3.4: Part A Conflict

Marshal Rosenberg's article, "Bringing Peace to the World" was my personal favorite conflict management technique. Rosenberg stresses the importance of mindfulness by asking ourselves what our feelings and needs are and not blaming ourselves or others when our feelings and needs are not being met. Instead, by figuring out who we are as people, and what needs we have, we can learn to connect with others by exuding empathy and connecting with them on a human level. We can learn to let go of judgments and biases by not focusing on blame, but on the person as an individual who has feelings and needs just as we do (we no longer see them as objects). It is important to listen empathetically to others with warmth so they feel heard and understood, and as a result, conflict within ourselves and towards a situation can subside. 

Examples of situations where non-violent communication can have an impact on sustainability in our world is endless. One pressing issue we can address with NVC could be promoting solar or wind generated energy. We would first have to identify the need and urgency of why such energy is beneficial for our community and world, sharing a common vision and goal with others. Next, we would have to communicate to our local, state and national government the vision and goal we need for clean energy. Both the sides of the arguments should be heard with compassion and understanding, and also allowing large companies or organizations (the people they work for) to be seen as humans and not "corporate gangs." It would be important to allow these workers to be asked questions that would allow them to feel human and not representations of what their companies goals are (to make money) but to really allow them to understand the environmental and human need for having sustainable energy (which benefits our existence and environment). Consistency with empathy is key, it would be the driving collective force of humans that would influence our democratic governments to change the climate of our communities and environment.