On March 21st, the Mutual Gains Network hosted another webinar. The guest was Fleur Ravensbergen. Fleur works at the Dialogue Advisory Group (DAGDAG works in conflict areas, facilitating political dialogue to reduce violence. They mediate, among other things, between governments and armed groups, and international organizations. The topic of the evening was personal leadership in conflict mediation. Fleur shared her experiences through several stories.

I had the good fortune to work with Fleur at DAG for over a year and witnessed firsthand the work they do. Listening to her stories about conflict zones, including Congo, and reflecting on my own experiences at DAG, I began to wonder what we, as mediators, environmental managers, consultants, etc., can learn from the intense armed conflicts that DAG works on. Two things stood out to me.

De-escalation is also progress

Fleur spoke about negotiations where one or both parties have such a deep need to eliminate the other party that this becomes more important than achieving their own goals. This is consistent with what Friedrich Glass in his 9 stages of conflict model describes as ‘together into the abyss’. Purely reasoned from self-interest, this is obviously difficult to understand, but it indicates how deeply emotions can be connected to the position people take and that the distinction between viewpoint, emotion, and self-interest is often difficult for people to make themselves. At that moment, it is important to ensure that parties come to the table and are willing to have the conversation and, if possible, stop the violence. Although most professionals in the Netherlands do not regularly deal with armed parties, we can learn something from these examples.

• Many environmental professionals encounter conflicts where the parties involved have been pitted against each other for months or years and are unable to think about a win-win situation. A project-based approach to these conflicts, involving first identifying the issues, stakeholders, and interests, and then seeking added value, can be counterproductive in such cases. In such a situation, an active de-escalation strategy is first needed before a process can be built to seek Mutual Gains.
• Success is usually measured by the realization of a project within scope and time. From the moment a drawn-out conflict arises, it is important to define success in a different way. Preventing further escalation, violence, or deeper disagreements can also be the success of an environmental professional's intervention. Fleur said that for DAG, the absence of violence is often already a success.

Trust your own instincts and accept it when things go wrong.

Fleur told about a leader of an armed group who, after months of preparation, called at the last minute to say he wouldn't come. At that point, a choice had to be made: who will go and with what message to have the conversation? The outcome of this conversation determines whether the past months of work have been worthwhile or in vain. But there is no time for careful preparation. Although preparation is of great importance, every environmental professional encounters situations where improvisation is necessary. At that moment, experience and instinct are the only things to fall back on. As Michael Wheeler writes in his book The Art of NegotiationNegotiation is like jazz; you need to know the structures, but throughout the piece, you're constantly improvising on a theme. This often requires making immediate decisions: should I go along with this or push back? Should I point out someone's responsibility or show understanding? The most important thing is to dare to make those choices and not always go for the safe option. If you feel, ‘I need to intervene here,’ dare to do it. Fleur mentioned, by the way, that her intervention hadn't worked. And from this followed the most important lesson for me. Accept that things sometimes don't go well. Be thoroughly disappointed and, together with your colleagues, get back to work to do better next time.

The Fleur Ravensbergen webinar is not available for replay. For other webinars in the series, Click here.

Peacemaker

Fleur Ravensbergen

Senior consultant

Mart Scheepers