Roundtable with Professor Mickley (UN Office, Vienna)
Written by: Renate Amesbauer
On September 9, Professor Dr. Angela Mickley visited WFWP Vienna. She has a wide experience in dealing with long-lasting and violent conflicts; a key experience has been Northern Ireland, where she spent over three years, during the civil war, and helped find ways of communication between the hostile communities and the fighting parties.
Often the openheartedness of children would be a starting point to build a bridge over the wide gap of enmity, in peace education workshops in Northern Ireland and with supporters in Norway, a base for a peaceful future was built.
Another example is Namibia, where she would have liked to prepare the apology by her own country-Germany, towards the Herero and Nama ethnic groups, who suffered a genocide at the time of colonialism. But the capacity building was very welcome in Namibia. With other volunteers, she trained key actors in NGOs and ministries in conflict resolution and worked in healing traumas and building resilience.
Among the audience were people from Syria, Bosnia, Guinea and Ireland.
Some important points that Dr. Mickley introduced:
-Conflict resolution takes time- sometimes several years
-The conflict to be solved has to be demanded by a considerable number of people, who have and use influence (e.g. in Northern Ireland it was women who reduced male violence)
-It is necessary to create learning opportunities for children and young people, that they can experience the other as a neighbor and a friend
-Prof. Mickley strongly feels the importance of solving historical conflicts to be able to reach a state of real peace in the present: Therefore apologizing even hundreds of years later by responsible representatives of a group or nation helps to pacify a region.
-It is Prof. Mickley´s strong desire, also in her work with the military (in Germany and Austria) to provide the people with new tools in solving conflicts, sudden incidences other than with weapons: To de-escalate.
As another very important point Dr. Mickley mentions: Learning to separate the perpetrator from the deed: To criticize or condemn a deed but still talk to the person with respect; she said she learned much from the Quakers, who always talk to everyone: victim and offender, the good but also the “bad“ in conflict; addressing the positive part in a person has an encouraging effect and strengthens this aspect of their personality.
Everyone enjoyed the conversation with each other while sharing some tasty pumpkin soup.
About Prof. emer. Angela Mickley:
-Prof. Mickley is a University lecturer in conflict management
-Peace Education and Ecology in the Department of Social Affairs at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
-Certified mediator and trainer association Mediation DACH e.V.
-Teaching crisis intervention at the Leadership Academy of the Bundeswehr 2003-09 -Competence Building Mediation / Reconciliation Initiative in Namibia from 2000 projects on conflict/past management,
-Reconciliation in South Africa, Guinea, South Korea
-Since 1995, Professorship at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam since 1994 continuous management of one-year in-service mediation training 1992-1995 Initiation and management of the pilot project "Mediation in Schools" from 1990 freelance work in schools, associations, organisations on conflicting and violence 1971 Study of History and Political Science, MA, PhD, Research at Queen's University Belfast, practical peace work
