Neighbourhood community networks

Some useful links http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociocracy

http://www.sociocraticgovernance.org/

http://www.neighborhoodparliament.org/Parliaments.html

NCN and Peace

Neighbourhood community networks

sociocracy

Neighbourhood children's parliament

Self empathy

'WHAT IS 'SELF EMPATHY?'

Self Empathy supports us to re-perceive our world in a new, fresh way and move away from pre-programmed habitual reactions. The practice of self empathy with presence guides us to move beyond guilt, shame and anger to healing and self-connection. We can move beyond 'right & wrong', 'blame & shame' to what needs or values we are meeting or were attempting to meet.

Priority for Empathy studies

- The Promise Of Empathy

"Empathy has recently emerged as a topic of critical importance: in the social sciences and
in popular political discourse we wonder about the promise of empathy in our efforts to
overcome differences of race, religion, or national culture; in the humanities and fine arts we
hope to facilitate empathy by providing an imaginative reconstruction of our own or someone
else's experience; in the natural sciences of evolutionary biology and neurophysiology we are
eager to ground empathy in human nature."

On Empathy

A Peaceful Living 4-Day Intermediate Retreat with Mary Mackenzie

Empathy As a Way of Being: An Intermediate Level Retreat designed to facilitate deep growth and transformation.

• Experience a deepening in your empathy process, taking it to the next level.
• Increase self-compassion through self-empathy.
• Find out what prevents you from giving empathy and learn ways to clarify your choices in such moments.
• Enhance your skills for empathic connection.
• Explore street empathy for natural flow in your connections.

Mary Mackenzie, M.A., is the Executive Director, Flagstaff Center for Compassionate Communication, Co-founder NVC Academy, CNVC Certified Trainer, Mediator and Author.

An Appeal to the Youth

In Interconnected World, Young People Must Learn Skills — Listening, Empathy — That

Encourage Dialogue across Cultures, Says Secretary-General in Message

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on International Youth Day, observed 12 August:

This year’s commemoration of International Youth Day also marks the launch of the International Year of Youth, under the theme “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”.

Today’s challenging social and economic environment warrants a special focus on youth. Eighty-seven per cent of people aged 15 to 24 live in developing countries. The global economic crisis has had a disproportionate impact on young people; they have lost jobs, struggled to find even low-wage employment and seen access to education curtailed. As economies slowly begin to stabilize, the needs of young people should be paramount.

This is a moral imperative and a developmental necessity. But it is also an opportunity: the energy of youth can ignite faltering economies. I am regularly inspired by the good will, talent and idealism of the young people I meet across the world. They are making important contributions to our work to eradicate poverty, contain the spread disease, combat climate change and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. I call on Member States to increase their investments in young people so they can do even more.

During the International Year, the United Nations and its youth organization partners will focus on the need to encourage dialogue and understanding across generations, cultures and religions. In a world in which different peoples and traditions are coming into closer, more frequent contact than ever before, it is crucial that young people learn how to listen intently, empathize with others, acknowledge divergent opinions, and be able to resolve conflicts. Few endeavours are more important than nurturing these skills, and educating young people about human rights, for in them we not only see the next generation of leaders, but also crucial stakeholders of today. Let us also recognize that older generations themselves stand to learn a great deal from the experiences and examples of young people as they come of age in a world of accelerating interconnectedness.

As we launch this International Year, let us acknowledge and celebrate what youth can do to build a safer, more just world. Let us strengthen our efforts to include young people in policies, programmes and decision-making processes that benefit their futures and ours.