Appreciative Inquiry - Peace Begins with Me

We each contribute our own actions and visions for peace. We work for peace in different ways: sometimes, we focus within ourselves, our families and local communities; sometimes, we engage in worldwide movements and envision a better world. We can learn from one another as we share our insights, experiences and visions.

An Appreciative Interview is a simple process that creates opportunities for people to speak about what is meaningful in their lives. It is a mutual interview with another person, where both partners listen and speak with an open heart.

• Appreciative Interviews can be offered to begin a meeting or as the focus activity to deepen perspectives about peace.
• People can be placed in pairs or in groups of three. Each person takes turn being the interviewer and interviewee. 
• As an interviewer, ask each question to the person you are interviewing. Give the gift of listening. Switch roles.

Questions

1. Looking back over your life, think of a time when peace was really important to you. Please tell me the story of this experience. What was happening in your life, your community, in the world at this time? How did your experience make a difference? How did it bring benefit to you and to others?
2. Without being too humble, please tell me what is it about you that contributes to peace?
3. Imagine you have a magic wand and can have any 3 wishes granted to bring more peace to the world. What would they be?

Small Group Discussion (gather in groups of 4 or 6)

• What new or surprising ideas did you learn from your partner's answers?
• What did you hear that strengthened the perspective that peace is possible?
• As a group, identify the best ideas you heard for bringing about more peace. What first step could be taken to bring this about?
• Building on your group’s collective visions for peace, create an expression using poetry, song, skit, or movement. Please prepare to share this expression with the whole group.