Commercial Section ACR Commercial Section

International News Highlights

Conflict Resolution Day
Cynthia Alm, Coordinator

ACR’s fifth annual Conflict Resolution Day will be on October 15, 2009. New activities being sponsored this year are two contests for students. There will be a video contest for college and university students this Fall. Students are invited to create and submit a two minute or less video displaying the power of conflict resolution. A poetry contest for elementary, middle/intermediate, and high school students is also planned for the Fall.

Also new this year, your Commercial Section and the International Section are collaborating on providing information on conflict resolution to American companies doing business abroad.

Conflict Resolution Day is celebrated on the third Thursday in October. It was conceived in 2005 by the Association for Conflict Resolution. Groups and individuals across the United States and abroad organize events and programs.

The goals of Conflict Resolution Day are to:

Promote awareness of mediation, arbitration, conciliation and other creative, peaceful means of resolving conflict;
Promote the use of conflict resolution in schools, families, businesses, communities, governments and the legal system;
Recognize the significant contributions of (peaceful) conflict resolvers; and
Obtain national synergy by having celebrations happen across the country and around the world on the same day.

Conferences, tele-seminars, workshops, book fairs, receptions, art contests for students, breakfasts, lunches, dinners, awards programs, proclamations by mayors, governors and university presidents, are just a few of the ways in which Conflict Resolution Day has been celebrated. Groups have partnered with book stores, courts, community mediation centers, religious organizations, government agencies, and others on previous Conflict Resolution Day events.

And supporters in Canada, France, Moldova, Portugal, Jamaica, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Israel have organized Conflict Resolution Day events over the years.

For resource information and ideas for organizing Conflict Resolution Day events in your community, go to the ACR webpage on Conflict Resolution Day, www.acrnet.org/crday/.

More information on the 2009 Conflict Resolution Day events will be available soon. Contact Commercial Section Advisory Board member Cindy Alm, cynthiaalm@hawaii.rr.com for additional information on Conflict Resolution Day.

NEW Conflict Resolution Day Activities

Conflict Resolution Day was a success again this year with more than 50 events held in the United States, Canada and abroad. New this year was a poetry contest held for elementary, middle and high school students. Over 100 entries were received from students in the U.S. and abroad. Next year, this celebration will be held on October 21, 2010. Conflict Resolution Day posters are available on-line in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Hebrew and Arabic. For more information go to www.acrnet.org/crday/.

On December 1, 2009, at 12:00 noon EST, a teleseminar will be presented by Nina Meierding on “Communicating Across Cultures: Cross-Cultural Considerations in Mediation and Negotiation” as part of the CRD program. Click here to view the flyer.