Students are able to:
* understand the meaning of collaboration and its various facets;
* reflect on reactions when dealing with different perspectives and conflict situations;
* discover and apply negotiation skills through in-class exercises and games;
* reflect on one's own experience when dealing with strategies for conflict resolution during in-class exercises and games;
* engage in participatory and collaborative problem-solving for sustainable development issues.

Sustainable development challenges facing our world today, including complex issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss, require joint and concerted action to be effectively addressed. As differences in needs, perspectives, and strategic agendas are amplified, gaining trust and shared understanding between stakeholders is a difficult task to achieve. Nonetheless, also in situations where parties seem divergent and head strong, there may be room to come to an agreement beneficial for all. Fostering the competency of collaboration is widely recognized to be of crucial importance for thinking and acting in favor of sustainable development. While various definitions exist, at the core of the competency of collaboration lies the ability to learn from others; about being empathetic and respectful to the needs, perspectives and actions of others; about dealing with conflicts and facilitating participatory and collaborative problem-solving. In this skills course, students will be acquainted with collaboration competency and its important facets (including empathy, communication, active listening, negotiating, the use of conflict and of conflict resolution), will experience and learn about these facets through in-class exercises and games, and apply techniques - for instance through negotiation and conflict resolution games -to gain insight into different perspectives, build trust, improve communication and recognize opportunities for successfully negotiated agreements.

Reference list will be provided

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