Last friday, 8th of November, our team organized a workshop, “Peace on Trial: a Hands-on Workshop”, aiming to test the “Mock Trial” tool for peacebuilding. The workshop aimed to equip youth workers, international students, and members of the migrant community in Erfurt with practical skills for conflict resolution, critical thinking, and empathy-building through role-play. The workshop simulated a mock trial scenario centered around a relatable conflict: noise disturbances in a shared apartment building. This topic was chosen to resonate with the target group’s real-life experiences, encouraging meaningful engagement and discussion.
The session began with participants being introduced to the project and the context of the tool testing. First, we introduced the conflict scenario, where sides were drawn between those advocating for quiet hours and those defending the right to social freedom within their living space. Roles were assigned, including long-term tenants, working professionals, building management representatives, international students, and social organizers, among others. A judge was also appointed to moderate the trial, ensuring a balanced discussion and guiding the debate using pre-prepared questions such as, “What compromises, if any, do you think each side is willing to make?” and, “How do you think cultural differences might be influencing perspectives on this issue?” These prompts aimed to challenge assumptions and foster deeper understanding among participants.
Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. – Albert Einstein.
Photo: Mariana Matoso
Throughout the workshop, the mock trial allowed participants to practice expressing their viewpoints, listening actively, and engaging in constructive dialogue. Each side presented their case, argued their perspectives, and responded to questions, creating an immersive environment for exploring empathy and conflict dynamics. The judge’s role was pivotal in maintaining respect and focus, steering the discussion toward potential solutions and shared understanding.
The event concluded with a debrief session, where participants reflected on the communication methods used, the impact of role-playing on their perspectives, their ability to empathize with differing views, the role of stereotypes in role-playing, the possibilities for the tool to be adapted to different target audiences, and tips for facilitators. The debrief also explored questions like, “What could have prevented the escalation of conflict?” and “How can these approaches be applied to similar conflicts in shared community spaces?” Feedback highlighted that the exercise was both engaging and thought-provoking, with participants emphasizing the value of experiential learning for developing conflict resolution skills.
Photos: Mariana Matoso
Suggestions for future workshops included incorporating more interactive elements (creating more contextualized characters and roles, where the role-playing is more certain and less left to the decision of the participants) and simplifying complex ideas to ensure accessibility for diverse groups (not having a “court” scenario but instead one that would not support legal procedures and focus on opinion-based solutions). It was also discussed the possibility for this tool to be used in many different and adapted ways, attending to the target group at hand and leading the discussion in multiple ways: into stereotypes and judgment; into communication strategies and methods; into compromise vs polarization of discourse; into democratic vs authority-based solutions.
Overall, the pilot workshop successfully demonstrated the potential of the Mock Trial as an effective tool for conflict transformation, providing youth workers and community members with practical approaches to fostering dialogue, empathy, and cooperation in multicultural settings.
After the workshop, participants had an opportunity for informal discussions around the topics that emerged in the session, getting to know each other and enjoying the space of Traumraum – our cozy host.
This workshop was part of the local piloting phase of “The Missing Piece” Project (P. Nº.: 2022-2-IE01-KA220-YOU-000096690), which is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ Program.
