Ten Questions with Claire Speedy

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Claire Speedy

Introducing the marvelous Claire Speedy. In part of her life as peaceful woman extraordinaire, Claire is the director of The Peace Foundation here in Auckland, and is a fount of knowledge about all things peaceful, including many practical ideas for promoting peace in ones life.

In terms of your accomplishments, which do you consider to be most significant?

Most significant would be advocating for the rights of international students and the benefits of internationalisation in terms of education and partnerships through my previous role as International Development Manager for the NICAI (National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries). The results of this advocacy eventually caused a shift in culture at NICAI with some exciting new initiatives taking place.

What are resources you use most commonly as a peace advocate, and who is it that keeps you supported?

I guess this all depends upon how you define peace. For me, peace is very much about promoting greater understanding, respecting diversity, celebrating our differences and sharing in a collaborative way so we all grow and learn from one another. I don’t use any specific resources for this, but the Office of Ethnic Affairs and the Human Rights Commission do have some great resources around respect for human rights and recognising the enormous benefits that come with a diverse and multicultural society.

However, in terms of my role at the Peace Foundation, our flagship programme is the Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme, which empowers students to become leaders in their schools and communities by teaching those skills necessary for peaceful and effective conflict resolution – both on a personal level and amongst their peers. We have some great resources that remind kids how to be good listeners and how to enhance their communication so they can resolve conflicts peacefully. And to some degree this comes back to my own focus on celebrating differences. ‘Good listening’ is essential if we want to develop greater awareness and understanding around an issue or across diverse groups.

Can you be more specific about those listening and conflict resolving skills that you mentioned?

The Cool Schools Peer Mediation Programme teaches students and teachers how to work through conflict in a peaceful and productive way. An important part of this is understanding the various conflict styles that people (both you and others) might adopt in a conflict situation. These are depicted as five different animals to help students work out and understand how they respond when faced with conflict and also to appreciate the responses they might get from others and how to deal with them positively. For example the turtle might respond by avoiding the conflict and withdrawing from the situation completely, often resulting in a lose-lose situation – compared with the fox who focuses on compromising and negotiating, often resulting in a win some – lose some situation. Other skills include learning about the mediation process - about the positive effects you can get from using ‘I’ statements to express how you feel when dealing with conflict, about being an effective listener: asking questions, keeping eye contact, giving verbal and non-verbal feedback etc…

Also – workshops offered by organisations like OEA and others help us to communicate more effectively across cultures and to really understand the benefits of diversity in our communities, our workplaces and in our businesses.

Obviously this kind of acceptance is a two-way thing – effort must come from both sides to find common ground rather than focusing on our differences.

How do you find NZ as a society, what are its strengths and weaknesses in terms of peacefulness; human rights, community and environment?

Overall New Zealand has a lot going for it – great environment, relatively peaceful, strong sense of community. As a community I think we’re pretty open-minded, laid-back, adaptable (from the number eight wire days) and generally open to diversity. Perhaps this is in part due to the bicultural foundation of our society, which provides a platform for collaboration across cultures, and for recognising the value of different perspectives and ways of being. Of course there are serious challenges which need to be addressed in our society, including high rates of domestic and family violence, of youth suicide and bullying. I think we have a long way to go in terms of genuinely accepting new migrants to our country, embracing what they have to offer and really recognising the benefits they bring to our society as a whole.

What are some ways that we as a society and/or individuals can do this?

There are some very good organisations out there who do a lot of good work in this regard- the Office of Ethnic Affairs, Human Rights Commission and ARMS are just a few. I believe that learning a second language can be a very effective way of helping people to accept difference and start to comprehend the different ways people think and function. Culture and language are inherently connected - and the experience of learning and using a second language helps people to step outside of their comfort zone, to think more laterally, to understand different perspectives and ways of communication.

What is your vision for your career?

I really want to be in a role where I can shape things and make a positive difference. I’m passionate about human rights and see myself developing a career in that area.

What does ‘Peace’ mean to you?

Living in harmony with the environment and with one another – about finding a safe space for discussion and engagement where we can share and work through our differences

At the core of this is equality and a basic respect for human rights and human dignity.

How would you suggest this ‘safe space’ you mentioned be found practically? It seems that no physical space, and certainly no mental space is free of connotations and associations which differ from person to person?

I guess this was more about finding tools that help us communicate with one another more effectively despite our differences – rather than a physical space per se. This ties back to the skills mentioned above for dealing with conflict more peacefully – developing skills to understand the other and work through conflict that might arise on the way – a space for open dialogue.

To what extent do you believe that what may be viewed as more borderline (although inherently related) topics such as animal welfare should be considered in striving for a peaceful society?

Topics such as animal welfare are, as you say, are inherently related. For example - I read an interesting article earlier this year about some research highlighting the correlation between animal abuse and domestic violence. Respect for living things and principles of non-violence must be key considerations when striving for a peaceful society.

Where does peaceful, harmonious, conscious living start for you?

Opening up my home and kitchen for friends, family and colleagues

Giving (time, food, resources) to others who need support or assistance – friends, colleagues, others (volunteering with students from refugee-backgrounds)

Learning – always wanting to understand better, learn more and increase awareness

Recycling, planting, using public transport as much as possible – trying to be sustainable