Principle to Practice

social dynamics. social change. pattern languages

consulting

Collaborative Learning Library

including Do No Harm

I want to highlight Collaborative Learning here, over the work I personally did. The reason is simple: collaboration means many hands and brains were involved. I have been directly involved with six Collaborative Learning projects that utilized the full methodology. I directed two of them, wrote case studies and articles, conducted workshops, edited manuscripts, participated in consultations, thought with others through conversation and correspondence, and raised money. I have attached the name of the author or authors to every document where it is important. I wrote some these, but other people wrote some of them. Some of them were joint efforts. What matters is the full body of work. I also want to highlight the contributions and leadership of Mary Anderson. She started developing the methodology of Collaborative Learning in the 1980s, but it came to full flower with Do No Harm.
  • A powerful action research and learning methodology.
  • If an intervention has a negative impact on a conflict, how can we work to mitigate that harm? How can we work to help provide space for local capacities for peace? Do No Harm went through two iterations of the Collaborative Learning process. The first was to figure out how aid can support peace or war. The second was to learn how the techniques were being used and adapted.
  • What is effect peacebuilding and how do you know when you see it?
  • How can corporations and communities engage most effectively to their mutual benefit.
  • Some communities in civil conflicts figure out how to "opt out" if the conflict. How do they do this? What lessons can we learn from them about strategies in times of conflict?
  • We went around the world to actually listen to the recipients of aid.
  • The following tabs have links either to PDFs of the full books or to the book on the publisher's website.

  • Do No Harm: How Aid Can support Peace--Or War, by Mary Anderson

    Published in 1999, this book started a revolution. Every humanitarian and development organization and every donor to such organizations uses these ideas in some fashion. The experience shared and organized in this book is written into the policies of every donor and of every major international NGO. There are organizations around the world dedicated to teaching the practical aspects of this book based on training manuals I started writing in 2000, and then endlessly revising in light of new experience.

  • From Principle to Practice--A User's Guide to Do No Harm, by Marshall Wallace

    This book is a pattern language for interventions. Based on the experience of people using the Do No Harm framework developed in May Anderson's book, Do No Harm, it demonstrates the techniques interveners use to be effective.

  • Opting Out of War: Strategies to Prevent Violent Conflict, Mary B. Anderson and Marshall Wallace (Lynne Rienner Publishers)

  • Time to Listen, Mary B. Anderson, Dayna Brown, and Isabella Jean

  • Getting It Right: Making Corporate-Community Relations WorkLuc Zandvliet and Mary B. Anderson (Routledge)

  • Confronting War, Anderson and Olson
  • The Guidance Notes are short pieces answering specific questions about the use of Do No Harm.

    • Guidance Notes

    • Older works superseded by subsequent work, but still holding some historical interest, even if only to see how the process a project developed over time.

    • Edited by Mary Anderson

      This was a stepping stone between Mary's Do No Harm and my From Principle to Practice. It was based on almost ten years of experience of developing and using the Do No Harm Framework.

      • List Item 1
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      • List Item 3
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      another column or something

    • I have a curious skillset, but it all boils down to one thing:

      • I like people
      • I'm a good listener
      • I'm a good writer
      • I'm a good teacher
      • I'm a good coach
      • I want to hear what your problems are. I bet we can tackle them.
      Drop me a line.

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