Civic Fusion: Bonding Across Deep Differences

Civic fusion is achieved when parties to a conflict bond across their deep differences to address a shared public problem. In her talk, Susan Podziba will illustrate ways to consider differing views and describe her work with leaders of the Massachusetts pro-life and pro-choice movements after fatal shootings at two women’s health clinics in Brookline.

Our Speaker

Susan Podziba, Principal at Podziba Policy Mediation, has served as a public policy mediator for more than 30 years. Most of her projects include working with senior leadership of governments, representative stakeholders, civil society, and the general public. Her clients have included numerous United States government agencies, U.S. Congress, U.S. Institute for Peace, United Nations, The World Bank, British Council, and Negotiation Strategies Institute of Jerusalem. She is listed on the United Nations Mediator Roster and recently traveled to Bahrain to participate in the King Hamad Global Center for Peaceful Coexistence conference, Ignorance is the Enemy of Peace.

Susan is author of Civic Fusion: Mediating Polarized Public Disputes and Our City: From Corruption to Participatory Democracy as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles. She is faculty for Advanced Mediation Workshop: Mediating Complex Disputes, a course offered by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard University and has served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Peace and Conflict Resolution at the Amsterdam Center for Conflict Studies, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.