Søren Viemose

As an advisor and mediator I am constantly on the lookout for new knowledge and solid practical experience with negotiations, mediation and more complex processes in which many must find common ground. It is my passion.

I am eager to link theory with practice. New knowledge from researchers and others must be developed and disseminated to negotiators who are eager to find good, robust and sustainable results.

A good advice should rest on some decent principles of a Constructive process and the quest for sustainable results. That’s what I’m trying to give you when you work with me.

I also try to be brave. This includes, among other things, to choose completely new paths in the attempt to inspire. I am fascinated by other brave and fearless people, who are often the ones who open up to surprising solutions and new insight. It can be brave negotiators, fearless young idealists, fearless politicians and brave artists. Listen for example to my brave daughter’s music here.

Current projects

Current projects include work on introducing a method for handling the fundamental right to raise a complaint against a public authority. The method, which is inspired by the practical working methods of mediators and theory of good negotiations, strengthens the dialogue between the public servant and the (dissatisfied) citizen. It saves society enormous resources, increases citizen satisfaction and reduces the number of complaints and objections to an extreme degree. The method was taken from the Netherlands and subsequently tested in Denmark. Now we train public servants throughout the country and in this way contribute to creating a better dialogue between citizens of the country and (their) public servants.

The Consensus Building

Kalovig Center – a venue for negotiations and conflict resolution.

The Consensus Building – as we call it in English – is a secluded venue for negotiations, consensus building processes and meetings. This is where I have my office. People use the place for many different reasons. Some negotiate. Some use the place for mediation in difficult conflicts. Some meet to facilitate training or dialogue. An increasing number of negotiations, mediations, preparations, training, fact-finding missions, informal meetings and so on is taking place. The idea behind The Consensus Building at Kalovig Center is to create a place where new knowledge about negotiation, conflict management and consensus building can be developed, shared and simultaneously brought into good use by practitioners. See more

Building a new approach

The last 20 years we have worked on the idea of sustainable negotiations. Help us develop the framework and the methods.

The idea behind The Kalovig Center – The Consensus Building – is to create a place where new knowledge about negotiation, conflict management and consensus building can be developed, shared and simultaneously brought into good use by practitioners.

The idea of a psychical link between theory and practice actually came up at the IACM (International Association of Conflict Management) conference in Bonn 1997. In one of the many workshops about this intriguing ever-lasting issue, I suddenly realized that the link might need to be supported by rooms, space, people and visible processes, and that we needed to create a sustainable structural link in order to avoid coming back again and again with only limited answers to this very needed connection between theory and practice in the field.

Several years later I was fortunate to find and buy Kalovig Center. An ideal spot for negotiations. Small and unique. Discrete and yet close to airport and larger cities, and with room for negotiation teams – and a large garden with space for some of the ideas, that we are putting into practice in the coming years.

Since 2005 we have hostet and facilitated an increasing number of negotiations, mediations, preparations, training, fact-finding missions, informal meetings and so on. We will develop the place and experiment further with this kind of link between the work done by scholars and the actual negotiations and mediations done by practitioners. To give you a sense of this, picture negotiators from 10 different countries, who have to reach common ground on a peace project. Negotiators from the EU negotiating important environmental agreements. Imagine the resolution of a conflict within a company or within a group of scientist who have to figure out a way to handle a difficult project.

Picture prolonged negotiations stretching over a year, where parties again and again are stuck in almost incompatible points of views. They have all taken place at Kaløvig Center and most of them have succeeded.

But sometimes the negotiators really are stuck. Apparently nothing helps. Everything around the negotiators seems to confirm the idea of not reaching an agreement. In situations like that the parties needs processes and facilities that in a surprising, effective, and often subtle way changes the dynamics between the parties.

This change can be physical as well as psychological. The Tree Top House facilitates both. A unique symbol and facilitator of the process that leads to agreement and consensus. A beautiful room sitting well above the ground. It takes you away from deadlock to a place where you will see everything from a new perspective.

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Who am I?

I call my self negotiation-advisor. More and more I work as the neutral facilitator hired by both – or all – sides.

As a neutral and independent consultant I have worked as an advisor in numerous negotiations. I have extensive experience in leading large-scale development initiatives centering on the implementation of new negotiation systems and new negotiation cultures involving new approaches to negotiations based on theoretical insights and best practices. I have worked with almost every public and private Danish union and management association. I have provided negotiation advice to local, regional and state, organizations, such as The Ministry of Education, of Labor, Finance, Research and Innovation, Foreign Affairs, Environment, Social Affairs and The Ministry of Health. As a neutral I work on both sides of the table and often assists as a Mediator. Recently I concluded a six month facilitation of negotiations between The General Practitioners Association and The Danish Regions resulting in an extensive new agreement.

I have worked with almost every public and private Danish union and Management associations. I have provided negotiation advice to local, regional and state organizations, such as The Ministry of Education, The Ministry of Labor, The Ministry of Finance, The Ministry of Research and Innovation, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Ministry of Environment, The Ministry of Social Affairs and The Ministry of Health. As a neutral he works on both sides of the table and often assists as a Mediator.

Often I serve as a keynote speaker on issues of change, negotiation, gender in negotiation, organizational negotiation culture and mediation. I (together with my good employees) have led the development of the Danish Victim Offender Mediation System, trained mediators and been a mediator in that system as well. I have developed several larger educational programs: The Joint Negotiation Education aiming at about 40.000 negotiators in the Danish public sector. I led the development of an Academy of Workers Participation involving labor and management in a yearlong effort to create a joint initiative – the Academy for joint training. During recent years I have has led (together with my brother; Hans Chr. Viemose) the introduction of the Dutch concept of Strengthened Citizen Contact in Denmark. I have been leading the training of more than 9.000 public servants in 60 counties to negotiate complaints and conflicts from and with citizens using mediation techniques.

I have authored seven books (in Danish) on labor-management relations and negotiations. Lobbyisme (Lobbyism), Forhandlingsteknik – Nye muligheder gennem påvirkning og opbygning af tillid (Negotation Technicque – New possibilities through influencing and building of trust) Konstruktive forhandlinger (Constructive Negotiations) Konstruktive Lokale Forhandlinger (Constructive Local Negotiations) Konstruktive forhandlinger – på arbejdspladsen. (Constructive Negotiations at the job-level). Forhandling og samarbejde (Negotiation and collaboration) and recently Samarbejde og Konstruktiv forhandling – (Collaboration and constructive negotiation – How to Negotiate Valuable Agreements and Build Trust in your Organization). I have co-authored the book Styrket Borgerkontakt (Strengthened Citizen Contact) and authored articles and training materials dealing with negotiation, conflict management and consensus building.

I hold a Master of Science degree in Technological and Socio-Economic Planning. Biannually I teach at Master of Conflict Mediation at Copenhagen University.