ALL CAREER LEVELS COURSE
Conflict Transformation
From inner struggle to community change
Dr. Maja Nenadović
OVERVIEW
Conflict is everywhere. It can emerge within our inner world, appear in our relationships, and ripple across groups, organisations, and communities.
While often seen as something negative or disruptive, conflict carries insight, opportunity, and energy for transformation. This course invites participants to rethink conflict as a generative force and to build the capacity to work constructively with tension at four interconnected levels: inner, interpersonal, inter-group, and community.
This course is for you if you want to help yourself or others you work with shift from “conflict avoidance” to “conflict engagement and transformation”. Whether you
- Work with individuals, teams, classrooms, or communities facing tension or disagreement,
- Support others in moments of crisis, misunderstanding, or misalignment,
- Aim to build cultures where conflict is not avoided but engaged with constructively,
- Want to understand your own conflict style and develop a more adaptive, grounded, resilient response, and/or
- Seek tools for navigating difficult conversations, polarised spaces, or group tensions,
you will gain tools, concepts, and activities that can be applied in workplaces, NGOs, education settings, civic spaces, project teams, family systems, and community organising.
In this course, you will learn how to help yourself and those you work with so that you/they can better:
- Identify personal conflict style(s), triggers, patterns, and default responses using validated self-assessment tools.
- Reframe conflict as an opportunity for learning, insight, improved relationships, and innovation.
- Apply practical techniques for transforming conflict in one-to-one conversations, including listening, reframing, and de-escalation strategies.
- Analyse conflict systems in groups or communities, noticing patterns such as escalation cycles, alliances, identity triggers, and collective emotions.
- Facilitate constructive intervention at multiple levels (inner, interpersonal, inter-group, and community) using structured tools and exercises.
This course will blend critical self-reflection, experiential learning, practice tools, and real-world application.
This course is for you if you facilitate conflict transformation – or help others do so – in roles such as:
- Manager, team leader, HR practitioner, or workplace mediator,
- Educator, trainer, facilitator, or youth worker,
- Civil society practitioner, community organiser, or dialogue convener,
- Individual seeking deeper self-awareness and resilience in challenging situations.
COURSE TYPE
All Career Levels
DURATION/DATES
1 day/7 July 2026
AUDIENCE LEVELS
All levels
TUITION FEE
€615 before 15 Feb
€650 after 15 Feb
includes certificate from the University and the Institute
Maja Nenadović, PhD
Political education and human rights trainer Maja Nenadović, PhD, is a Monitoring-Evaluation-Learning and program design consultant, formal debate coach, and facilitator who has worked in 40+ countries.
Over the past 20 years, she has worked with both those who use discriminatory and hate speech rhetoric and those who are targeted by it, to create “Across Divides: Training Workshops for Depolarizing Communication,” a field-tested methodology for defusing and redirecting inflammatory encounters.
Holding a PhD from the University of Amsterdam, Maja’s research explores democracy promotion, post-conflict democratization processes, and dysfunctions in democracy. She is the co-founder of Reflectory, a boutique consultancy in the field of conflict transformation, civic engagement, and social cohesion. She lectures and trains internationally.
My work is inspired in part by this George Bernard Shaw quote, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
We will explore some difficult and, at times, uncomfortable conversations during this course. When analyzing the causes behind conflict, polarisation, and the heightened emotions that occur during disagreements, we will necessarily shy away from “political correctness” that may hamper our ability to authentically and clearly address the issues. This said, complex topics will be approached sensitively and with warnings provided.
“Take this course – you will leave with your assumptions and ideas challenged in a setting that is supportive.”
“Dr. Nenadović was amazing. I have never been to a training that provided me with so many tools and knowledge in such short time. In addition to her expertise she also felt very accessible.”
“Maja was an incredible faculty member. Not only did she show great respect for the knowledge the participants bring, she also shared her personal experiences openly. Despite being a large group, a safe and inclusive space was created which I truly appreciate.”
