3.7: Summary

We have practiced active listening skills, mediating, and reframing from positions to interests. These skills are useful for discussing controversial issues and managing conflict in conversations, whether it's about Marcellus Shale, other science topics, or other divisive issues that you may encounter in your daily life.Consider how you see yourself applying these strategies to situations in real life, at work, with your families. Lastly, consider how you see yourself applying what you learned to issues related to Marcellus Shale. How might you bring people together to do that with you?

For example, one person that completed this course wanted to start a breakfast group that would meet to discuss Marcellus Shale. They met for over two years. Another person started a group that met at a bar once a month to discuss Marcellus Shale. It wouldn't necessarily have to be starting a group, it could be anything, like getting people together for a community cleanup, or to count the number of trucks that are coming through, or writing letters to the editor, etc.

Once you become well practiced in active listening, mediating and reframing, these are skills that you will be able to use in your interactions with people in your community. One of the best ways to promote more civil conversations is by modeling that yourself. We can't control how other people communicate and engage with us, but we can become a model and inspire others to communicate respectfully with others. That can be done partly through active listening, mediating, and reframing. And again, just understanding the science of Marcellus Shale isn't enough to help people make informed decisions. Their relationships and the process are also important, and that' s where the skills you have learned in this lesson come into play.