1. Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo “Danilo Dolci” Palermo and Partinico, Italy

2. i. Who was Danilo Dolci? ii. The history of the organisation iii. Aims iv. Activities v. Structure vi. Methodology: Reciprocal Maieutic Approach

3. i. Who was Danilo Dolci? Sociologist, pacifist and educator that arrived in Sicily in the 50’ and there developed a nonviolent fight against mafia and for community development.

4. ii. The history of the organisation Centro Studi ed Iniziative (1958) (when Dolci and his collaborators started their work) Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo (1985) (after the work of the organisation became more connected with nonviolent education, crativity and development) Centro per lo Sviluppo Creativo “Danilo Dolci” (1998) (after Dolci’s death)

5. iii. Aims Disseminate the life and work of Danilo Dolci and awaring for the actuality of his writings; Promote the reciprocal maieutic approach in the school context and at international level; Promote innovative processes in the civil society and public schools, through maieutic workshops and seminars; Develop educational courses about the maieutic structure that can boost the grow of “new” educators and trainers; Educate for peace and nonviolence as a tool for cultural, social and civic promotion; Promote active citizenship and participative democracy.

6. iv. Activities Organise maieutic workshops in schools, universities, organisations and institutions; Organise cultural and educational activities that promote the life and work of Danilo Dolci; Make that the books Danilo wrote during his life are published again and organise new anthologies that gather his most important writings; Organise European projects that involve youth from diverse countries, about the themes of nonviolence, peace, active participation and reciprocal maieutic; Organise European projects in the sphere of adult education using as privileged method the reciprocal maieutic approach.

7. Local and international activities Maieutic workshops in Roccella Ionica (Italy) EDDILI – To educate is to make possible the discovery of life Grundtvig multilateral – LLP (24 months+international partnership) Training for trainers and action-research about the impact of RMA in the field of training and education delivered to adult learning staff. Make RMA become one recognised approach in the field. Reciprocal maieutic workshops with teachers of secondary schools and students About the classical themes of a maieutic workshop (educate-teach, communicate- transmit) Increased communication, better relationships, increased creative processes, actiate participation processes, etc…

8. v. Structure President International activities Local activities National network Archive and publications Dissemination of Dolci’s writings Maieutic workshops Direction

9. vi. Methodology: RMA “…process of collective exploration that takes as a departure point the experience and the intuition of individuals.” (Dolci, 1996) Learner centred approach Uses cooperative learning Uses the circle as priveliged phisical disposition All participants have the occasion to express the own thoughts and opinions RMA is intended to create a safe context for people to express themselves, to listen each other, to discover, to be creative, to learn relational and communicational competencies, to feel valued as a human being.

10. The main principles behind the approach are: Listening - expression Communication Confrontation Individual and social responsibility Active participation of all Cooperation Nonviolence Building complex images of reality (with the point of view and contribution of all) Value/emphasis in the individual and group experience Creative process Sharing of power (in contraposition to domination and concentration of power) Awareness/self awareness Ask questions and analyse problems instead of impose solutions – ask the good questions

11. The impact observed n participants is: learn to share points of view with other people learn to communicate learn to confront with other people in a nonviolent way develop listening and verbal communication skills learn to value and respect others learn to respect difference learn to value the group and to cooperate develop active participation awareness and skills strengthen democratic competences facilitate and reinforce the integration between people from different backgrounds

12. Contacts Amico Dolci – President amicodolci@libero.it centrodanilodolci@libero.it Address: Via Goriza 22 – 90133 Palermo, Italy Tel.: +390916164224 Fax: +390916230849 www.danilodolci.it amicodolci@libero.it centrodanilodolci@libero.it www.danilodolci.it Nonviolent demonstration (Dolci with the local people)