Among the most daunting challenges facing societies and communities trying to move on from a history or episode of violence is how to tackle the debilitating, lingering impacts of that violence. Long after a formal peace has been declared, victims, especially, may feel the war still raging – in a relentless demand for justice, and for answers, in the damages and loss that now form part of their everyday life, in the lack of any real change. Dealing with the Past (DwP) comprises creative strategies capable of shifting context – whether through the productive policy compromises that have become known as ‘transitional justice’, the more interpersonal exchanges that make up restorative justice practices, or the tackling of conditions that enable violence and violation to occur at all.

The training covers these three approaches to addressing needs and challenges ensuing from violence, drawing on the Dealing with the Past Conceptual Framework (widely used in Germany’s and Switzerland’s multi- and bi-lateral cooperation abroad); on tools of restorative justice practice; and on scholarly literature from the groundbreaking approach known as Transformative Justice.