Examples of the Settings in Which This Training Program Might Be Used

• Scenario #1

Narayan is the mayor of a small city in Southern India. In 1997 he participated in a tour of conflict resolution institutions sponsored by the United States Information Agency and Meridian International. As part of this tour he came to the University of Colorado where he witnessed a demonstration of the online training system along with a brochure describing ways of accessing it in Southern Asia. On returning to India, Narayan began to work with others with similar interests to establish a conflict resolution center to build on Gandhian conflict approaches while incorporating more recent ideas from around the world. Based upon information provided by the Consortium, he was able to identify someone working with the regional affiliate of the Association for Progressive Communications, and a person in the computer science department of a nearby university. This group was able to arrange several hours of access to the global computer networks each week. They were also able to obtain modest funding for acquisition of printed resource materials from the Consortium. Thanks to a small "scholarship" grant the Consortium was able to provide these materials at affordable prices. Over the next several years, the Center increasingly used the system to teach people better ways of dealing with difficult conflicts. The users' comments enabled the Consortium to improve the system by incorporating useful ideas which the Indians had developed into the system. Through the system's electronic discussion groups, the Indian group made contact with a similar organization operating in Pakistan. This relationship has since developed into a significant non-governmental effort to reduce tensions between the two countries.

• Scenario #2

Shimon, an Israeli, and Abdul, a Palestinian, are members of a citizen's organization established to reduce Palestinian/Israeli violence and to constructively address the issues which divide their two societies. They wish to learn what they can from others who have had to deal with similar ethnic, religious, and territorial conflicts. They recognize that their situation is unique and that "turn-key" systems imported from other nations will not work. What they need is an efficient way to learn how others might have approached similar problems so that they can begin the work of selecting the most useful ideas and adapting them to their needs. They obtain modest funding for computer access, supplementary resource materials, and translation services and become a training group in the Consortium network. Study groups of Palestinians and Israelis then begin using the system to develop a better background in the conflict resolution field. They write several essays outlining how specific ideas might be adapted to their specific situation. These essays then serve as a basis for an electronic discussion which further advances the knowledge base offered by the program and provides an opportunity for several people to work simultaneously on the Israeli-Palestinian problem. The ability of electronic networks to span political divides also permits the two sides to conduct an online discussion that would be very difficult to conduct in a face-to-face format.

• Scenario #3

Maria is a human rights activist in Guatemala. Through her work with Amnesty International, she has, for years, been using the global electronic mail capabilities of the Internet. She first became aware of the Consortium system through an advertisement distributed to users of the Amnesty International system. Since she knew that escalation dynamics play an important role in sustaining the cycles of violence that encourage human rights abuses, she was very interested in exploring strategies for breaking these cycles. Through the course materials she began pursuing a new approach to her human rights work which she described in one of the course assignments posted by the Consortium. She has persuaded a number of her associates to use the Consortium system as a basis for more effective community conflict moderation.