Negotiation teachers often scratch their heads looking for scenarios to engage students – something realistic, complex and with high enough stakes to motivate participants. Recently it came to me that we in the UK are sitting on a negotiation goldmine. The Brexit negotiations are certainly real, arguably the most complex we’ve ever undertaken and have…
What a different a month makes! A new EU Recommendation on Mediation, the launch of this year’s Mediation Awareness Week and a brand shiny new Mediation Act, 2017. Yes, the long awaited legislation that I have been blogging about for years now was finally signed into law by the President this week. This development fits…
The story of the blindfolded men who each approach an elephant from different angles (at the tusk it’s described as a spear, at the tail a rope, at the leg a tree etc.) is a good example of how multiple truths can exist depending on the perspective you take. Different views can often be the…
Greg Bond: Tell me about your organisation. Edgar Isermann: The Conciliation Body for Public Transport (söp) was founded in 2009, as a result of EU regulations on passenger rights, and also a general need to strengthen ADR provisions. The public transportation companies gradually realised that they would have to join the scheme. Travelers whose complaints…
The Apology Bill was passed on 13 July 2017 by the Hong Kong Legislative Council and it was gazetted as “Apology Ordinance (Cap.631)” on 20 July 2017. The Ordinance will come into operation on 1 December 2017, a date appointed by the Secretary for Justice. It is the first piece of apology legislation enacted in…
Every year hundreds, if not thousands, of seats are sold on mediation training courses in Ireland and the UK alone. Most of these courses end with motivated, excited and passionate new mediators going out into the world looking to do their bit to change how conflict is dealt with. What they have usually not been…
Greg Bond’s recent post on mediation cultures reminded me of an encounter I had with a group of mediators several years ago. Allow me to share with you my recollection of what happened. I was conducting a workshop on international and intercultural approaches to mediation for 15 freshly-minted mediators from a European country — all…
Today I want to encourage all mediators who are at the beginning of their quest for mediation excellence! I am by no means “there yet”, but I accomplished a professional milestone this year and would like to share how. “Mediation does not equal meditation” In 2010, I learnt about mediation when my classmate told me…
Previous blog entries on this theme of water have focussed primarily on the process and stalled progress of the Land and Water Forum [LWF] in New Zealand. This was a process intended to bring together most if not all of the stakeholders on questions of water allocation and quality. As we’ve seen earlier, what looked…
One of the principles of mediation as it is trained and practised around the world is that participation is voluntary. The parties decide for themselves if they wish to mediate their dispute. The mediator is only needed if that is what they decide. Of course, this is not quite that clear cut, and there are…
