{"id":54325,"date":"2020-08-13T17:02:03","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T17:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/green\/?p=54325"},"modified":"2024-02-05T18:49:56","modified_gmt":"2024-02-05T18:49:56","slug":"reflections-on-conflict-mediation-training-as-a-sustainability-intern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/green\/2020\/08\/13\/reflections-on-conflict-mediation-training-as-a-sustainability-intern\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on Conflict Mediation Training as a Sustainability Intern"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Smiling<\/a><\/p>\n

By Lauren Michaels (’19)<\/p>\n

Conflict in City Government<\/h2>\n

During my last two years as an Environmental Studies student at Augsburg, I worked as the Sustainability Intern for the City of St. Louis Park in the Environment and Sustainability Department. I worked at St. Louis Park City Hall alongside a small team of employees to implement the city\u2019s Climate Action Plan<\/a>, which lays out a road map for the city to reach carbon neutrality by the year 2040. Our job was to encourage residents and businesses to reduce their energy usage and promote the use of renewable energy in place of fossil fuels. The biggest challenge I faced during my internship was adapting to the constant undercurrent of conflict that is considered \u201cnormal\u201d when working in public policy. Government employees must balance the interests of residents, businesses, developers, homeowners, city council members, and other groups and everyone needs to participate in the planning process when deciding on the actions to take that will shape the city. With so many clashing groups and interests at the table, conflict was inevitable and always present. I saw conflict stem from lack of citizen trust, lack of government transparency, failure to involve affected groups in the planning process, etc.<\/p>\n

A Chance to Grow<\/h2>\n

As an undergraduate student and newbie to local government, I was pretty uncomfortable in this environment. I wanted to solve all the problems and make everyone happy, thinking that if I \u201cworked hard enough\u201d I could get everyone what they needed. I found myself people-pleasing and overworking to avoid additional issues and accepting work that was beyond what an intern should be assigned. This motivation to \u201cfix\u201d quickly led to frustration and resentment. After a year of avoiding discomfort, I decided to try a new approach by seeking some extra training in this area. After doing some research online, I found Conflict Mediation Training through the Conflict Resolution Center of Minnesota (CRC)<\/a>. My hope was that I would be able to use these skills to manage stress and conflict, making my internship more tolerable. I applied for and was awarded a scholarship to participate in a 5 day, 30 Hour Civil Facilitative Hybrid Mediation Class from the CRC and sustainability grant funding to cover the other half. I applied for this additional grant through the Environmental Studies program at Augsburg and I\u2019m very fortunate to have been awarded these grants since I wouldn\u2019t have been able to afford this type of training on my student budget!<\/p>\n

Conflict Mediation Training<\/h2>\n

For five days, I got to work individually and in groups with experts on conflict and communication, learning about mediation from the ground up, beginning with understanding how and why conflict arises, moving on to how to support others in conflict and finally, how to facilitate conflict between two parties and reach a mutual agreement. Each day I learned new skills and concepts that I was able to take home and try out, many of which have become permanent in my communication style. Here are some concepts that have stuck with me most:<\/p>\n