On November 29, Institute of Peace Studies (IPS) hosted the workshop organized by the Berghof Foundation – “Dialogue on the Past: Possible Way to Conflict Transformation and Normalization”. The workshop was held in the framework of the project “Dialogue on the History, as a Base for Normalization”, which is implemented by the Berghof Foundation with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany. The abovementioned project envisages facilitating Georgian-Abkhazian peace dialogue.

Students of the Caucasus School of Governance had an opportunity to learn about the possibilities of dialogue on past on the path to conflict transformation and normalization. They watched short films prepared on Georgian-Abkhazian conflict and listened to the interviews of people with direct conflict exposure, who talk about their personal experience and describe their own perception of the conflict.

The workshop was attended by Dr. Eka Akobia, the Dean of the Caucasus School of Governance and the Director of the Institute of peace Studies, Dr. Oliver Walleh, Head of Europe Unit in Berghof Foundation, Eliko Bendeliani and Mariam Tskhovrebashvili, local coordinators of Bergohf Foundation.

Students expressed the deep interest towards the topic. At the end of the meeting, there was a discussion on the importance of dialogue between conflict effected societies and rethinking the past.