SI NEWS 2006 eng Meetings
From SI Exco News
Conflict handling, Askov
On the initiative of Dag Eirik Eikeland and Jan Degrauve, National Secretaries of Norway and Denmark members of Servas from a few European countries met at Askov Folk High School in Denmark.
The participants were from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Belgium, Austria, and Britain. There was a message of support from Geoff Maltby. Exco offered us some financial support but we decided that this meeting should be self-funded.
The topics discussed were: conflict handling and resolution, comments and questions about Distant Voting and sharing experiences of the Barcelona conference.
Jan Degrauve invited Bjarne Vestergaard a professional facilitator from Danish Centre for Conflict Resolution in Copenhagen to come and talk to us about conflict resolution. Bjarne told us about patterns in different conflicts and ways to solve them. I’d like to quote what he told us and what I later found in the brochure he gave us. “Conflicts are a part of life; they are a part of any change. They may lead to progress or havoc, depending on how we live through and approach them. The point is, in accordance with Ghandi, that conflicts should neither be suppressed nor explode in violence, but transformed into energy.”
Bjarne’s workshop gave us the energy to think positively about what to do in the future and how to use the tools that we had discussed at Askov at the next conference in Rome. Here are the points that we wrote and presented to Exco:
- There should be thorough introduction and information about the assembly and its agenda.
- We need improvement of communication and behaviour through introducing the code of conduct (written).
- Each participant should be provided with a wordlist of basic conference words and phrases (e.g. secret ballot.)
- There is a necessity of using simple English and/or providing translation where necessary.
- We should hire a professional, independent facilitator in case of foreseen conflicts.
- Some issues should be discussed in smaller groups.
Looking back on the GA in Barcelona were able to identify a number of good points as well as the bad ones which had already been discussed over the past year. We agreed that good will, effort and cooperation will be needed to make the next conference a successful one. We also agreed that it would be good to include our recommendations.
We discussed the draft proposal of the Distant Voting work group. We greatly appreciated their work and sent our comments.
We met every evening over a glass of wine to talk and listen to Dag Eirik’s story read to us in parts. The last evening we shared the food and drink we had brought from our countries. We sang, read poems and danced. It was a true Servas night.
We worked in peace and we parted in peace. We hope to bring our new experience to Rome and share it with the participants of the EGA conference.
Ewa Dzierzawska, Poland
German GA, Scheersburg
In September 2005 we took part in the German GA in Scheersberg. This was our second time, last year we were also invited to this event, which took place near Berlin. The idea of Scheerberg was very interesting, because it was planned as a Baltic Servas organizations’ meeting. Unfortunately, only four countries were represented. They were Germany (obviously☺), Denmark, Finland and Poland. We were able to take part in discussions, especially the part devoted to relations with SI. We personally felt we should emphasize the fact that Servas has been operating successfully for over fifty years and our biggest responsibility should always be to this huge network of hosts and travellers involved in Servas activities. This opinion was received very positively.
We, as representatives of Poland, always feel extremely welcome in Germany. We still receive congratulations on the summer university in 2003, which is so well remembered here. From our experience we can say that it is a really effective way for countries with fewer visitors to promote themselves and encourage more people to come.
The meeting was not only spent in discussions, although German representatives debated heatedly until late. We had a chance to participate in some shows provided by the organizers (improvisation theatre) and participants – there was a joint exhibition of art created by Servas members, paintings, photos, sculpture etc, there was even a puppet show. We could also stroll along the beach and experience the Baltic Sea (some of us very literally – brave after season swimmers!). The place was very picturesque and we really regretted that we only came for the weekend, with no time to explore.
And last but not least, the conference was a great chance to meet old friends and make new ones ☺, the greatest value of Servas.
Anna Zakrzewska and Ewa Dzierzawska, Poland
From Servas Asia Meeting
Asian National Secretaries talked about their interest in four major subjects.
They want to improve the Statutes, the Distant vote, an Account management System and Appropriate Behavior and Conflict Resolution.
During discussions they thought of proposals for each subject to take to the EGA.
For the Statutes they want:
- a statute to limit the number of terms an officer can hold the office
- to state a length of term of office
- an action to take if stamp fees are not paid on time
- a number of voting rights per countries
For the Distant vote they want details of the procedure for:
- the personal vote
- postal voting
- electronic voting
For an account management system they want:
- delegate funding to be paid at the end of the conference
- an account system using vouchers and invoices
- a statement saying an advance may only be made if all former advances have been paid back
For behaviour + conflict resolution they want:
- anyone who has a view to express to talk peacefully, constructively and positively.
- all correspondence to be peaceful and positive
- everyone to show respect to one another.
