Training and Workshops
For over three decades, CPT has been equipping its Corps with skills for peacemaking to build partnerships and support local nonviolent peacemakers in conflict areas who confront systems of oppression and violence. We want to share our skills with you and your community! CPT offers in person and online workshops for community groups, organizations, and congregations.
If you and your community are interested in learning practical skills for community transformation and resilience, CPT offers the participatory workshops listed below as well as custom workshops and training.*
Training List & Information
Online / In Person
3 hours
Cost: $700 for 5 to 20 participants. $1000 For groups over 20.
Take To the Streets
This three-hour workshop on protests and police intervention draws on CPT’s extensive collective experience. This training is highly interactive for the participants. In this workshop, we share our knowledge, tips, and tactics. We lead the group through exercises to create strategies to be carried into the streets as we work together towards justice. This workshop is perfect for community groups who want to attend demonstrations but feel anxious about it, or groups that need a refresher on basic skills and tactics.
Topics covered and what you can expect to learn:
De-escalation: learning and practicing various de-escalation skills, and help discerning if it is appropriate to attempt to de-escalate different situations.
Participating in a protest: Tips on preparing yourself for various protest scenarios that may arise. We will also cover protest anatomy, affinity groups, and common organizing structures.
Police, military, and other violent presence: Interacting with police and military, responding to state violence, preparing for arrest, and dealing with counter-protesters.
Self-care: How to take care of yourself during and after this hard work.
Online / In Person
2 hours
Cost: $500 for 6 to 20 participants. $20 for each additional participant.
De-escalation Training
As we develop skills to become peacemakers in our community, there are multiple tools we need in our toolbox. De-escalation is just one tool we can use to keep people safe in our community and achieve our goals in direct action. This training is specifically designed for de-escalating agitators and armed authorities.
Themes covered:
– What is de-escalation? – Individual assessment of strengths and weakness – General tips and skill share – Practice – Self care
Online / In Person
90 minutes
Cost: $300
We Keep Us Safe: Preparing for Arrests and Building Communities of Abolition
As authoritarianism grows around the world, arrests of social justice practitioners is inevitable. The process of arrest is designed to individualize and isolate – a way to demoralize us. The best way to combat authoritarianism is to build communities of abolition and resistance. Since October 2023, CPT has been supporting people who have been arrested for their support of Palestine alongside the Legal Support Committee. This presentation shares 5 lessons learned from that support work.
In Person
2 Days
Cost: $3000 plus travel and accommodation. 6 to 20 participants.
Unarmed Civilian Accompaniment
CPT has partnered with local communities and peacemakers in conflict zones to provide unarmed accompaniment for over 40 years. From Haiti to Palestine, Kurdistan to Colombia, to the streets of Washington, DC and Toronto, Ontario, CPT has accompanied individuals and communities demanding that their human rights are recognized and respected. At its root,unarmed civilian accompaniment is rooted in community care and abolition.
Across the world we are seeing the rise of authoritarianism and the alt-right, who are harming our communities. Unarmed accompaniment is a tactic used to reduce violence in the moment. It is based on the theory that many people will not commit acts of violence if they know they are being watched or will be exposed.
Unarmed accompaniment might be used during a specific action (but different from the marshalling or de-escalation role), or outside the context of an action. As CPT understands it, unarmed accompaniment is a holistic approach that connects presence, partnership, mutual aid and solidarity. This 2-day training prepares communities to create their own UCA Teams.
Themes Covered:
– What is accompaniment – Undoing oppressions – Team dynamics and roles – How to gather information – De-escalation – Quick decision making – Care planing
Participant capacity
The ideal size for a CPT workshop or training is around 15 participants. At a maximum, we can work with groups as large as 100.
Generally, we ask for a minimum of 6 people for online training. With fewer than 6 participants, there is usually not enough synergy for generative discussions or group exercises.
Community care precautions
Every community group is made up of individuals with varying needs. CPT is happy to accommodate this! If the preference is for us to wear a mask, we will! As pandemics continue to be a reality in our world, we believe in having mutual discussions about health needs – yours and ours! If pandemic risks become a threat to the facilitator we may request people wear masks, or we may need to cancel an in-person workshop.
In-person workshops costs
In addition to the fee, hosting groups are asked to also cover travel and accommodation.
We never want money to be what holds people back from engaging with nonviolence or CPT! While some groups can pay the full amount, other groups cannot. Let us know if finances are an issue; we want to work with you. For small grassroots groups, we may be able to waive the fees.
Contact & information
Write to peacemakers@cpt.org for booking information.
Custom or tailored workshops
Is there a training that not listed that you would like CPT to facilitate for your group or a special circumstance that requires a tailored training?
For all information on custom workshops or training, including fees and availability, please contact peacemakers@cpt.org.