We will be offering one pre-conference session to occur FRIDAY, October 8, 2021 from 9:00-12:00pm.

• Pre-conference workshop: Habits and Tools of Systems Change & Sustainable Peacebuilding

To register to attend the pre-conference session, reserve your ticket here! Tickets are required.

Questions? Email us!

Pre-conference workshop: Habits and Tools of Systems Change & Sustainable Peacebuilding

Join the UW-Milwaukee Institute for Systems Change & Peacebuilding to explore how to apply tools and habits of systems-thinking across three phases of the sustainable peacebuilding program cycle to engage with complexity, build community, and transform conflict.

Participants will learn how these tools can 1) strengthen relationships & networks that can foster collective action, 2) transform observations into narratives of current situations & visualize future scenarios, and 3) resolve trade-offs & align interests toward shared vision and direction.

Students and alumni from the Master of Sustainable Peacebuilding will present case examples from local Milwaukee systems, and work with small groups to apply systems tools to participants’ own contexts.

Timothy Ehlinger, PhD. Tim is the Wm. Collins Kohler Endowed Chair and Director of the Institute for Systems Change & Peacebuilding at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he was founding director of the Master of Sustainable Peacebuilding from 2014-2019. He is an Associate Professor of Systems Ecology for the Center for Global Health Equity in the College of Nursing. Tim received his PhD in Evolutionary Ecology and Behavior from the Kellogg Biological Station of Michigan State University where his research explored the complex ways that individuals, populations, and communities respond to disturbance and adapt to changing environments. As a restoration ecologist, he employs the principles of social-ecological resilience and complex systems thinking to engage communities in holistic visioning, strategic planning and design, project implementation, and adaptive management. He has worked on projects across Wisconsin as well as internationally in Costa Rica, Romania, the Balkans/Black Sea region, and with community partners in Kenya, Uganda, Guatemala, and Ecuador. His publications span topics including adaptive learning and resilience, risk management, stressor-response relationships, community engagement, environmental governance, and implications of policy interventions on ecosystem services, conflict transformation, and environmental health.

Laura Hermanns, MSP, Partnerships Coordinator for the Institute for Systems Change and Peacebuilding, Assistant Director for the Center for Global Health Equity, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. A graduate of the Master of Sustainable Peacebuilding program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Laura is the Partnerships Coordinator for the Institute for Systems Change and Peacebuilding and the Assistant Director for the Center for Global Health Equity. She is a facilitator, relationship-builder, and connector who is passionate about using participatory processes, dialogue, and systems thinking to foster collaboration and build healthy and peaceful communities