William Ury

“To transform conflicts simply means to change their form - from destructive fighting into productive conflict and constructive negotiation.”

When it comes to conflict resolution, we often think in terms of: “How can we end something we don’t want?”

Furthermore, conflict transformation asks the question: “How can we end something that is destructive and create something that we desire?”

Transformation means fundamental change, the transition from one state to another and requires the will for personal change.

In conflict transformation, the focus is not only on de-escalating or resolving the acute conflict, but on changing the nature of the relationship with oneself and with each other: away from reactive, automatic and destructive behavior and communication, towards a constructive and productive exchange and handling of conflicts.
In this way, creativity, collaboration, togetherness and equality (everyone is equally valuable and therefore contributes equally to a valuable and fulfilling relationship) can unfold, which are inherent in every blocking conflict.

Accordingly, in conflict transformation we focus on the relationship between the conflicting parties, whereas classical conflict resolution focuses more on the acute conflict and its content.