Samenvatting

My interest in mediation had been aroused when I – then a local government official – became involved in a conciliation between farmers and local residents in a dispute about cutting down trees. This experience made me decide to start working as a community-mediator in the city of Eindhoven. For a person with an agricultural background like me is community-mediating in a large city quite an adventure. You have to deal with social problems you are not familiar with, for instance because city dwellers may have other standards and values. Uncovering these standards and values and especially naming the feelings involved is essential for the communication between quarrelling neighbours, the first step towards normal mutual relations.