Problem Solving Workshops

What They Are and What They Do
Herb Kelman explains briefly the theory behind problem solving workshops.
Herb Kelman describes how problem solving workshops differ from other kinds of third-party processes, and describes the process he uses in detail.
Herb Kelman explains that problem solving workshops can develop new approaches for transforming conflict, but cannot implement them. Track I leaders need to do that, and they need to educate the public to gain their support.

How They Work

Herb Kelman, one of the founding fathers of the conflict resolution field and of problem solving workshops, reflects on his work from the '50s through the present, especially focusing on the intersection between social psychology and conflict resolution.
Herb Kelman talks about the preparation and commitment needed to facilitate problem solving workshops.
Herb Kelman talks about the role of brainstorming in problem solving workshops.

Case Examples

Herb Kelman reflects on his role in what went right and wrong with the Oslo Accords.
In the Middle East and other autocracies, it is common for government security people to monitor peacebuilding workshops. Palestinian peacebuilder Mohammed Abu-Nimer explains how he can still run a productive workshop under such circumstances.
Ron Fisher describes Track I-II coordination in Tajikistan.
Herb Kelman describes the Israeli-Palestinian problem solving workshop he has held over a 35-year period.
Eileen Babbitt describes an ICAR-based project that brought together high-level Israeli and Palestinian women in a long series of workshops starting in 1992 with the goal of getting a dialogue started.
Eileen Babbitt describes the work of Yona Shamir and the Center for Negotiation and Mediation in Israel. Shamir has worked to fight the pessimism that set in as the Palestinian-Israeli peace process unraveled in the late 1990s.
Eileen Babbitt explains that a problem-solving workshop involving Israeli and Palestinian women contained the lesson that it is more effective to have all participants at the same stage of psychological development with respect to 'the other.'