care in Lucerne. She provides trainings to staff in nursing homes, medical hospitals and psychiatric wards, as well as leadership trainings in business companies. Since 1998, she has been traveling to India almost every January for the guru puja and pilgrimages to different holy places.

Véronique Brusorio, France

“I’m an active member of the French team of Certified Trainers, as well as a part of the French Assessors’ Team. I’ve been immersed in the NVC process for ten years now, and was amazed by the power of individual and collective transformation that NVC stimulates. I therefore chose to become certified and to be a part of the worldwide NVC network. I work as an organisational consultant, both with individuals and with teams, and thanks to the power of NVC, help them move towards paradigm shifts in their relationships.”

Location and Venue:

Gopalpur-on-Sea (near the town of Gopalpur) is a famous beach along the Bay of Bengal coast and a tourist destination 15kms from Berhampur/Brahmpur.

Gopalpur has an ancient, commercial port, now lying in ruins. From an obscure little fishing village, Gopalpur became a prominent trading port during the days of the British East India Company. This once vibrant port is now home to a quiet, languorous beach with coconut groves, casuarinas and gentle sand dunes. From atop the lighthouse, one can enjoy a splendid view of the entire town of Gopalpur. (Source: Wikipedia)

St. Vincent Retreat Centre,
and Cary Centre:
These two neighbouring Centres are very close to each other, a walkable distance of 3 minutes. Located about half a kilometer from the beach, they sit atop a hill and are surrounded by greenery. They offer a warm peaceful atmosphere, and are very spacious with balconies and out-door seating arrangements. Each Centre has a small Chapel, and the accommodations are modest.

Climate:
January is one of the best months to visit India, when the air is fresh and cool, and the temperatures range between 16-24 Celcius.

Travel:

Please book your travel so as to arrive in Gopalpur-on-Sea and register in the afternoon of Sunday, January 15th, and leave on the morning of Saturday, January 21st.

* By air – The nearest airport is at Bhubaneswar, 180km from Gopalpur-on-Sea. Bhubaneshwar is a 1.5-hour flight from Kolkata, or a 2-hour flight from Delhi.

* By rail – The nearest rail station is Berhampur/Brahmpur (16km) on the Kolkata-Chennai line. Berhampur/Brahmpur is 608km from Howrah (Kolkata) and 1069km from Chennai.

* By road – One can drive in to Gopalpur-on-Sea from Berhampur/Brahmpur on National Highway 5.

Local Transport from Airport/Train Station to Venue:
Click here for more info…

Fees and Payment Details:

Our intention is to make this event affordable and inclusive. We’re able to offer rates ranging from Rs.3,000 (dorm rooms) to Rs.3,600 (double, triple, quadra rooms), including accommodation, food and tuition (see Registration Form for more details).

If you are currently living/traveling in India:

Please make your payments before December 20, 2011 to confirm your registration. You can make your payment in the one of the following ways:

a) Make a direct transfer from any Indian bank to our bank account.
Name: Institute of Nonviolent Communication
Account No.: 01530210001295
Bank: UCO Bank, Defence Colony (Shopping Complex) Branch, New Delhi, India
IFSC Code: UCBA 0000153

If you are making a direct bank-to-bank transfer, please scan the receipt and email it to info@invci.com (or otherwise email us the date, and name and address of the bank, so we can track your payment.)

b) Get a Demand Draft (DD) in the name of ‘Institute of Nonviolent Communication,’ payable in New Delhi, and mail it to:
Institute of Nonviolent Communication
c/o Mili Raj (Phone # 098 1868 1947)
C-235 Defence Colony, Ground Floor
New Delhi -110024
India

If you are currently living/traveling abroad:

You can make your payment (in Indian Rupees only) upon arrival and we’ll confirm your participation via email on December 20, 2011.

Please note that because we’re an NGO and officially receive payments as a “donation,” it is not convenient for us to provide refunds in case of cancellation.

Sponsoring a Local Participant:

As INVCI intends to make this Convention available to everyone, including those who can’t afford the minimum, we’re imagining some of you may be inspired to contribute to someone’s life in this way. We’re hoping to attract several local participants from Orissa, including youth from tribal and Dalit neighbourhoods, and we trust that together we can create abundance (as we have been able to in the past, thanks to donations from trainers and others) and contribute to a vision of Social Change in these areas (see Registration Form for more details).

Other Important Information:

Gopalpur-on-Sea is a small village, so we recommend that you come prepared for the following:

- Money and ATMs:
There is one ATM in Gopalpur, however we recommend that you bring cash with you (or exchange your currency at the airport, if coming from abroad).

- Toiletries and Medicals:
Bring whatever you think you’ll need in terms of toiletries and medicals. As we’ll be spending time outdoors, please bring mosquito repellent. Also, for your own comfort, please bring your own bath towel and soap.

- Internet and Emergency Contact:
There are limited internet facilities around, although there’s an internet cafe with 6-7 computers close by. If you have a 3G SIM card, you may be able to access internet via your cell phone or other device.

- Other items to pack:
- swimming costume