At this time of annual reflection, I always feel it is worth looking back and picking out some of the better readings and materials I have come across over the past number of months. My father recently said he wished he had been in possession of a wheel barrow when visiting Harvard University’s bookstore, and…
I am interested in convergence – of ideas, of behaviour, of trends, of different disciplines. The more I read, the more common themes I discern in the arts, science, spirituality, leadership and in what we do as mediators. A reflection of this is found in the African concept of ubuntu, “the profound sense that we…
I have been reflecting recently on the individual and collective professional journeys we all undertake – and on the different stages we reach. My reading has taken me to a thought-provoking book by theologian Richard Rohr, entitled Falling Upward. Rohr’s thesis, put very simply, is that there are two stages to life. The first, necessary,…
Having spent the last few weeks immersed in mediation theory, conflict theory, negotiation theory and a variety of other theories for various projects, including the preparation of a mediation training course, I feel the need for a little practicality. So today I thought I would share with my fellow trainers and mediators a few practical…
Prior to Christmas I found myself in Jerusalem, Israel – the heart of the heart of the conflict of our time. Here, no one agrees on anything – even the monks from various Christian denominations (Greek Orthodox, Armenians, Catholics and others) responsible for The Church of the Holy Sepulchre where Christ was crucified, argue amongst…
Mediation in Europe has evolved, including developing into a mature subject of comparative legal studies. Just in October and November of this year, three voluminous books on mediation law and practice in the EU were published. Each counting over five hundred pages, they give an interesting insight into the current status of mediation in EU…
This month I want to share with you a little gem of a mediation book, published late last year by the Irish state-funded Family Mediation Service (FMS). I wanted to review this book for two reasons – first of all, because it is an excellent publication which, though written in the context of the 25th…
400,000 mediation case referrals, and nearly 1 million service recipients yearly, with an army of 20,000 volunteer mediators and 1,300 full-time staff members… The State of Community Mediation Report demonstrates the current strength of the community mediation movement in the United States. The Report has recently been published by the National Association for Community Mediation…
I recall in the early days of mediation practice it seemed like one of the hardest interventions to make – to be standing in front of a room full of people and have to create a coherent whiteboard out of their discussion. The humble whiteboard has been used for every conceivable task in the mediation room –…
I participated to mediation training over a weekend last December, as part of continuing education of a local non-profit association I chair and which is involved in community mediation (Association genevoise de médiation de voisinage – AsMéd-GE – www.mediation-de-voisinage.ch). Such training was conducted by a well-known and prominent figure of the mediation in France, Mrs….
