Back to our Future: A Handbook for Post-war Recovery

10 August 2010

by Arlene Audergon

As part of our post-war conflict facilitation, community building and economic development work in Croatia, CFOR Force for Change and Udruga "Mi"(Association "Us"), just completed writing "Back to our Future: A Handbook for post-war recovery". We had a really good time co-authoring the book – Jean-Claude and I (from CFOR), together with Lane Arye, and Nives Ivelja, Slobodan Skopelja, and Milan Bijelić (also a Process Work student) of Udruga Mi.

The book describes our work over 15 years in Croatia, as a model for governments, and international organizations considering interventions in other post-conflict zones for recovery and violence prevention. The book is supported and commissioned by the European Union, European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Lane Arye and I started facilitating large (four-day) forums in Croatia in 1996 just after the war, twice a year until 2002. This programme focused on helping those in the field dealing with recovery to process the issues among themselves that they met in the field, furthering their capacity to influence their country. From 2006 – to current, Jean-Claude and I have furthered this work in Croatia. Our organisation CFOR Force for Change and Udruga Mi are partner organizations, focusing on the essential need for communities to process conflict and community relationships necessary for violence prevention, community development and economic recovery. Jean-Claude and I facilitate forums for people living in the Areas of Special State concern (those areas most devastated by war and having difficulty in recovery), and we also conduct leadership trainings for these regions. Our colleagues from Udruga Mi provide support for community development, economic projects and grants, and community dialogue in these regions, as well as gather people to the large forums and trainings.

The handbook describes the profound need for new models of dealing with post-war regions, to promote recovery and thriving societies. Until now, following violent conflicts, there has tended to be a focus on protection, and then repairing houses and infrastructure and the economy. The essential need, after war, to recover community relationships and relationship networks has not been given the attention it needs. Our model is part of a ‘sea change’ that is terribly needed and underway – that building an emotional and ‘relational infrastructure’ is key to all other aspects of post-conflict recovery, community development, economic development and violence prevention.

The book outlines the model of Forums, using methods of Process Oriented Psychology (Worldwork) to support the transformation of heated conflict into hope, creativity and community leadership. We also show how processing collective trauma and issues of accountability throughout society, makes it possible to support relationships for community development, multicultural society, and to prevent future rounds of violence, for now and future generations.

Our model also combines the facilitation of community polarizations that block community development with focus on mobilizing individual initiative and leadership and providing technical support for economic projects for community recovery.

The handbook is currently being published in Croatian, and will be soon published also in English.