Introduction to Mediation and Conflict Work (Aorta training)

An online training to learn AORTA's principles of conflict work and build foundational mediation skills.

Aorta believes that inhabiting and learning to work with conflict skillfully is a vital, lifelong practice that must be recovered and reintegrated into our communities. Across our movements for liberation, we are witness to the detrimental impacts that untended conflict has on our collective capacity for political rigor, effective action, and nurturing healthy relationships.

Militarism has become entrenched as the default and primary conflict response, from the institution of policing pervading all aspects of our daily lives to the settler-colony of the United States instigating perpetual warfare globally. Additionally, the legal system has been institutionalized as the only legitimate arena to handle acute conflict, and many of our movement groups are caught in the dynamic tension between trying to embody their liberatory values while navigating the limitations of traditional HR systems that their legal structures often bind them to.

Why this training now:

Many models of liberatory conflict work have long existed in indigenous communities and the Global South, but these practices, like so many others, have increasingly become professionalized, leading to reduction in widespread practice and group confidence. Consequently, people are often being asked or expected to mediate conflict without being equipped with the necessary skills, practice, or support.

While numerous movement intermediaries, including AORTA, provide skilled conflict tending work, the ongoing need for conflict work and the on-ramp to understanding specific contexts and relationships make relying on movement intermediaries untenable as a long-term solution. Instead of solely relying on external consultants and resources, we believe that the capacity to mediate and tend to conflict well can be cultivated in all groups.

Who this training is for:

Whether you're exploring if mediation is a role you want to take on, trying to understand how mediation fits within broader conflict work practice, or are already doing conflict support, this training will equip you with practical approaches and foundational mediation skills to build your confidence and skill set.

The Introduction to Mediation and Conflict Work training shares AORTA's principles of conflict work drawn from nearly two decades of being called in to mediate conflicts with hundreds of different groups across the movement ecosystem.

In this 3 hour training, we will:

  • define conflict and conflict work and explain how mediation fits within a broader framework of conflict work;

  • describe AORTA's principles of conflict work through real-world scenarios focusing on common conflict dynamics in movement spaces;

  • practice foundational mediation skills including reflection techniques, identifying stakes and self-interests, and surfacing a path forward.

Fall Training Dates and Times

  • Wednesday, August 26, 2026, 9am-12pm PT

  • Wednesday, September 9, 2026, 9am-12pm PT

  • Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 9am-12pm PT

  • Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 3-6pm PT

  • Wednesday, November 11, 2026, 3-6pm PT

  • Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 9am-12pm PT

Register here: Introduction to Mediation and Conflict Work Tickets, Multiple dates | Eventbrite

The COO Learning Community can support attendance in this training opportunity. To receive registration scholarship support please submit your request to be registered using the form linked here (please request support well in advance of the selected training date - we cannot guarantee a review of your request if it is within a 5-day window of the training).

Scholarship recipients must commit to submitting a short required feedback survey upon course completion. 

Resourcesinforesources, training, mediation, generative conflict, capacity building