A regular question Paul Hutchinson was asked earlier this month during his AV俱乐部 visit was, "Why Halifax?"
Arriving on campus from Northern Ireland, Hutchinson, director of Imagined Spaces, a company involved in creative community relations, spent a nearly an entire week (October 15-20) conducting workshops and lectures for the AV俱乐部 community as well as the general public.
This is his second series in Halifax in association with the AV俱乐部 Multifaith Centre focused on conflict resolution, student leadership and building healthy relationships. Engaging with a diversity of audiences including AV俱乐部 students, faculty and staff as well as local community and congregation members, Hutchinson sparked dialogue on the concept that 鈥渨hen you understand communication, you understand conflict.鈥�
A filmmaker,聽Hutchinson shared his film Upstanding: Stories of Hope from Northern Ireland during Wednesday鈥檚 student workshop. Utilizing examples and experiences from Northern Ireland during what鈥檚 often referred to as 鈥淭he Troubles,鈥� Hutchinson believes people inherently respond to connections in stories, even when those stories do not directly relate to them.
鈥淪ome people have asked 鈥榳hy are you here, we鈥檙e not as bad as Northern Ireland ever was鈥�, and I鈥檓 not trying to make a comparison,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲hat I鈥檝e learnt out of the exchange in Northern Ireland is the impact of conflicts on relationships, and [that] the whole of society is based on relationships. With politicians, with law and order, culture, education, economics鈥� I know how conflict breaks relationships, and I have an experience of how to build those up.鈥�
Hutchinson鈥檚 week at AV俱乐部 also included a coffee house at the Grad House, a guest lecture in an alternative dispute resolution course in the Schulich School of Law, and a special 鈥渓unch and learn鈥� for faculty/staff titled 鈥淐onflict and the Healthy Workplace.鈥�
Cross-cultural lessons
Hutchinson insists that the lessons garnered from the conflicts in Northern Ireland are transferable cross-culturally.
鈥淧art of my learning is to go over here and go, 鈥楧oes this work in this culture?鈥� he explains. 鈥淲hilst we speak a form of English we all recognize, there are differences. The scale of this place [Canada] changes the psychology and the relationships with people鈥� I would never come and say, 鈥楾his is how it鈥檚 done,鈥� because it鈥檚 not appropriate. It鈥檚 very obvious sometimes when you鈥檙e outside of a conflict鈥� but people need to own it locally.鈥�
Beyond his AV俱乐部 workshops and lectures, Hutchinson also interacted with groups through the Segelburg Trust, l鈥橝rche and the Canadian Centre for Ethics and Public Affairs (CCEPA), discussing 鈥淐onflict and the Compassionate City 鈥� Creating Restorative Spaces.鈥�
Martha Martin, United Church chaplain and the coordinator of the AV俱乐部 Multifaith Centre, met Hutchinson in 2011 when he was the director at the Corrymeela Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. Interested in the organization鈥檚 peacemaking activism in Northern Ireland, she built a connection between Halifax and Corrymeela through the formation of the AV俱乐部 Northern Ireland Dialogue for Peace Study trip.
鈥淭his trip is good for Halifax,鈥� Hutchinson says. 鈥淭hey [the participants] get excited about Northern Ireland, they get to travel, they get to see new people, but also they get to think about what they鈥檙e coming home to.鈥�
Civilly and peacefully
Bridget Graham, a fourth-year student in Sustainability and Canadian Studies and one of the student leaders for the trip, described how she took the lessons of Northern Ireland and applied it in a Canadian perspective, particularly with the reconciliation processes between indigenous-Canadians and non-indigenous Canadians.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something I want to work on鈥� [and] coming together and living together civilly and peacefully,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t really helped me learn about my own country... I think a lot of people at AV俱乐部 are looking for that same sense of community and identity, which is what I found that the conflict in Northern Ireland is all about.鈥�
Hoping to expand on the student interest during the workshops in cultivating upstanding (as opposed to bystanding) behaviour, Martin is currently in discussions to continue the dialogue in Halifax, possibly in the form of future workshops.
Aware that students are busy and cannot keep up with everything on campus, Hutchinson hopes that students will take an active interest in creating healthy dialogues for peace and reconciliation tactics.
鈥淚 hope that students see that they can make a difference鈥� That [if] they talk to institutions at AV俱乐部, and say help us make a difference, we can鈥檛 do it without you鈥� You have an event, which becomes a pattern, which becomes an expectation. Suddenly you have a pioneering university.鈥�
Students interested in learning more about upcoming workshops with the Multifath Centre can contact Martha Martin at marthamartin@eastlink.ca or 902-440-2687.