Training Opportunities

Week 1 - Foundations of Dialogue Facilitation

• What is Virtual Exchange?

• What is dialogue?

• Dialogue facilitation toolbox

• Dialogue tool: Active listening

• Learning in dialogue

Week 2 - Role of the Facilitator

• Facilitation model in online facilitated dialogue

• Neutrality & multipartiality

• Personal triggers

• Dialogue tool: Active listening when triggered

Week 3 – Group Process and Good Questions

• Promoting safe dialogue space

• Dialogue tool: Asking good questions

• Dialogue tool: Mirroring and Summarizing

Week 4 – Good Discussion & Critical Thinking in Dialogue

• Good discussion in dialogue

• Critical thinking

• Dialogue tool: Critical thinking questions

• Dialogue tool: Observations

April Introduction to Online Dialogue Facilitation

Language: English

Dates: 5 April - 3 May 2021

Duration: 4 weeks. The asynchronous online course is held on Canvas. The course includes 3 optional live sessions.

Deadline to Apply: 3rd of April, 2021

August Introduction to Online Dialogue Facilitation

Language: English

Dates: 9 August - 6 September 2021

Duration: 4 weeks. The asynchronous online course is held on Canvas. The course includes 3 optional live sessions.

Deadline to Apply: 6th of August, 2021

• Soliya’s dialogue and facilitation model

  • Role of the facilitator as neutral and multipartial process leader

  • Purpose and goals of dialogue

  • Promoting good discussion and constructive engagement

  • Group process in dialogue: from group engagement to ownership 

  • Engaging with difference: the relevance of identity in cross-cultural dialogue and communication

• Working with the basic facilitator toolbox

  • Active listening tools

  • Constructing and asking good questions

  • Promoting equal participation

• Deepening dialogue

  • Critical thinking

  • Observations

  • Process summaries

  • Meta-discussions

  • Reflections and self-awareness

• Challenging group dynamics

  • Working with emotions

  • Managing conflict or tension in group

  • Engaging politically correct or conflict-avoidant group

  • Disengagement:  addressing disengaged participant or group

• Online teamwork

  • Co-facilitation: best practices of constructive online collaboration

  • Challenges in cross-cultural teamwork

  • Multitasking online

  • Planning for dialogue sessions & session design

  • Leading activities online

Spring Advanced Facilitation Training – Long format

Language: English

Dates: Week of February 28th – May 6, 2021

Duration: 10 weeks of live online training sessions. Groups meet once a week for 2 hours. Expect an additional 2-3 hours of the time commitment for homework assignments and readings.

Deadline to Apply: February 12, 2021

Summer Advanced Facilitation Training – Intensive format

Language: English

Dates: Week of August 9th – 10th of September 2021

Duration: 5 weeks of live online training sessions. Groups meet for 4 hours a week over either 1 or 2 sessions each week. Expect an additional 3 hours of the time commitment for homework assignments and readings.

Deadline to Apply: July 19th, 2021

This workshop equips participants with effective conflict communication skills that will come handy in any professional or personal settings. Get to know your brain and the science behind your emotions and behaviours that can help you de-escalate conflict-prone situations. 

> What you will gain: 

• Basic knowledge about the neuroscience behind conflicts and violence

• Basics of nonviolent communication and emotional intelligence

• Enhanced self-awareness of your own attitudes toward conflict

• A better understanding of conflict dynamics and de-escalation strategies as well as to improve outcomes of interpersonal tensions, in the absence of a third-party mediator.

> The workshop includes: 

• A grid of analysis to understand how our interactions get toxic and how to improve them. 

• A synthetic description of Thomas Gordon and Marshal Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, Carl Rogers’ Person Centered Approach or Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis, as well as key findings of neurosciences regarding conflict escalation

• An experiential and interactive group exercise to test different approaches to handle conflict situations brought up by participants. 

This workshop equips participants with the understanding of what empathy can look like in the online context, and how to promote and practice empathy in online communication.

> What you will gain: 

• Understanding on empathy as a communication value 

• Knowledge on Soliya’s best practices of promoting empathy as part of online dialogue

• Strategies on fostering empathy online

> The workshop includes: 

• Discussion and advice on how to integrate a process of empathy-building as part of your online discussions/engagement

• Guidance on the opportunities for promoting empathy in online engagement

• Learning materials on promoting empathy as part of constructive communication online

Emotions are an inevitable part of any human communication, also online, and can be a tremendous source for learning and empathy. This workshop equips participants with the skills and understanding of how to notice emotions in online discussions, and how to manage them constructively.

> What you will gain: 

• Understanding emotions’ role in online communication

• Knowledge on Soliya’s best practices of managing emotions, relevant also to the in-person context

• Hands-on tools on addressing strong emotions and emotional reactions

> The workshop includes: 

• Skill-building activities on managing emotions

• Guide to a process of learning from emotions and using emotions to foster deeper engagement and empathy

• Learning materials on managing emotions as part of constructive communication

This workshop equips participants with the knowledge and tools on how to build and maintain a process for engaging online that fosters constructive communication, openness and respect. It is intended for anyone wanting to create constructive discussions spaces online.

> What you will gain: 

• Knowledge on Soliya’s best practices of online engagement and communication, relevant also to the in-person context

• Hands-on tools and strategies on how to promote constructive communication space

> The workshop includes: 

• Skill-building activities facilitation tools 

• Step-by-step process on how to establish a constructive communication space

• Individualized tips from trainers for your communication context

• Learning materials on fostering constructive communication and relevant dialogue tools

This workshop equips participants with the knowledge and tools on how to build and maintain a process for learning online that fosters engagement, active participation and constructive communication, and how to stimulate learner’s curiosity for learning both from the content and also from other learners.

> What you will gain: 

• Knowledge on Soliya’s best practices of online engagement and communication, relevant also to the in-person context

• Hands-on tools and strategies on how to promote learner ownership and curiosity in the online context

• Increased self-awareness on your own teaching style

> The workshop includes: 

• Skill-building activities in various facilitation tools such as active listening, summarizing and reframing, observations, and promoting equal participation

• Opportunity for hands-on practice to promote constructive online engagement and communication

• Individualized feedback from trainers

• Learning materials on fostering constructive communication and relevant dialogue tools

This workshop equips participants with an advanced understanding of culture and the role it plays in communication. The attitudes and skills acquired are helpful for any person interacting with different cultures: expatriation, multicultural families, multi-cultural teams, working with migrants, engaging with foreigners etc.. 

> What you will gain: 

• A better understanding of cultural dynamics and how to improve outcomes of interpersonal communication in a multicultural environment 

• The knowledge and tools to effectively communicate across cultures

• The ability to understand and prepare for a cultural shock

• The capacity to overcome barriers to intercultural communication: superiority and inferiority, prejudice and stereotypes, ethnocentrism and ethnorelativism

> The workshop includes: 

• A thorough analysis of culture and its purposes

• A review of some of the main cultural variations and communication obstacles, the concepts of decentering, strangeness, familiarity, cultural shock. 

• An interactive group learning format where participants will share their own intercultural experiences and test different ways of dealing with intercultural challenges.

• Tips on navigating identity dynamics and dealing with stereotypes and prejudice.

This workshop equips participants with the key learnings of Soliya’s experience in convening dialogue groups in any setting (online or offline). It is intended for people who seek to gather multiple stakeholders to learn from one another, improve their mutual understanding and, if appropriate, agree on a course of action or a decision. 

> What you will gain: 

• A method on defining your dialogue project

• A better understanding of the role of conveners 

• A method for participants identification and ensuring diversity

• Some tools for outreach and selection

> The workshop includes: 

• An understanding of the essential steps of the convening role (choosing a theme, forming a team, conceptualizing the format and objectives, identifying and recruiting participants and implementing the project)

• Individualized advice for the participants’ own projects implementation with the objective to increase their chances of success.