accompaniment

Starting with experiences in Central America in the 1980s, John Paul began to work closely with the thought and strategies of Latin American authors like Paolo Freire, Gustavo Gutierrez, and Orlando Fals Borda. These approaches articulated the basis of participatory action research and accompaniment of people often on the front lines of facing direct and structural violence. Accompaniment articulates the approach of leading from alongside the experiences, insights, and innovations of people with deep experience in their own context. These ideas became second nature in many of the books and writing over the years from Preparing for Peace to the engagements in Nepal 35 years later.

Varela Symposium: Transforming Conflict – From Science to Real World Applications
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collection
Varela Symposium: Transforming Conflict – From Science to Real World Applications

John Paul's contributions to the Upaya Zen Center's Varela Symposium 2018, which explored the theme, "Transforming Conflict: From Science to Real World Applications."

2018
Zen Brain: Mind, Brain, Social Perspectives of Views, Values, Ethics
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collection
Zen Brain: Mind, Brain, Social Perspectives of Views, Values, Ethics

John Paul's contributions to the Upaya Zen Center's Zen Brain conference in 2017, which explored the theme, "Mind, Brain, Social Perspectives of Views, Values, Ethics."

2017
Peacebuilding, critical yeast, and the language of imagination
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podcast
Peacebuilding, critical yeast, and the language of imagination

A conversation about language, imagination, and how to cultivate peace and transform conflict in everyday life.

2025
The Art and Soul of Civil Leadership: Democracy that Delivers
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presentation
The Art and Soul of Civil Leadership: Democracy that Delivers

A keynote address delivered at The Transformative Mosaic Conference, organized by Mediation Northern Ireland in 2011.

2011
ACR Conference Keynote The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace
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presentation
ACR Conference Keynote The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace

A keynote address delivered at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Association of Conflict Resolution.

2004
From Polarization to Healing
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podcast
From Polarization to Healing

A conversation on The Growing Edge podcast about conflict dynamics and polarization in the United States and pathways to shift these escalating patterns.

2021
The Ingredients of Social Courage
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podcast
The Ingredients of Social Courage

A conversation with Krista Tippett and America Ferrera at the inaugural On Being Gathering, exploring the ingredients of social courage and how change really happens in generational time.

2018
Beyond Intractability Interview
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interview
Beyond Intractability Interview

A interview with Julian Portilla exploring themes of narrative and storytelling, insider-outsider models of mediation, and personal and professional formative influences in the U.S. during the Civil Rights Movement, in Nicaragua, and in Costa Rica.

2003