Training in Risk Management for a Harmonious Society 

During 2009 Plowshares is exploring the possibilities of a new three-year program in Mainland China.
 

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Need
 

Mainland China is experiencing a growing number of societal conflicts. These are illustrated by taxi strikes, land disputes, disagreements about relief and development priorities, air and water pollution, frustration with bureaucracy and corruption, and unemployment related to the current global economic crisis. Underlying all of these issues is a growing gap between the rich and poor. Researchers at the Institute of Rural Development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences underscored these challenges in a research document published in August 2008: “… in a time with so much social conflict, little contradictions can trigger mass unrest, affecting the whole society.  If such incidences cannot be solved properly, both the society and the whole country will pay a heavy price.” [Policy Forum Online 08-065A: August 26th, 2008 “China Civil Society Report: Mass Incidents in China,” Yu Jianrong and Yu Debao]

Several Chinese colleagues agree that community, government, academic and religious leaders need to be equipped with additional skills in risk management and facilitation to more adequately address these challenges.  Plowshares has been asked to work with these colleagues to develop leadership training in risk management.  This training involves skills in communication, group facilitation, team building, people’s participation in decision making and project implementation. This training would draw on Plowshares’ many years of experience working in Hong Kong with our partner organization, Civic Exchange, in addition to extensive international training for multi-sector leaders in the USA, South Africa, Indonesia and Cuba.

Plowshares has already implemented similar workshops in China for: the Academies of Social Sciences in Jiangsu Province, Shanghai and Beijing; members of the inter-departmental Committee on Comprehensive Social Management in Jiangsu province; and a series of workshops for representatives from national and regional departments of e.g., Planning, Finance and Education. These workshops were coordinated by the Ministry of the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) and Duke University. The international and Chinese participants in these training events have been positive about the importance and effectiveness of this education.


Training Methodology

The proposed skills training is explicitly multi-sector in order to build networks of understanding and cooperation among critical government, academic, NGO and religious organizations. Our Chinese colleagues have affirmed the importance of a multi-sector focus in order to effectively respond to societal risks and comprehensive delivery of social services.

The proposed training methodology which Plowshares and Civic Exchange have found to be most effective for adult participants, is both participatory and experiential. The training includes: group analysis of locally relevant case studies in order to better understand community needs and interests; active practice of listening and communication skills using role plays to develop facilitation and mediation skills; and the development of  multi-sector action plans to practice team building and implement joint problem solving. Participants from similar programs have confirmed that this kind of case-based, action-oriented process combined with cross-sectoral action planning was highly effective for developing new relationships and responding more creatively and effectively to societal concerns. Plowshares’ staff hopes to develop several new Chinese case studies and curriculum resources for this project.

It was clear from our Chinese colleagues that this type of participatory education contrasts with traditional Chinese approaches. Thus, Plowshares will work with Chinese partner organizations to introduce these skills initially through presentations and lectures that establish the credibility of this approach to risk management in China. Presentations would be followed by introductory, more participatory one-day workshops for small groups of selected participants in anticipation of future, more in-depth events for wider multi-sector audiences. Selected participants from the small groups as well as from the more extensive workshops would be encouraged to return to subsequent training events in order to be equipped as future workshop trainers. This approach is central to the long-range goal of contextualizing and sustaining the program past Plowshares’ involvement.

Our colleagues have also suggested that this emerging educational program could be most effectively introduced through university or Academy of Social Sciences settings in Nanjing and Shanghai. Participants would be invited from: university departments of sociology, social work and peace studies; public administration, public policy, government agencies such as the Committee on Comprehensive Social Management, Ministry of Civil Affairs and the State Administration of Religious Affairs; non-governmental organizations such as the Amity Foundation and the Jiangsu International Cultural Exchange Center; and religious organizations such as the Three Self Patriotic Movement and the China Christian Council.

Next Steps

A number of current and potential Chinese partners have already expressed interest in assisting with coordination, case study development and/or sending participants to training workshops in risk management for a more harmonious society. Plowshares Institute and Civic Exchange are grateful for the welcoming and informative dialogues that we experienced with colleagues on the initial visit to explore the potential of this educational project. Plowshares Co-Directors Bob and Alice Evans and Ms. Yan Yan Yip, Chief Operating Officer at Hong Kong-partner Civic Exchange, tentatively plan to consult with colleagues in Beijing and offer sample one-day workshops to introduce the concepts and methodologies of risk management to Chinese participants in March or April 2009.