Conflict and Peace conference.
Europe today is undergoing severe crises, seriously affecting national identity, cultural coherence, personal security and financial stability. The dream of a unified peaceful Europe appears to be fast receding. This beautiful castle in Poland is the setting to explore these and other related issues.
Yet the present instability and strife are deeply rooted in Europe’s past and painful history. Events and processes of other times and regions are encroaching on the present, threatening to undermine and destroy what seemed to be promises of peace, security and unity. The pressing issue seems to be: A house divided against itself – can it stand?
This conference aims to uncover the impact of past traumas on the present. The shadows and painful residues of World War II deeply affect people and nations across Europe and elsewhere. The injuries inflicted by Europe’s shared history derive from the traumas of Fascism, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, communist dictatorships and national oppression. To these is now added the impact of ethnic, religious and cultural tensions, leading to the rise of Neo-Nazism, xenophobia and terror.
Europe’s past has deeply involved it in other regions, such as the Middle East. Arbitrary and gainful determinations that served political and economic ends are now backfiring. The collapse of the social and political order elsewhere is being transported into Europe by those seeking safety and economic and physical stability. There are a number of religious and cultural challenges and confrontations as cultures try to live together.
The impact of this anguish is transmitted from one generation to the next. It shapes contemporary struggles within European society, underlies and intensifies financial and economic crises, and its fallout reaches far beyond European borders.
This residential conference aims to allow participants to work on experiences and residues of such traumas, whether as victims, perpetrators or bystanders, as representatives of continuity and tradition, or as welcomed or unwanted newcomers. It is for people who are puzzled by and curious about their history and wish to know more about its impact on their personal lives, on the groups they belong to, and on the local, national and international attitudes that are shaped by and reflect these dynamics.
Away from the pressures of everyday life, the conference provides a safe setting for such forces to emerge and opportunities to explore and try to understand them. It is also an opportunity to discover whether genuine movement in the real, lived relationships between members of such groups may be possible.
From 6-11 April 2016 at Kliczków Castle, Poland
Organised by PCCA (Partners In Confronting Collective Atrocities – Working with the Impact of Societal Conflict)
For more information and a brochure, contact:
Brigitte Reusch
T: +49 (0) 69 50 52 39
E: geber-reusch@t-online.de
Leslie Brissett, Company Secretary and Co-Director of the Dynamics at Board Level and the Dynamics of Peace programmes at the Tavistock Institute, is on the staff of the conference.