Municipalities have a great responsibility for the coexistence of immigrants and locals, particularly when it comes to the reception and integration of refugees. Immigration changes the local living environment and can lead to social tensions and conflicts that need to be dealt with in a targeted and preventative manner.

Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V. (forumZFD) supports local authorities in successfully shaping change processes and integration and resolving difficult situations and conflicts in a sustainable and non-violent manner. An important basis for the forum's staff is their more than 20 years of experience in peacebuilding and conflict transformation in Germany and abroad, as well as in training people in the field of non-violent conflict transformation.

Since 2006, the Forum Ziviler Friedensdienst e.V. (forumZFD) has been supporting local decision-makers in politics, administration and civil society in constructive conflict management with its "Municipal Conflict Counseling" approach, currently within the project "Municipal Conflict Counseling: Conflicts as an opportunity for sustainable integration", which runs from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2022.

"Municipal Conflict Counseling" incorporates key elements of systemic counseling and tools for conflict management and transformation. The employees look at the challenges on site in their complex contexts. This includes an external perspective and a neutral attitude in order to create proposals and facilitate sustainable solutions that are supported by everyone.

The Forum has developed the "Municipal Conflict Counseling" approach to support municipalities, cities and other local authorities in identifying potential for conflict, preventing the escalation of violence and discovering future prospects for the development of local communities.

The project "Municipal Conflict Counseling: Conflicts as an opportunity for sustainable integration" is co-financed by the EU's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.