wfn.org | How Digital Technologies can Enhance Empathy and Dialogue

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Carole St. Laurent to lead RCCongress 2010 Workshop

Communication for Peace: How Digital Technologies can Enhance Empathy and Dialogue

Carole St. Laurent is the founder of FluidIT Solutions, a web/multimedia consulting firm located in Toronto, Canada. FluidIT Solutions works intensively with people, technology, and digital media, with a focus on how they all intersect to change lives. She has developed cutting-edge software for international banks, provided technical vision for an award-winning web site on racism, and taught computer novices in rural Africa how to produce their own videos.

Carole believes that advances in digital devices, online technologies, and open source software have opened up unprecedented opportunities for people to participate in media-rich conversations, in both local and global communities. She holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Western Ontario, a Certificate in Ministry from Tyndale Seminary, and a Master?s in Environmental Studies from York University.
Communication for Peace: How Digital Technologies can Enhance Empathy and Dialogue

At all levels ? from interpersonal and organizational, to community, country and world ? human relationships experience conflict and need an infusion of deeper understanding and peace.

This workshop will explore ways that digital communication tools can contribute to peace building by enhancing our ability to empathize with each other more deeply, map conflict areas, or refocus dialogues around facts. Concrete case studies will ground this exploration in modern technical tools that can contribute to peace building, such as multimedia storytelling, Ushahidi conflict mapping software, and Web 2.0 tools.

Participants will leave this workshop with a better idea of how digital communication tools can contribute to dialogue and deeper understanding.