213 South Main Street - alley (west) entrance
Building on Saturday’s workshop on Dialogue, Philip Thomas will facilitate a workshop in which participants will explore together creative ways of promoting and strengthening the following core principles and values that many residents of Goshen have affirmed through the work of the Community Relations Commission in 2009:
- Respect for each other and respect for each other’s rights
- Open communication and engagement
- Honesty
A safe community - Acceptance that change has positive and negative consequences
- Tolerance of differences
- Support for equality and freedom from discrimination
In social change processes, there are often many different roles that are required to effectively achieve lasting change. In this facilitated forum, Philip will present a short video and overview of the concept of “the third side” developed in the fields of peace building and conflict transformation. This then will be used as an orienting framework for participants to engage in brainstorming and planning potential strategies for continuing to ensure Goshen remains a community known for its capacity to preserve unity while respecting its rich diversity through the practices of tolerance, hospitality, equity and dialogue.
I’m glad this is happening. It was my idea to draft these principles and they were developed collaboratively by members of the Community Relations Commission. Thanks for increasing awareness of the principles.