Mary Lean shows how a foundation built on ethics and spirituality has made a significant impact on community development in post-industrial cities and Third World villages. Readers enter poor cities and villages to meet Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh leaders who, with their driving spirit, seed the community with their energy and vision. Readers see how these efforts take root, steadily changing the cultural and economic life of these once despondent and declining communities. (continue)

Every day in communities across America hundreds of committees, boards, church groups, and social clubs hold meetings where they spend their time engaged in shouting matches and acrimonious debate. Whether they are aware of it or not, the procedures that most such groups rely on to reach decisions were first laid out as Robert's Rules more than 150 years ago by an officer in the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers. Its arcane rituals of parliamentary procedure and majority rule usually produce a victorious majority and a very dissatisfied minority that expects to raise its concerns, again, at the next possible meeting. Breaking Robert's Rules clearly spells out how any group can work together effectively. (continue)

Drawing on his experience at the MIT-Harvard Public Disputes Program, a mediator and his co-author provide the first jargon-free guide to consensual strategies for resolving public disputes. Indispensable to citizen activists and to business and government leaders. (continue)

In our global society, challenging conflicts abound in personal, business, government, and international settings. Many of these conflicts are complicated by layers of miscommunication, cultural misunderstandings, and completely different ways of looking at the world. These conflicts cannot be solved by goodwill or sincere intentions alone. In our multicultural world, we need new tools to address gaps in communication and understanding and the conflicts that flow from them. Bridging Cultural Conflicts answers this need in groundbreaking ways that cut through complexity, replacing confusion with clarity. (continue)

Includes lessons, tips and success stories from 65 intergroup dialogues across the country, plus an annotated reading list of resources. Although this book is no longer available and the Center for Living Democracy has closed its dorrs, it was one of the first books to provide best practices from race dialogues in the U.S. Published at the time of President Clinton's Initiative on Race. (continue)

Bringing Peace Into the Room examines the personal qualities that make a mediator effective. The authors of this volume go beyond traditional descriptions of academic training, theoretical orientation, and refinement of technique to confront issues related to personal temperament and the crucial psychological, intellectual and spiritual qualities of the mediation professional - qualities that are often the most potent elements of successful mediation. (continue)

Discussing values is central to any restorative justice process, especially Circles. Based on years of experience as Circle keepers, Pat and Sue show how they use metaphors to facilitate the discussion of values and to move the dialogue in Circles to much deeper levels. (continue)

This book includes a step-by-step description of asset-based community development, a strengths-based approach for identifying and building upon the human resources that are already present in any community. (continue)

The publication of Building Cultural Bridges is an exciting move toward building a set of tools to better raise our children. It provides a repertoire of methods and approaches for teachers, families, community workers, and others to teach children the rich value and potential of diversity. Includes more than 50 interactive, hands-on lessons form the core of this research-based resource for addressing diversity. One great activity is on page 112 of the Leader's Guide ("Put Your Fears in Arrears"). In this wonderful resource, the emphasis is on action - taking a stand against prejudice and building bridges across cultures and communities. (continue)

A 36-page booklet introduces the reader to the role deliberation can play in creating new opportunities for communities to work together in more productive ways. The report draws on statistical and educational research to support the thesis that deliberative discussions can help a community learn its own strengths and weaknesses and can help bolster its confidence in its ability to change itself for the better. Using a Community Convention (a contemporary version of the New England town meeting) as a vehicle, the report explores the possibility of achieving a representative voice from all community segments. (continue)