This Manual on Conflict transformation is the product of a process by a consortium of partner organisations. The goal was to identify, synthesise, complement, teach and enable conflict transformation for trainers from a European point of view. The project consisted of the conducting of training of trainers workshops and the manual. The training of trainers workshops were conducted in Slovakia, Romania, Italy and Switzerland and Germany in the years 2005 and 2006. The whole project has been, and continues to be, an ambitious and challenging initiative with many different dimensions. We have learnt a great deal, but in an emerging and dynamic field there is always much more for us to learn and to improve.
It has been a challenge to try to capture the richness and diversity of approaches and opinions on training for conflict transformation in various geographical and institutional contexts and to present them in an accessible and succinct format. We believe that the Manual makes a useful and relevant contribution to practice. We welcome feedback on what is helpful in the Manual as well as what requires change or further elaboration. Working for better practice by its very nature is always work in progress, with no room for complacency.
All the organisations involved in managing this initiative were inspired by the wealth of good practice and innovative responses that are being applied often undocumented as well as by the energy and openness with which people and agencies talked about their experiences and on-going challenges. The desire for improved guidance and to share knowledge, methods, approaches and tools amongst practitioners was encouraging. This has enabled mutual capacity building, reflection, research and learning in the pursuit of better practice.
This Manual marks the beginning of a process, rather than the end. It is a contribution to an emerging field. It is also a snapshot in time; the field is developing extremely rapidly. Some elements of the Manual describe or synthesise current experience with particular issues in the field of teaching or applying education. Other components identify knowledge or understanding.
We will continue to research new, emerging areas and new geographic contexts, and will discuss and share our findings with you. Ultimately it will be up to practitioners and communities themselves to judge the utility and impact of this venture.
We are also grateful to our various donors for their engagement and support during the evolution
of this initiative.

The Manual:
The Manual provides different chapters with concepts and mirroring exercises that are crucial for understanding and applying conflict transformation. The Manual is based upon the comprehension of Diana Francis’ conflict transformation theory and focuses upon transformation of social conflicts. The Manual purposely does not supply the reader with “fixed schedules”. It is our true believe that every schedule would give the underlying message that reality can be copied. In that sense all the exercises function as suggestions that can be changes due to the chosen objective.
The last chapter of the Manual presents an essay written by Hagen Berndt. The essay gives an overview and deeper understanding of the roots of nonviolence, an idea that we are committed to.
The following persons contributed to the Manual: Ueli Wildberger, Dirk Sprenger, Beatrix Schmelze, Ján Mihálik, Hagen Berndt, Peter Siebenhühner, Jochen Neumann, Mike Dobbie, Ruth Mischnick Ph.D. and Winnie the Pooh. With kind permission,some information was taken from the resource pack of International Alert. Some quotations mirror the experience of the website www.beyondintractability.com, also with kind permission.
Ruth Mischnick Ph.D. (Author and editor)

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