Further education in mediation and conflict management

Since 2017, the IKM has regularly organised practical and reflection workshops for employees of the European University on the topic of communication and conflict management in everyday university life. In the workshops, employees have the opportunity to practise and deepen their communication and conflict skills. The focus is on approaches to conflict analysis, dealing with challenging situations (e.g. in counselling or team constellations) and the opportunities and risks of intervening in conflicts as an independent third party. Participants learn about important tools and methods using examples from everyday university life and then apply them in practice themselves.

In a pilot training programme in 2020, the IKM trained 16 employees of Viadrina and the city administration of Frankfurt (Oder) as mediators. The training met the content requirements of the Mediation Act and covered all areas of mediation in seven two-day modules. The thematic focus was on (intra-)organisational conflicts and how to deal with them. Employees from all hierarchical levels of the Viadrina and the city administration took part in the training programme. In addition to the concrete expansion of the participants' personal skills, the training also aimed to expand cooperation between the city administration and Viadrina and to initiate an overarching pool of mediators that both organisations can access. A new round of training with the involvement of the IKM is planned.