The theme of the 5th Annual International Cyber Conference on Dispute Resolution, which will be held on April 15, 2015 from 9 to 11:30 am Hawaii Time, is “Inter-cultural Conflict Resolution”. Sessions include: Therapeutic jurisprudence and inter-cultural conflict The causes and consequences of inter-cultural conflict and the value of restorative practices Circle peace-making, indigenous knowledge and dispute resolution Posters and papers (APA formatted) are still welcome and you have the opportunity to be published in the Alaska Journal of Dispute Resolution. Please submit to bnjarrett@alaska.edu You can attend in person (Saunders Hall 713 – UH Campus) or by teleconference. TO ATTEND IN PERSON RSVP by April 13, 2015 – call (808) 956-6459 or email smoke@hawaii.edu TO PARTICIPATE BY TELECONFERENCE Send an email asap to Jerry Farnam at ua-video@alaska.edu for video confereconferencing and technical support to confirm your participation in the conference. To view the conference flyer click here
The JAMS Foundation / Association for Conflict Resolution Initiative for Students and Youth provides grant funding for conflict prevention and dispute resolution programs for K-12 students and for adults working with youth populations in ways that directly transfer CRE skills from adults to youth. The JAMS Foundation is currently providing grant support for the following initiatives: Online Peer Mediation Platform $38,500 per year for two years to fund the development and launch of a comprehensive online peer mediation website, enabling children aged 10-18 to learn about, participate, receive mentoring in, and share their experiences with peer mediation. Please Note: ACR-Hawaii sponsored Virtual Mediation Lab provides the online mediation know-how for this project. Conflict Resolution Education for Children of Incarcerated Parents Sponsored by the Good Shepherd Mediation Program in Philadelphia in collaboration with state and local, prison administrators, juvenile justice advocates and child welfare organizations, this $50,000 grant supports the development of a unique program providing conflict resolution education to children of parents who are currently in prison or returning home after a period of incarceration. For more information about the JAMS Foundation/ACR Initiative for Students and Youth click here
NEWS RELEASE Hilo, Hawai‘i – March 23, 2015 – This April, May, and June, the general public can support the non-profit Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center by purchasing gasoline at any Ohana Fuels (Minit Stop) in East Hawai‘i. “We are so honored to be selected as the beneficiary for Ohana Fuel’s ‘Fuel Up, Do Good’ program,” said Ku‘ikahi Executive Director Julie Mitchell. “This spring, we ask that folks please consider fueling up at one of the four Minit Stops in East Hawai‘i.” Participating Ohana Fuels (Minit Stop) gas stations include two in Hilo, both located on Highway 11. The first is at the corner of Puainako Street, and the second is at the corner of Leilani Street. The third is located in Laupahoehoe on Highway 19. The fourth is located in Kea‘au on Orchidland Drive (off Highway 130). “At Ohana Fuels, ‘family’ is our first priority – which means we’re proud to support the organizations and needs important to the neighborhoods we serve. Each quarter, we donate a portion of every customer purchase to a local charity in the community,” said a company spokesperson. Ku‘ikahi Mediation Center empowers people to come together–to talk and to listen, to explore options, and to find their own best solutions. To achieve this mission, Ku’ikahi offers mediation, facilitation, and training to strengthen the ability of diverse individuals and groups to resolve interpersonal conflicts and community issues. Please help support Ku’ikahi Mediation Center by making your fuel purchases at any of Ohana Fuels four convenient locations. For more information, visit www.hawaiimediation.org or www.ohanafuels.com # # #
Conflict Resolvers routinely enter into conversations and circumstances most would choose to avoid. These conversations can contain some of the strongest emotional triggers, and create the most stressful situations, that we may ever experience. Join Stephen Kotev, Chair of the Association for Conflict Resolution’s Task force on Safety in ADR to learn how to prepare, what to ask, and what to do to care for yourself and your clients in the most dangerous of circumstances. Click here for the ACR Guidelines for Safety Presenter Bio Stephen Kotev is a Washington D.C. based conflict resolution consultant and Chair of the Association for Conflict Resolution Taskforce on Safety in ADR. He holds a Master of Science degree from George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and a black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido. Stephen specializes in training conflict resolvers on how to maintain their calm in the most stressful of situations and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on this topic for George Mason University. He can be reached at www.StephenKotev.com When This Free 1-hour ADRHub.com webinar will be held Wednesday, March 25th, 2015 6:00PM Eastern Time (Noon Hawaii Time). To sign up click here
An estimated 40,000 British Columbians who are fighting small claims or strata disputes each year will soon be able to use their laptops or handheld devices to access a government system that aims to resolve legal matters quickly and cheaply. Attorney-General Suzanne Anton said the government is set to introduce Canada’s first mandatory online tribunal system to settle minor disputes involving small claims court and strata councils without setting foot in local courthouses. She said “We’re actually the first in the world to be doing this. You can start your claim at midnight from your desktop at home. The online tribunal will involve a three-stage process, starting with attempts by both sides to resolve the issue on their own, progressing to mediation and concluding with a tribunal member with powers to decide the matter.” Read on PS: Interested to learn more about online mediation? Sign up for Introduction to Online Mediation, a 1-hour Free webinar for members of ACR Hawaii and the Hawaii State Bar Association ADR Section. It will be held on April 8 (from Noon to 1:00pm), and will be presented by Giuseppe Leone, founder of Virtual Mediation Lab, an online mediation project sponsored by ACR Hawaii.
The February 25, 2015 event “The Future of Mediation: A Dialogue with Ken Cloke and Peter Adler” was a great success. Here are some comments we heard afterwards: “I really like the informal interview approach – it seemed to draw out something deeper about the work we do.” “I was struck by the breadth and depth of conflict resolution experience revealed as Peter and Ken talked together.” “The examples Ken Cloke gave from his practice and writing over the years, made me think about the influences in our lives and how I have also evolved as a mediator.” If you didn’t attend that event, you can now watch its 100-min video recording
If you are a member of the ACR Workplace Section you can attend “Mediating Conflicts in the Religious Workplace with David Brubaker, MBA, Ph.D.”, a free 1-hour teleseminar Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at 2:00pm EST (8:00am Hawaii Time). Practitioners with experience mediating conflict in the workplace are well-placed to expand their practice to include religious settings. Regardless of faith tradition or organizational context, (congregation, diocese, or faith-based organization), conflicts surface in every religious workplace. What’s most important for conflict interveners in the religious workplace is an understanding of and respect for the spiritual commitments and practices of disputants. This teleseminar will include insights from the presenter’s experience of mediating and consulting with a broad range of organizations in the Christian tradition and with a Hindu ashram. We will also invite participants to share their learning from conflict work in other traditions. Presenter David Brubaker is Associate Professor of Organizational Studies in the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University. He has more than 25 years of experience in workplace mediation and training and in organizational and congregational consulting. David has consulted and trained with organizations throughout the U.S. and in a dozen international settings including Northern Ireland, Mozambique, Angola, Nepal, Myanmar, Egypt, and Jordan. He is the author of numerous articles on conflict transformation and of “Promise and Peril: Understanding and Managing Change and Conflict in Congregations” (published by The Alban Institute) and co-author of “The Little Book of Healthy Organizations” (Good Books). David earned a BS in business administration from Messiah College, an MBA from Eastern University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, specializing in religion and organizations For more information click here
1-Hour INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE MEDIATION FREE Webinar with Giuseppe Leone, Founder of Virtual Mediation Lab Sponsored by ACR Hawaii and the Hawaii State Bar Association – ADR Section This 1-hour webinar is based on the experience of ACR Hawaii board member Giuseppe Leone: Running more than 100 online mediation simulations with mediators from 30 countries Mediating online workplace cases for the United States Postal Service Teaching mediators around the world how to mediate online Learning Objectives Participants will learn: What Online Mediation Means How It Works How to Integrate Mediation by Video, Phone, Email and Face-to-Face Which Case Are Suitable for Online Mediation Online Mediation Benefits Mediation Experience and Online Technology Additional Skills and Experience for Online Mediation Which Video Conferencing Software Works Best for Online Mediation Face-to-Face Mediators – From Skepticism to Enthusiasm How to Get Online Mediation Experience and Training About Giuseppe Leone Giuseppe has been a mediator since 1997. He is the founder and Project Manager of Virtual Mediation Lab – an online mediation project sponsored by ACR Hawaii to help mediators worldwide (1) practice their skills by participating in Free online mediation simulations of commercial, family and workplace cases; (2) learn how to mediate online and add online mediation to their practice. After Virtual Mediation Lab was launched in 2011, it received national and international attention – for example, it was featured in the Summer 2013 issue on “Innovation and Conflict Resolution” of ACResolution, the quarterly magazine of the Association for Conflict Resolution. In January 2014, Giuseppe broke new ground in the USPS REDRESS mediation program. For the first time since that program started in 1994, he mediated a workplace discrimination case “online” – with the parties in Guam and an EEO observer in California. Thanks to his extensive online mediation experience, Giuseppe is now participating…
Instead of settling in court low-value civil cases in England and Wales, a new report from the Civil Justice Council says these disputes should be settled online. National Public Radio Scott Simon talks to the author Richard Susskind
ADRHub.com announces their February 2015 FREE webinar, which is titled “A Practical Approach to Online Mediation”. Presented by Joe Al-Khayat and Aditya Shivkumar, it will take place Friday, February 27th, 2015 at 12:00pm Central Time. Joe Al-Khayat is the Co-Founder of mediateitonline which provides video based technology for parties to mediate online. During his presentation, Joe will explore: an introduction to ODR, overcoming the commonly raised challenges to ODR and conducting a mediation using mediateitonline. To sign up click here