Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS)

Since the year 2002, CANVAS organized or participated in 87 workshops or conferences with more than 1500 participants coming from 43 different countries trying to empower non-violent movements or help international organizations to act in more efficient manner. CANVAS trainers participating in this dialogue include: Srdja Popovic and Giorgi Meladze.

Srdja Popovic is an experienced political party & nonviolent movement leader with excellent skills in leadership, targeted communications, motivation and knowledge transfer. As a student leader, founder of the OTPOR! (Resistance!) movement that finished with Milosevic era, and a proactive member of Democratic Party of Zoran Djindjic, his expertise unites both partisan, and NGO sector skills and knowledge. Since 2003, Srdja Popovic is Executive director of Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies, (CANVAS), an international network of trainers and consultants from Serbia, Georgia, South Africa, Ukraine, Lebanon and Philippines, and organization engaged in transfer of knowledge in Nonviolent struggle worldwide. Together with colleagues from CANVAS Popovic has organized and presented CANVAS nonviolent curriculum in more than 25 workshops, 15 conferences and 10 prominent academia institutions. Srdja Popovic is co-author of two books published In Serbia and US : “Nonviolent struggle – 50 crucial points”, 2006. and “CANVAS core curriculum – comprehensive guide for nonviolent struggle”, 2007. (downloadable in several language versions from www.canvasopedia.org), and variety of articles related to nonviolent struggle.

The Change Agency

The Change Agency is a non-profit organization based in Australia that works internationally to help communities effective create social and environmental change. The Change Agency is made up of researchers and educators that have discovered what works and what does not when trying to create change. They hold workshops to train activists working for a peaceful world. On their website they offer a collection of workshops, case studies, articles, books, and websites to guide those seeking to improve their community through social and environmental activism. The Change Agency trainers participating in this dialogue include from left to right: Sam La Rocca, James Whelan, Holly Hammond, Anthony Kelly, Pru Gell and not pictured Jason MacLeod.

PATRIR is an independent, non-governmental and non-profit organization, active in Romania and internationally since March 2001. The methods of work used by PATRIR are democratic and participatory focused on the main pillars of action, training and education, research and dissemination.The PATRIR staff participating in this dialogue include, pictured from left to right: Zsuzsanna Kacsó, Bianca Cseke and Corina Simon

Zsuzsanna Kacsó is the Director of the International Peace and Development Training Center (IPDTC) at the Romanian Peace Institute (PATRIR) and Assistant to the Director, Department of Peace Operations. For the past seven months she has been the lead coordinator of a project in Moldova-Transdniestria entitled 'IMPACT: Making Visible the Economic and Social Costs of Frozen Conflict and Benefits of Peace – Moldova-Transdniestria". Zsuzsanna has two MAs: one in Foreign Trade and a second one in Management of International Relations & Communitary Affairs. As a result of her research Zsuzsanna is the author of "The Relationship between NATO-CFSP. Confrontation for Collective Security" and "Between Conflict and Economy. Ensuring Welfare in Security for the Future." PATRIR is a non-governmental and non-profit organization, active in Romania and internationally. The main purpose of PATRIR is to promote peacebuilding, and constructive conflict transformation, and at the same time the prevention of all forms of violence - direct, structural, and cultural - in Romania, and internationally.

Training for Change (TFC)

Since 1992 Training for Change has been committed to increasing capacity around the world for activist training - training that helps groups stand up more effectively for justice, peace and the environment. Training for Change delivers skills directly that people working for social change can use in their daily work. Training for Change trainers participating in this dialogue include, pictured from left to right: Daniel Hunter, Joe Catania, and Philippe Duhamel.

Daniel Hunter, a Training Associate for Training for Change has led diversity, nonviolence and strategy training for a wide range of activists and social change groups. He was Program Director of Training for change (ending 2005) and worked with the Baptist Peace Fellowship's Gavel Fund. He has done trainings on strategy and conflict transformation with various ethnic minorities in Burma/ Myanmar, pastors in Sierra Leone, Naga activists in India, environmentalists in Australia and Indonesian religious leaders. In addition, he has worked with a range of labor, religious, peace & justice and activist organizations in the United States and Canada. He graduated from Earlham College as a Phi Beta Kappa with a self- designed major in Conflict Transformation. He completed a 2-year research project on third-party nonviolent intervention, co-wrote TFC's Curriculum and trainer's manual, "Opening Space for Democracy" and led TFC's Strategy Project.

Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP)

Linda Sartor is one of three trainers that trains trainers for domestic peace teams. She just recently returned to her home in the US after being a field team member in the Nonviolent Peaceforce, serving on the pilot team in Sri Lanka for four years. In addition to her work with the Nonviolent Peaceforce, Linda teaches research courses in a masters in education program, facilitates a process called cooperative inquiry, and leads wilderness trips with people who want to go through a “Rite of Passage” process, which includes spending three days and nights alone fasting in the desert wilderness. She has a PhD in Integral Studies with a research emphasis in Learning and Change in Human Systems and a masters degree in Environmental Education. Linda is part of a research/writing group called the European-American Collaborative for Challenging Whiteness; and lives in an intentional community with twenty two adult members and fourteen children.

Chemchemi Ya Ukweli-Active

Dola Nicholas Oluoch is a training coordinator for Chemchemi Ya Ukweli-Active, the active non violent movement in Kenya. Dola's thirst for knowledge in peace and nonviolence prompted him to volunteer with the organization. When he began he never imagined that he would someday be a training coordinator. Dola was qualified to be a field team member for the Nonviolence Peaceforce after attending their training. He also attained a certificate in Alternative to Violence advanced training of facilitators workshop conducted by Friends Church and Alternative to Violence Programme. He has received many more certificates in conflict mediation and nonviolence from various organizations. In his capacity as training coordinator he develops and follows through on training plans, monitors and evaluated these trainings, and organizes base groups from these trainings. Chemchemi Ya Ukweli-Active's mission is to create Active Nonviolence campaigns to counteract the violent atmosphere in Kenya.

International Women's Partnership for Peace and Justice

Ouyporn Khuankaew is the director of International Women's Partnership for Peace and Justice (IWP), an organization that provides training to empower womens groups in South and Southeast Asian communities to work for peace. Khuankaew is a Buddhist feminist trainer who has been working in South and Southeast Asia since 1995. She incorporates Buddhist practice, feminism and non-violence in all of her work. Aside from leading workshops, Khuankaew also writes and translates on the issues of women and Buddhism, Buddhism and violence against women, and feminist and Buddhist approaches to peace and justice work. IWP's training programs include: peace building, nonviolent social action, conflict resolution, women’s rights, counseling for women survivors of trauma, community and team building, collective leadership, gender and diversity, feminism and Buddhism for social change, and meditation retreat for social activists.

The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict

Shaazka Beyerle is an educator and researcher on people power, and a Senior Advisor with the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. She teaches and speaks about civic empowerment and strategic nonviolent action at workshops, seminars and conferences around the world and in the U.S. She has published articles/op-eds on people power, the Middle East, foreign affairs, culture, and art in Al Hayat/Dar Al Hayat, CommonDreams.org, European Affairs, Europe Magazine, Foreign Policy, International Herald Tribune, OpenDemocracy.net, The Independent, TruthOut.org, Washington Times, and WorldView Magazine (National Peace Corps Association). An article on the Iranian women's movement is forthcoming in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. Ms. Beyerle lived in Jerusalem from 1997-2000. While overseas, she consulted twice with the Bethlehem 2000 Project through the United Nations Development Program and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. She was also the International Press Manager for the Jerusalem Film Festival (2000). Prior to moving to the Middle East, Ms. Beyerle was the founding Vice President of The European Institute in Washington, DC. She holds an M.A. in International Relations from George Washington University, a B.A. in Psychology and Women's Studies from the University of Toronto.

Hardy Merriman is an independent consultant in the field of strategic nonviolent conflict. Formerly, he was director of programs and research at the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Prior to that he worked with Dr. Gene Sharp at the Albert Einstein Institution. He recently co-authored a curriculum for activists entitled A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle (The link location is: http://www.canvasopedia.org/files/various/Core_Curriculum-Students_Book.pdf) He has also published writings about the theory and dynamics of nonviolent action, the role of nonviolent action in countering terrorism, and a case study about the use of nonviolent action by the United Farm Workers union. He has worked with activists from around the world and has made presentations on varioustopics related to strategic nonviolent conflict, including at American University, the Australian Center for Peace and Conflict Studies (University of Queensland), the Center for Victims of Torture (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Colorado College, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, the International Peace Research Association Annual Conference (2006), James Madison University, Oberlin College, and Swarthmore College.