Beatrix Austin is Head of the Conflict Transformation Research Department at the Berghof Foundation, having served as its interim director from April to October 2019. She oversees several areas of work, including the Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation, the Foundation’s longest-running flagship publication project. Her research focuses on dealing with the past and reconciliation, as well as linking theory and practice in conflict transformation. As a scholar-practitioner, she specializes in dialogue facilitation and transformative learning and reflection processes.

Before joining the Berghof Foundation, she worked for Search for Common Ground and International Alert, among others. She is a founding member of Vienna Conflict Management Partners and a member of the training team at the Vienna School of Negotiation. Beatrix holds an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and a diploma in Political Science/International Relations from Freie Universität Berlin.

She is a member of FriEnt’s Steering Committee, representing the Berghof Foundation.

©Mathias Völzke / Berghof Foundation