Mutual Education Lab

The Mutual Education Laboratory (short: Lab) is an international training and community event based on the ideas of mutual education, dialogue and appreciation of diversity and different perspectives.

Developed in cooperation with the Center for Nonviolent Communication the Lab builds on the experiences gathered from the International Intensive Trainings: People from all over the world come together to learn about different aspects of NVC supported by CNVC-certified trainers. There are parallel learning offers around NVC and the opportunity to get to know various topics and perspectives.

In addition, during a Lab we ask everyone who is there to act as a learner and leader at the same time. Our aim is it to create a learning environment in the service of diversity, autonomy and mutuality.

Here are some examples how we are doing that:

The Lab team (trainers and organizers) involve everyone (also the participants) in the choice of the content, methods and structure of the learning sessions before they arrive at the venue.
At the Lab there is room for co-creation and making decisions concerning the learning environment together every day
The experience and knowledge of each participant is welcomed as an important part of the learning event, as everyone comes as an expert of their own learning experiences. So we continuously ask ourselves, what works for us and what doesn’t and what we want to do differently in the future.
While we do offer training sessions from our certified trainers team we do asked everyone to share their experience, provide trainings, facilitate processes and create the event together.
The „trainers“ understand themselves mainly as those who prepare the event and hold the space and not as „teachers“ and this attitude is consciously made visible and can be experienced in many ways throughout the Lab. In this way learning together on eye-level and beyond traditional roles in educational systems is practised.
We practise skills that are needed for a satisfying common decision making process in a group

From now on our events will be called Mutual Education Laboratory (short: Lab).

Over the years, we have received feedback highlighting that the term “Life-Enriching Education” can be challenging to translate and understand in various languages. To better align with our commitment to inclusivity, we looked for an alternative. While no term perfectly covers our wishes, we decided to return to our roots. Marshall Rosenberg’s first book on education was titled “Mutual Education,” and in honor of his pioneer work, we have decided to use this meaningful name.

We believe that “Mutual Education” beautifully reflects our mission of creating a collaborative and inclusive learning environment. Thank you for following our journey as we move on with our Labs.

Upcoming Labs

7. -10. November 2024 - Mutual Education Lab in Orvieto, Italy. Organizers and trainers from the NVC community in Italy are working together with local school organizations to arrange this Lab. It will be a 3-day Lab, to introduce NVC and explore possibilities with the Italian teacher community. The Lab will be mainly in Italian, with some translation to English.

Learn more

24. - 29. November 2025 - Mutual Education Lab in India. We will work together with the Indian NVC community to manifest this Lab, which mainly will be directed to people in education in India. Working name for this Lab “Reimage Education”. Detailed plans will take form in the coming fall and we will post info as soon as we know more.

26. -30. August 2026 - Mutual Education Lab in Salzburg, Austria. This Lab is a local initiative from educators and will be an international event. More info to come.