.International Youth Winter University is organized by the Centre for Development and Peace Studies FORUM in cooperation with the Olof Palme International Center, Pskov Volny University, TRANSCEND. IYWU is funded by the Olof Palme International Center. Professor Anatol Pikas from Uppsala and myself was invited by Dr. Olga Vorkonova to teach.

To me this week became more “transforming” than I did expect.  I knew very little about professor Anatol Pikas, with whom I should share a week of creative teaching.

SHARED CONCERNED METHOD
From practical field work Anatol has developed this method which he calls Shared Concern Method (SCm).   This method fits very well into the framework of professor Johan Galtungs TRANSCEND-method, which I was teaching.

PIONEERS
I soon understood that the professor had a lot to share, much more than time allowed. Practicing and doing was crucial to the understanding.  Time was short and subject to be thought, bullying, was not understood and were not recognized in Russia.  Together with the students we worked a long time to find a good Russian word for bullying. "The specialists" have not yet found a good solution.  May be a completely new word needs to be constructed?

 I found that I needed to give up some of  “my teaching time”.  The aim of the course was to enable student sto start doing things in real life situations  – to practice in the own life and work.

A journalist asked to write about the workshop.  Anatols response was like this:  “I don’t want to say anything to a journalist before I have reports that my students have practiced my methods with some success”

LEARNING  BY DOING – NO "CHASING OF ENEMIES"
Therefore all the students were involved in role-playing.  Playing the different parties in conflicts, playing the process, including what could give the conflict a satisfactory outcome.

Anatol does not see the bullies as “the enemy”, but as part in a conflict.  His concept of “archetype” in this connection is fruitful.  One of the aims in his words is to “release the archetype of cooperation”.  Images of  enemies, or archetype of an enemy, are counterproductive in the transforming process towards a shared solution.

BASIC PRINCIPLES -
Anatol finds in these basic bully-conflicts the principles and seeds of larger conflicts in work, in society and between nations.  It’s an ideal starting point for implementing and peace-principles in society, and even starting from the kind of conflicts that all boys and girls know too well.  But the same kind of or similar problems continues through life in work and interactions with people or groups of people, even wars between or within nations or states.

TRANSCEND – "THE UN METHOD"
I came to Pskov to teach and lecture, but ended up as a most happy and a most grateful student. I worked to assist, and lecturedt on the basic principles, psychology and philosophy behind  CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION BY PEACEFUL MEANS (The TRANSCEND method) by professor Johan Galtung. The SCm fits very well into the framework of the TRANSCEND method.  I was happy to present the main principles of this method that now has become a "UN-method" and taught all over the world.

And as the TRANSCEND method now is published supported by the UN  (The United Nations Disaster Management Training Programme), the workshop we conducted in Pskov become even more relevant.

We firmly believe it would make a difference if a large percentage of a population got training in these principles.  It’s not a quick fix.  But it is steps toward a noble and attainable goal. And it’s so much cheaper than violence.  Why was not this done for example large scale in Kosovo before billions of dollars were spent on violence?  Death, suffering, pain, and poverty is a result. Why do we make unintelligent destructive choices like we did?

There is better way.

POOR CHOICE
Violence (direct or indirect, physical or mental) is basically a result of limited creativity to see more fruitful and better solutions.  Violence is a poor choice.
 This was training, “hands-on-workshop”, learning by doing, role playing, discussions, clarifications, questions, thinking, brainstorming to get out of locked situations to shared solutions.
We do believe some good seeds were planted, seeds that in the end might produce a plentiful harvest.

TO RELEASE THE ARCHETYPE OF COOPERATION
Thanks to our wonderful students. You gave us so much!   We will keep in touch with you, if you will. I hope we will choose a way, may not traveled by many, but it is our choice to release intelligent creativity in interaction with others.  May be Anatol would say it like this: "To release the archetype of cooperation."

Tore Lende