Creating Communities of Care, Respect and Strength
7 day residential retreat for beginners and advanced practitioners of in NVC – Nonviolent Communication
20. – 27. April, 2018 – Slovenia
Facilitator and Trainer:
Kathleen Macferran, Certified trainer with the CNVC
Event organisers and supporting trainers:
Javor Škerlj Vogelnik and
Dmitriy Kopina, both in the process of certification with the CNVC
We would like to welcome you to this special retreat which we designed for people new to Nonviolent Communication as well as for advanced practitioners and trainers in the process of certification, who wish to deepen their already abundant skills and experiences with the Language of Life.
You might wish to join this retreat if you are interested in achieving
better understanding, cooperation, efficiency or mutual respect in communication and if you want to learn how to resolve conflicts in constructive ways.
The process work will be facilitated by Kathleen Macferran who has abundant experience in holding spaces for learners of all levels participating in the same room and everyone getting learning.
Participants who are new to NVC will also have additional support from supporting trainers Dmitriy and Javor.
Please feel most welcome even if you have no experiences with Nonviolent communication whatsoever.
Our group diversity will bring additional aliveness into the focused learning process and invite direct application of the teachings.
Below are some of the topics you will be invited to inquiry about during this retreat:
- What matters most to me?
- How can I more fully live in alignment with my values?
- Speaking and listening in ways that inspire compassion
- A quality of listening that bridges cultural divides
- Expressing yourself in ways that inspire collaboration
- Processes to get back to clarity when upset
- What is NVC?
- How can I be guided by the principles of Nonviolent Communication while being true to my own authentic expression?
- How can I make a difference in my own relationships and/or communities to bring about more compassion, collaboration and ease in getting along?
- How can I give and receive feedback that is honest and caring at the same time?
- How do I interact with children, elders, professional colleagues, friends, intimate partners in ways that are authentic to me, yet connecting in all the different contexts?
- What is conflict?
- How to bring authenticity and courage into daily life by engaging with conflict in ways that are likely to inspire compassion.
- Transform blame into connection
- Discover how to come back to center when upset
- Explore individual and systemic options for engaging with conflict
- Develop the concrete skills of nonviolence leading to reconciliation with ourselves, our loved ones and the community
- How to facilitate reconciliation when you are not part of the conflict
- How to facilitate reconciliation when you are part of the conflict
- How can we engage with conflict in ways that make us all more secure?
- Can we find the beauty in conflict?
- Empathic responses in the midst of conflict to deescalate the situation
- Processes to move through conflict internally and interpersonally
- How to co-create restorative systems in your communities
- Experiment with shared power and shared resources
We are open for a group of about 30 participants from various backgrounds, fields of specialization and walks of life to co-create a safe space for exploring vulnerability, gaining communication skills and fostering change on personal and community levels. Please feel a warm welcome to join us whether you are a parent, teacher, activist, leader, businessman, social worker or a curious explorer of life…
Language: English
Translation: into Slovene when needed
Draft daily schedule
7:45 – 8:30 Breakfast
9:00 – 12:00 Morning session (will include an opening, exploration of concepts, practice in small groups or break out sessions, large group dialogue)
12:00 -13:30 Lunch
13:30 -15:30 Afternoon session
15:30 – 16:00 Break
16:00 -16:45 Community gathering/integration practice
17:00 – 18:00 Home group dialogue
18:00 – 19:00 Supper/Dinner
19:00 – 19:30 – Break
19:30 – 21:30 Evening session (optional) all participants are welcome to make an offering
(Please note that the daily schedule is subject to change)
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Home/Empathy groups
We will be meeting daily for an hour (17.00 – 18.00) with the same group of people (approx 4 group members), to support each other during the process and reflect on how we are doing as individuals and community.
Venue
Ars viva hostel in Podcerkev village
Youth Hostel Ars Viva is located in a rural setting in the village Podcerkev, part of the Loška valley overlooking the beautiful Snežnik forest. It is located just 62 km from Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia and the accommodation has been carefully designed & built using natural, local materials.
Surrounded by colorful meadows, an intermittent lake, natural bridges, mystical underground world, streams and magical forests the region offers plenty opportunities for discovering natural and cultural heritage of the region.
Video on Loška dolina (in Slovene language) .
Address:
Ars Viva hostel
Podcerkev 24
SI – 1386 Stari trg pri Ložu
Slovenia – EU
Tel. +38640501116
Accommodation
- single room with own bathroom
- double or twin room with shared bathroom
- common room for up to 4 persons with shared bathroom
All rooms and furniture are built using natural materials, with lot of care and special design to provide you best living experiences. We can also support people with special needs and disabilities.
Food:
During the retreat you will be served three vegetarian or vegan meals per day made mainly from local resources and delivered by local catering service. We will provide tea and coffee during our breaks. If you have any special diet please let us know, we will do our best to fulfill your special food requirements.
Price for accommodation
| Room / location type | Price per person |
| Single bed room | 451 EUR |
| Double bed room | 347 EUR |
| Four bed room | 225 EUR |
Prices are per person. Price include 7 day accommodation of selected type and full board menus with 3 meals per day. Price does not include tourist tax, payable on site after the event (for adults the tourist tax will be 7,30 EUR for whole 7 days/person).
Workshop tuition fees
For the whole 7 day event : 350* – 590 EUR per person
* Early bird price for early registration (registration and payment of deposit completed before 31.12.2017) . Price for registration after 1.1.2018 starts at 410 EUR per person.
This workshop is being offered on a sliding scale.
You are invited to pay more, based on what can you afford to contribute. We are comfortable and fully supporting you if you decide to pay just the minimum amount of tuition fee.
If you have a burning desire to join us, but you cannot afford paying the full tuition fee please send us an e-mail and we will try to figure it out together.
Payment terms and cancellation policy
Registration and reservation
After filling in the registration form here, you will receive instructions for paying the non-refundable deposit of 150 EUR per person. The payment of the deposit confirms your interest in attending the event and secures your place at the event.
Payments can be only made via bank transfer.
We have a limited number of places/beds available. You are asked to make the deposit payment within 8 working days from your registration. If we do not receive your deposit payment, your place could be offered to another potential participant.
Please note that the deposit is nonrefundable. If you change your plans, and do not join the event, then this deposit will not be returned to you. If you want more support and reassurance about cancellation options, we invite you to consider other strategies (travel or medical insurance, …).
Final payment:
You will receive an proforma/invoice for the difference between the deposit and the full price (Attendance fee payable directly to venue and Tuition fee payable to organizers) . We expect all fees to be paid by 20. March 2018 at latest.
Cancellation policy
- until 20.3.2018 we will refund full payment less the deposit (the deposit of 150 EUR / per person will not be refunded)
- after 20.3.2018 no refunds are possible
- at any time you can offer your place to another participant to different person without any cost , but please let us know if you decide so.
Getting there
By plane:
From Airoport Jože Pu?nik Ljubljana, buses are available to the city of Ljubljana. From Airoport Trieste or Venice, Goopti shuttle transport is available to Ljubljana. Please visit Goopti web page and arrange your transfers; https://www.goopti.com/en/
By Bus:
From Ljubljana main bus station to Podcerkev, there are regular buses everyday. The journey takes 1h and 40 minutes and costs around 7 eur one way.
For more information and timetables in regard to busses from Ljubljana to Podcerkev, please visit: https://www.ap-ljubljana.si/en/
As you arrive to Podcerkev, the hostel is in walking distance from the bus station.
Start & end of the retreat
Arrival time: please arrive between 15.00 – 17.30 hrs on Friday, 20.4. 2018
Dinner will be served from 18:00 till 19:30
The opening circle will start at 20 o clock
Departure: the retreat ends with lunch on Friday 27.4. 2017. Lunch will be served from 12:00 till 14:00 o clock.
Registration
You can register here : REGISTRATION .
You can also register by sending an e-mail to dmitriy.kopina@gmail.com .
More information
You can download brochure here:
If you may need and some additional information, don’t hesitate and contact us.
dmitriy.kopina@gmail.com
+386 68 176 373;
or
javorsv@gmail.com
+386 30 383 657
About us
Kathleen Macferran
Kathleen holds a vision for a peaceful, just and sustainable world. She has worked as a Certified Trainer for the Center for Nonviolent Communication (CNVC) since 2003, is an assessor for CNVC certification candidates, and served on the Integration Council for the restructuring of this international organization. Community system building and conflict transformation are passions of hers.
Kathleen has worked with organizations and individuals including businesses, schools, colleges, community groups, faith-based communities, hospitals, families, prison inmates, and correctional and law enforcement employees. She serves as a lead trainer for the Freedom Project of Seattle, an organization that strengthens community safety by supporting the transformation of prisoners into peacemakers.
Kathleen offers trainings, facilitation, system building and mediation using practical skills that lead to reconciliation with ourselves, our loved ones and our communities. For over 30 years Kathleen has explored ways to restore harmony to communities including two decades as a music conductor and leader of a nonprofit organization, and seven years as a public school teacher. Her website is www.StrengthofConnection.com where her two TEDx talks can be found.
Javor Škerlj Vogelnik
Javor is a professor of Sport Science with many years of work experiences in the field of sports. In the last years his passion is in dance/movement, music, artistic wood crafting and in offering conflict resolution support to individuals and groups. He sees Nonviolent communication as a bridge to a deeper self connection and to connection with others. He is excited about its practical application in everyday life and has decided to step into the certification process with the International center of Nonviolent communication.
Javor’s inspirations for art, projects and workshops mostly derive from a unique connection with nature and its Fairy wonders. In his workshop offerings, he enjoys combining NVC with movement based practices, which welcome movement with whatever is alive within self in the present moment.
Dmitriy Kopina
Dmitriy is being human at first and finding precious gift of Life in him and any other living being, thru connection and empathy, is the main aim of Life in him. Deeply connected with mother Nature he is in his quest toward exploration, joy, grow, care, love and admiring the beauty of needs and feelings Life brings to us.
His mission and purpose involve activities that are supporting individuals finding their authenticity, fullness of life and awareness; connecting people together, building “power with” communities based on equality of all needs and using forms of communication and full embodiment to support connecting individuals and groups into their essence, consciousnesses and spirituality.
Working as trainer, expert, adviser, manager, father and a teacher for over 27 years, he is keen in exploring and sharing life with others.