For me, the question has always been: “How can I use my conflict resolution and peace studies skills to help the communities I love so much?”
The following is my answer:
I am launching a community research project called Transform Lawrence to better understand the conflicts occurring in the City of Lawrence. Transform Lawrence uses the SenseMaker® approach to narrative research that I’ve been developing during my studies at the University for Peace.
Story collection: Lawrence community members will share their day-to-day experiences in the City of Lawrence for a period of three weeks beginning on February 9th and ending on March 1st. The goal is to collect at least 200 stories– about 10 stories a day.
Analysis: After the collection, I will conduct an initial analysis to uncover patterns in the way that the citizens of Lawrence make sense of conflicts in the city. This analysis will be made public via my blog.
Community Engagement: The final step is holding community meetings to discuss the results and possible solutions. The first workshops will occur in March and April depending on interest. If you are interested in helping organize a dialogue with the results of the data collection with your community or organization, please contact me so that we can plan together!
The project will improve the conversations that our community has about important issues and hopefully lead to concrete solutions. I will post more to the blog throughout the next three weeks about what this could mean.
How to Participate:
Participating is as easy as writing Facebook post. Follow the link. Share your experience, interpret it, click save. It will take 5-10 minutes to provide a response.
If you would like to receive project updates and be invited to the Community Engagement events, please enter your email at the beginning of the survey.
And Yes! There will be Prizes:
Each experience that you enter into SenseMaker® gives you one chance to win a Downtown Lawrence gift card! The drawing will happen in early March after the collection period has ended. The winners will be chosen randomly, with each survey entry representing one chance. The 1st place ($100 gift card) and 2nd place ($50 gift card) will be determined by which randomly selected winner entered more experiences. All you have to do is enter a unique 8-digit identifier, complete the SenseMaker® survey, and click save.
If you have any questions about the project or would like to learn more, please email me at keileggers@gmail.com.
Share your experience via this link: http://bit.ly/2FYS5fX
Keil Eggers 