BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:-//WordPress - MECv7.37.0//EN
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.empathiceurope.com/
X-WR-CALNAME:Empathic Way Europe
X-WR-CALDESC:Sharing Nonviolent Communication in Europe
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/Warsaw
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Europe/Warsaw
X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/Warsaw
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+0100
TZOFFSETTO:+0200
TZNAME:CEST
DTSTART:20260329T030000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=03;BYDAY=-1SU
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+0200
TZOFFSETTO:+0100
TZNAME:CET
DTSTART:20261025T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=4SU
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
X-MS-OLK-FORCEINSPECTOROPEN:TRUE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
UID:MEC-3cf3794a55e9b9732d01bf82af5bb95f@empathiceurope.com
DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Warsaw:20261206T180000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Warsaw:20261206T200000
DTSTAMP:20261023T220008Z
CREATED:20261023
LAST-MODIFIED:20261023
PRIORITY:5
SEQUENCE:1
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SUMMARY:All Actions Are Attempts to Meet Needs
DESCRIPTION:An NVC Paradoxes Workshop\nWhat changes when we understand everything people do as an attempt to meet needs?\nAnd what might become harder to see when this powerful perspective becomes our main explanation for human behaviour?\nRegistration opens soon\nNVC Paradoxes is a workshop series exploring recurring ideas and assumptions within NVC. Rather than rejecting these ideas, we explore what they offer us, the blind spots they may bring, and what we might discover when we bring other perspectives into the conversation.\nAbout this paradox\nOne central assumption in Nonviolent Communication is that all human actions are attempts to meet needs\nThis perspective can radically change how we relate to behaviour we dislike or struggle to understand. Instead of judging, blaming, or labelling others, we can become curious about the needs behind their actions. Even actions we strongly disagree with can become easier to understand.\nBut what happens when this perspective becomes the only explanation for what people do? In this workshop, we’ll explore whether needs are necessarily what motivate our actions. What about biology, beliefs, culture and social systems? Is understanding an action as an attempt to meet needs always the most useful way to understand it and create connection?\n\n \nQuestions we’ll explore\nIn each NVC Paradoxes workshop, we explore:\n\nWhat is valuable in this NVC idea, and what was it responding to?\nWhat can happen when we apply it too broadly or turn it into a general principle?\n\nIn this workshop, we’ll look more closely at:\n\nAre needs always what motivate our actions, or are there other ways of understanding human behaviour?\nCan we keep the compassion this perspective offers without treating it as an absolute truth?\n\n\nAbout NVC Paradoxes\nNVC Paradoxes grows out of a deep appreciation for Nonviolent Communication and what it has made possible. NVC offers powerful ways to understand human behaviour, relationships, and conflict, and has helped many of us discover possibilities we might otherwise have missed. This project is not about replacing or moving beyond NVC, but about exploring its edges with curiosity.\nA paradox can emerge when a valuable insight becomes a principle we no longer question. Ideas that once helped us move beyond the limitations of an earlier approach can develop their own limitations. NVC Paradoxes explores these tensions: what these ideas offer us, what they may leave out, and what can happen when an insight that once opened our thinking begins to narrow it.\nBy bringing NVC into conversation with other ways of understanding human behaviour, relationships, culture and society, we can explore both its gifts and its blind spots. The aim is not to find a final or more correct perspective, but to widen the lens – holding on to what is valuable in NVC while remaining curious about what else there might be to discover.\nWorkshop format\nEach workshop follows a similar structure:\n\nArriving together – a short guided practice to settle and become present\nThe gift of the NVC perspective – exploring what this NVC insight makes possible\nConnecting with experience – sharing personal experiences in small breakout groups\nThe paradox and the wider lens – exploring blind spots and bringing other perspectives into the picture\nReflection and dialogue – sharing discoveries, questions and different perspectives\nPractice – experimenting with the topic through role play or another experiential exercise\nIntegration – reflecting on what we want to take with us into our lives and NVC practice\n\nThe workshop includes teaching, personal reflection, small-group conversations, experiential practice, and whole-group dialogue. There will also be a short break.\nWorkshop Details\nDate: 6 December 2026\nTime: 18:00-20:00 CET (Berlin Time)\nWhere: Online/Zoom\nLanguage: English\nUpcoming NVC Paradoxes workshops\nNVC Paradoxes is an ongoing series of monthly workshops, each exploring a different idea or assumption within NVC. You can join any workshop independently – no previous participation is required.\nUpcoming workshops:\n\n8 November 2026 – There Is No Right or Wrong\n6 December 2026 – All Actions Are Attempts to Meet Needs\n10 January 2027 – Empathy Creates Connection\n7 February 2027 – Everyone Is Welcome\n7 March 2027 – From Domination to Partnership\n11 April 2027 – Every Voice Counts Equally\n9 May 2027 – Don’t Do Anything That Isn’t Play\n13 June 2027 – Stay in Dialogue\n\nWorkshops run monthly through June, followed by a summer break in July and August.\nRegister for the workshop\nOption 1: Single workshop – €30\nRegistration opens soon\nOption 2: Needs Space membership\nJoin the Needs Space platform and get access to this workshop as part of your membership, along with all the other benefits of Needs Space, including\n– live events,\n– a growing library of resources, and\n– a global online community.\nRead more and register here.\n\n\nTrainer:\nJoachim Berggren\nJoachim Berggren is a certified CNVC trainer. He has been a student of NVC since 2009 and has taught his understanding of NVC since 2010. He writes blog posts, offers workshops and hosts events about NVC, as well as offering individual sessions. He is passionate about and intrigued by exploring human connection and our capacity to grow and evolve as individuals and groups throughout our lifetimes.\n\n\n\n
URL:https://www.empathiceurope.com/events/al-aactions-are-attempts-to-meet-needs/
ORGANIZER;CN=Empathic Way Europe:MAILTO:
CATEGORIES:Needs Space,NVC Paradoxes,Workshops
LOCATION:Online (on Zoom)
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.empathiceurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/002-NVC-Paradoxes.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR