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Welcome to the Web site for the Center for Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (CNCR). The Center is part of the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, located at Civic Square, New Brunswick, New Jersey. CNCR is at the forefront of a movement that believes disputes can be settled by constructive negotiation and consensus-building and problem-solving approaches instead of by force or adversarial argument.
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There are many fraught encounters, much less visible than those featured here, that need to be seen as opportunities as well that require serious investment in conflict resolution in our communities.
When disputes take place between and among citizens, in neighborhoods, in public and private spaces, we need mediators from the community to help manage them effectively for the good of the parties and the communities of which they are a part. When differences in communities rise to a level that threatens the fabric of the community we need spaces for talking, for listening, for exchanging ideas, to find ways to improve relationships and help cement communities, not only to lower the risk of civil disturbances but to find opportunities to listen, to heed and to heal.
Community forums can also prove to be vital for the discussion of issues and developing solutions to meet community needs—education, housing, parks, social services-- thus involving citizens more directly in the governance of their communities.
One model, the Community Boards program started in San Francisco, is well integrated into the community, and works with police and courts to provide options for citizens in conflict, with social service agencies and with schools; it remains in operation with its efficacy repeatedly confirmed.
The program’s approach is often called popular justice—using conflict resolution to build community--reflecting the close involvement of citizens in its design and functioning. We need to see more of these structures so that we have conflict resolution available to citizens when they need it.
Let’s go beyond the conflict and talk | Opinion
There are many fraught encounters, much less visible, that need to be seen as opportunities for serious investments in conflict resolution in our communities.The conflict over water, the waters of the Nile River, continue, unfortunately, at least partially because the issue is "framed" so wrong. If the question is who "owns" this water, it is hard to approach negotiations. Not unlike, in the U.S., the dispute between New York and New Jersey, framed as who owns Ellis and Liberty Islands. Not only did that dispute lead to costly litigation and an unsatisfactory/split result, ownership was hardly the issue. It was how to manage the property, in the public interest, develop it, provide good access, share revenues. And so, in many respects with the waters of the Nile. Access to sufficient water is the interest of both Ethiopia and Egypt. Only negotiations, in good faith, with monitoring of water supply, will work for both nations, to meet the legitimate needs of their people. Why proceed to arbitration, which like litigation, produces a winner and a loser (unless this African-led arbitration is some sort of hybrid model that allows for a shared result). In any event, a resolution is urgent, not only to keep the water flowing but to reduce the tension that can, otherwise, lead to bloodshed.
Damming the Nile - The Mail & Guardian
In a few weeks, when the rainy season arrives, water will finally begin to flow into the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Expect regional tensions to rise along with the water levelFormer student, Maheen Rashid, is back in Pakistan contributing her skills and insights to help develop the policy consultancy arm of CERP. No doubt her conflict resolution 'grounding' will stand her in good stead. Maheen has a proven track record of using grass roots, innovative and collaborative approaches to forming sustainable, inclusive and data-driven polices. And, as we learned by having Maheen as a student, she has a solid understanding of how to engage stakeholders and build teams.
Passionate about social justice, social inclusion and gender equity, Maheen initiated the Women-on-Wheels (WoW) campaign in five cities of Punjab to provide free motorcycle lessons and subsidized motor-cycles to women of all backgrounds. Women-On-Wheels helps in the social inclusion of women in the public space and provides them mobility.
And, now, as an EJB School graduate, she is back home advancing not only solid policies but ways to implement them. We wish her all the best!
Thinking about contemporary protests through the lens of the civil disorders in the late 1960s helps us to see the outrage, outrage over police abuse, over the pervasive corruption, the absence of equity, opportunity and fair play for our black and brown citizens as it continues, despite progress, for some, in some places, but with so much more that needs to be done. Are there opportunities in these crises? A podcast with the CNCR's co-directors explores the possibilities and the realities.
What We Learned from the Newark Riots: Looking Back to Move Forward June 15, 2020 / Karyn Olsen / EJB Talks, Episodes, Home News Linda Stamato Sandy Jafffe Over a period of four days in 1967, Newark w...
I can't help but feel that an opportunity was lost in the way this encounter developed after its public exposure. The racist action taken by Ms. Cooper and challenged by Mr. Cooper, involving the police, a video, and expressions of outrage against Ms. Cooper, leading to her being fired from her job, calls to ban her from the park, and intense criticism, hardly surprising as her angry, intemperate, racist action violated fundamental norms of behavior and concepts of humanity, respect and regard, but the observation by Mr. Cooper that, despite Ms. Cooper's actions, that, maybe, she shouldn't have to have her life ruined as a result. Doesn't that sound like an opening for something?
A mediated conversation involving both Mr. and Ms. Cooper, a variation on restorative justice, might well have lead to conversations that could have been beneficial to both as--and it is often the case--having an opportunity to listen, to "process" what an experience meant, the harm it caused, communicated directly and honestly, can lead to outcomes that can improve the lives of those involved. And serve, too, potentially, as a lesson for the public.
Think of President Obama inviting Henry Louis Gates and the police officer who accused him of attempting to break into Gates' own home, revealing the uncomfortable, not to mention grossly unfair, suspicions that many Black Americans face. Obama offered to "share a beer" with them, and allowed for a direct conversation about the harm caused to Gates, yes, and the ridicule experienced by the officer, yes, but also giving both an opportunity to get to know each other, and, to show the nation that it is possible to generate some good out of a bad encounter. That there are ways to generate greater understanding.
Surfacing--and videotaping and distributing evidence of a profound wrong--and criticizing, even penalizing the offender, accomplishes only so much. More might be accomplished by using the wrong as an opportunity for learning that may give the offender a chance to do better, to earn, even, perhaps, a "second chance," and the offended to have an experience that allows for a certain grace, assisting the offender to understand the harm her action caused, aiding her own learning, and, if the conversation and its results are shared, to make a constructive contribution to the public interest.
Why Amy Cooper’s Use of ‘African-American’ Stung
In a racist confrontation with a black bird-watcher in Central Park, her choice of words was striking.