La construcción de la paz com proyecto pedagógico (8/06/08)
Alba Aiello de Almeida
Un ejemplo vivo de la aplicación de esta propuesta es el trabajo pedagógico que se desarrolla en el Colegio San Luis Gonzaga de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, en el cual se trabaja con estas pautas, obteniéndose resultados muy positivos. 0

Virginia County’s Mediation Swap Receives Achievement Award (7/30/08)
Keith Seat

In order to efficiently satisfy new requirements by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a firewall between mediation and charge investigations, the Human Rights Commissions in a Virginia county and city began offering mediation services to the other Commission, avoiding overlap without the cost of establishing stand-alone mediation programs in each group. The achievement award for the innovative program was given by the National Association of Counties.

Inside NoVA (June 22, 2008) 0

Promoción de Derechos Sociales, Resolución Pacífica de Conflictos y el proceso de Resiliencia en Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes. Experiencias para compartir (7/02/08)
Franco Conforti
Es de relevancia dirigir, a la hora de poner en marcha un programa preventivo, todos los esfuerzos para que el mismo sea hecho con la comunidad y no para la comunidad; vale decir, es vital (al éxito que buscamos) que se comprendan los códigos y mecanismos que actúan a niveles individuales y comunitarios. 0

Consideraciones para hacer mediación comunitaria con latinos en los EE.UU (6/25/08)
Sandy Bacharach
En este ensayo, escribo sobre mis experiencias trabajando con mi agencia en el desarrollo y aumento de un programa de mediación y resolución de conflictos exitoso para latinos en los EE.UU. 2008 6

Winners of the Make Talk Work International Video Competition (6/17/08)
Geoff Sharp

View the winning videos (funded by JAMS) on the City University of New York Dispute Resolution Consortium website here (they seem slow to load)

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Guanajuato a la vanguardia en medios alternativos de resolución de conflictos (6/08/08)
Juan Carlos González Garcia
San Miguel de Allende, uno de los destinos turísticos más visitado en México, cuenta ya con un centro de mediación, adscrito a Poder Judicial de Guanajuato 2008 6

Negotiating Justice in Community Mediation (5/19/08)
Victoria Pynchon
Nearly every condominium complex harbors an outlaw -- the man, woman, couple or family who refuse to follow the rules. Offended and outraged, other homeowners make demands on their volunteer board who contact the (often unresponsive) management company. Many of these disputes ultimately make their way to the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Center in West Hollywood. And some of them make their way to me. Welcome to community mediation -- the non-zero sum, value-based, rights-seeking, joint session transformative dispute resolution process. We're well-trained and we're free. But can we deliver justice? 2008 5

Mediación: un aporte a la transformación de las relaciones sociales (5/08/08)
Alejandro M. Nató, Liliana María Carbajal, María Gabriela Rodríguez Querejazu
Esta nota enuncia algunas de las ideas desarrolladas en el libro: Mediación Comunitaria. Conflictos en el escenario social urbano (México, Universidad de Sonora-Centro Internacional de Estudios Sobre Democracia y Paz Social, 2005); Alejandro Nató, María Gabriela Rodríguez Querejazu y Liliana Carbajal. 0

Eye of the Storm Leadership - Chapter One (4/01/08)
Peter Adler
Peter Adler is pleased to here provide Chapter One of his new book "Eye of the Storm Leadership." This chapter is entitled: Guerilla Bridge Building and includes free access to the accompanying video. 2008 4

La mediación para una comunidad participativa (3/31/08)
Juan Carlos Vezzulla
Los años dedicados a la práctica de la mediación en diversos contextos y, fundamentalmente, las exigencias enfrentadas en la formación de mediadores en diferentes países (nada mejor que enseñar para aprender) me llevaron a reconocer la necesidad de construir un marco teórico referencial que sustentase la mediación, su filosofía y práctica, y que marcase principios básicos que permitiesen diferenciarla de la conciliación y de todo un abanico de prácticas extendidas por el mundo bajo el nombre de mediación sin respeto a su base científica, filosófica, ética y profesional.  2008 3

Mediación entre víctima y ofensor (2/11/08)
Josefina Rendon
La mediación entre víctima y ofensor es el proceso por el cual la víctima de un crimen enfrenta al causante de éste en la presencia de un tercero quien ayuda a las partes a dialogar sobre los hechos y sus consecuencias. En dicho enfrentamiento, la víctima tiene la oportunidad de expresarle al ofensor su coraje o su temor, de echarle en cara el impacto de su conducta criminal, de preguntarle las razones de esta conducta, o simplemente, de satisfacer su propia curiosidad sobre que tipo de persona es el acusado. Por su lado, el ofensor tiene la oportunidad de explicar los hechos, explicar la razón de su conducta, comprender el punto de vista de la víctima, y hasta pedirle perdón. 0

Jamaican Foundation Seeks Funding to Establish Dispute Resolution Centers (12/20/07)
Keith Seat

The Dispute Resolution Foundation in Jamaica is seeking to raise funds for at least 30 peace and justice centers, which will be the focal point for dispute resolution efforts across the island. In addition to Jamaican government agencies, the Foundation is looking to the United Nations and other partners for sustained funding for the centers, which will train and rely on volunteers. Jamaica Gleaner (December 11, 2007) 0

Japan Upgrading Consumer Mediation Services (9/19/07)
Keith Seat

Japan’s Cabinet Office plans to improve mediation services for consumers harmed by illegal business practices and defective products by creating a new Alternative Dispute Resolution system at the National Consumer Affairs Center. After submission of a final report in September, legislation will likely be introduced to give the Center greater authority to conduct mediations and resolve matters, including authority to request companies to participate, present materials and execute agreements with consumers. Sufficient resources are also needed to ensure success, as the Center’s workload is already heavy. This proposal reflects the gradual change in Japan’s approach to consumer protection, which is moving from reliance on extensive regulation to greater enforcement by consumers through the legal system.

Daily Yomiuri (August 8, 2007) (Subscription Required) 0

A Stage Model of Social Movement Cooptation: Community Mediation in the United States (1/15/07)
Tim Hedeen, Patrick G Coy
The community mediation movement in the United States arose in the late 1970s as an alternative to a formalized justice system which was perceived to be costly, time consuming, and unresponsive to individual and community needs. Community mediation advocates also valued community training, social justice, volunteerism, empowerment and local control over conflict resolution mechanisms. But over the past quarter century, community mediation has become increasingly institutionalized and undergone various degrees of cooptation in its evolving relationship with the court system. Drawing on the literatures of dispute resolution, cooptation, and social movements, we analyze the evolution of community mediation and identify the degrees and dimensions of its cooptation. 2007 1

Lost In Translation: Legislature’s Revision Necessary To Restore Funds To Community Based Dispute Resolution Programs (12/04/06)
Elizabeth Moreno
In 1986, the California legislature enacted a statute to fund a Dispute Resolution Program. The legislature intended for the funds to be directed to the community to develop an informal resolution of disputes in a non-coercive dispute resolution forum, outside of the court system. However,the intent of the legislature has been lost and the funds are being directed toward court programs that favor the economically well off who have the financial resources to maintain costly and protracted litigation. 2006 12

A Perspective on the Growth and Evolution of the Field of Mediation (7/10/06)
Mark Kleiman
As someone who was present at and an active participant in the beginning of the modern development of mediation in the early 80’s I would urge that we maintain a perspective on the growth and evolution of this field in the past 25 years. This does not in any way mean we should be any less committed and active in our promotion of this paradigm for conflict resolution. We should be careful to channel our passion into strategic action rather than anger. 2006 7

Supporting Difficult Conversations: Articulation And Application Of The Transformative Framework At Greenwich Mediation (7/11/05)
Patricia Gonsalves & Donna Turner Hudson “Listening, talking and working together to reach agreement about dispute” was the mission statement quoted in the Centre’s first annual report in 1996. This approach makes a basic assumption that what parties in any mediation want most is to get their conflict settled and to reach some sort of agreement about how they will coexist in the future. 2005 7

Mediating the Aftermath of Terri Schiavo’s Death (6/13/05)
Douglas Noll
Terri Schiavo’s death has dropped from the news. For the family, the news trucks, interviews, and spotlights have been turned off, but the hostility, anger, and unresolved conflict must remain. Considering the 12 year conflict played out in the courts, the Florida legislature, the United States Congress and the White House, could reconciliation between the family members be possible? As a peacemaker, I think so. I also believe that until the family reconciles, personal healing will be very difficult. 2005 6

Our Culture of Conflict: Snorts and Retorts of an Untamed Brat (6/13/05)
Robert Benjamin
I found an article in the New York Times a few weeks ago quite aggravating. It was about the boorish behavior of health club members and how incidents of discourteous and downright hostile actions were increasing. The topic is revealing, not so much in itself, but as an important microcosm within which to consider how we are encouraged to think about and handle conflicts and disputes in our culture. There is a carry over effect: how we deal with day to day disputes sets the tone for how we handle more important conflicts in our personal lives, workplaces, schools and in the world. 2005 6

Community Section Editorial (9/27/04)
Patrick G. Coy & Tim Hedeen Welcome to the Mediate.com Community Section. We have plenty of new content posted, and more on the way shortly. 2004 9

Tough Elder Decisions: The Mediation Option (5/24/04)
Rikk Larsen & Blair Trippe There is a new field developing in the mediation world – Elder Mediation. Elder mediation is proving to be an effective way for families, dealing with complex emotional decision processes, to efficiently and safely make tough choices. This is especially true at the beginning of the decision process – when families are fact finding, struggling with options and discovering feelings about their parents or adult children that well up and make clear thinking difficult. 2004 5

Institutionalizing Community Mediation: Can Dispute Resolution “of, by, and for the People” Long Endure? (3/04/04)
Timothy Hedeen Much has changed over the course of time; the label “community justice” has given way to “community mediation,” the number of programs has perhaps tripled, and community mediation is not the only challenge to the “monopoly on dispute resolution, held by the courts.” And, of course, much has remained the same. 2004 2

Peace Committees In Troubled Communities (2/20/04)
Martin Wright
Peace committees have been described as a sort of community restorative justice project, which has been taking root in some very deprived areas of Cape Town, South Africa. John Cartwright from IDEASWORK, the Programme Co-ordinator of the Peace Committee project, described their work at a seminar at NACRO on 5 February 2004. 2004 2

The Promise of Restorative Justice: Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission Issues its Final Report (2/09/04)
Paula Young
If the experience of the South African people is any measure of the experience Peruvians may expect, the TRC process has its limits. The world will watch to see if the Peruvian TRC process better fulfills the promise of restorative justice. 2004 2

Community Mediation Centers Receive Grants (2/06/04)

February 2004

The National Association for Community Mediation (NAFCM) is pleased to announce the 2003 grant recipients in the NAFCM Minigrant program. NAFCM supports the maintenance and growth of community-based mediation programs and processes; presents a compelling voice in appropriate policy-making, legislative, professional and other arenas; and encourages the development and sharing of resources for these efforts. NAFCM is the only national association dedicated to the advancement of community mediation programs.

Funds were made possible by a generous grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The 2003 grant cycles ended May 1, and September 2. The 2004 application deadlines are May 3 and September 1. All community mediation programs with NAFCM membership are eligible to apply. Minigrants are awarded under seven focus areas: 1) Program Development; 2) Professional Development and Organizational Effectiveness; 3) Quality Assurance; 4) Promotion of Diversity and Social Justice; 5) Technology; 6) Statewide Collaboration; and 7) New Center Start Up. Almost 60 centers applied in the May round and 16 centers received a total of $51,395. In the September round, we received 102 proposals, totaling over $440,000 requested. Sixteen community mediation centers were awarded minigrants, totaling $50,938.

Center for Mediation and Community Dialogue, Kenai, AK was awarded a start-up grant of $5,000 to pay for case management software, outreach materials, and a part-time Volunteer Coordinator to build referrals, conduct intake, support volunteer mediators, and assist with fund raising.

Humboldt Mediation Services, Eureka, CA received $4,025 to expand its training program to provide Basic Communication and Conflict Management workshops to community organizations and groups in Humboldt County, California.

Community Non-Violence Resource Center, Pasadena, CA was awarded $4,000 to help pilot a school-based community mediation center at Blair High School in the Pasadena Unified School District. The center hopes to bridge the artificial divide that often exists between school-based conflicts and community conflicts.

Center for Human Development / Conflict Resolution Panels, Pleasant Hill, CA was granted $710 to continue outreach into the Spanish-speaking community with development of Spanish language promotional materials.

Community Boards, San Francisco, CA was granted $2,000 to develop and present mediation training for persons with disabilities and small business owners in San Francisco.

Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program, Ukiah, CA received $5,000 to serve the isolated Round Valley community, including a large Native American population. Volunteer mediation training, early intervention in schools, and restorative justice are projected objectives.

Braided River Peace Project, Durango, CO was awarded a start-up grant of $2,873 for recruitment and training of volunteer mediators.

The Resolution Center, Grand Junction, CO received a start-up grant of $5,000 to recruit and train volunteer mediators and to establish operational procedures.

Dispute Settlement Center, Inc., Norwalk, CT was granted $4,250 to expand its programs to the mentally disabled and/or psychiatrically labeled to create a more accessible and understandable justice system to those individuals. The grant will also be used to help train caregivers in group homes to more effectively deal with conflicts between residents.

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Community Mediation, page 2

Mediation Services of Maui, Wailuku, HI received a Technology grant of $1,000 for website maintenance, database software upgrade and computer networking.

Indiana Network for Community Mediation, Richmond, IN was awarded $4,170 for a statewide collaborative project to produce public information videos specific to local centers.

Penquis Dispute Resolution Center, Bangor, ME received $4,807 to develop and pilot a Victim Offender Conferencing program.

Community Dispute Settlement Center, Cambridge, MA received $3,400 to develop an elder care mediation program to serve the needs of the low and moderate-income seniors and their families.

The Mediation and Training Collaborative, Greenfield, MA was awarded $4,499 for provision of mediation and training in conflict resolution and facilitation skills to town administrative staff, elected and appointed officials and active citizens.

Dispute Resolution Center of Central Michigan, Lansing, MI was granted $5,000 to provide conflict resolution and peer mediation skills training to “at risk” students in four middle schools.

Community Mediation Center, Independence, MO was granted $2,540 to allow staff to attend training in divorce mediation and increase capacity by developing a data tracking system and web site.

Mediation Network Association, Kansas City, MO received a start-up grant of $5,000 to establish the mediation center and provide ongoing services.

Community Diversion Program, Greenland, NH received $2,150 to incorporate co-parenting mediation services in their program.

ACCORD: A Center for Dispute Resolution, Inc., Binghamton, NY received a technology grant of $500 to purchase and install a computer backup system and a virus protection system.

Dispute Settlement Center, Buffalo, NY was awarded $2,100 to implement a mentoring and coaching program for volunteer mediators.

Westchester Mediation Center of CLUSTER, Yonkers, NY received $3,100 to provide Family Group Conferencing to assist young persons’ integration back into their families and communities after incarceration.

The Mediation Network of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC was awarded $5,000 for a statewide project to design and implement a rating system to ensure effectiveness and high quality services of mediation centers.

Community Mediation Center of Cape Fear, Inc., Wilmington, NC received $3,723 to design and implement a Public Decisions Program that will assist with zoning and land use decision making.

The Conflict Resolution Center at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND was awarded $4,870 to provide refresher mediation training to residents of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation and to facilitate decision making for the implementation of a mediation program within the Peace Court/Tribal Court.

Mediation Services of Linn County, Albany, OR received $3,930 to provide conflict management and peer mediation training in high schools.

Resolutions Northwest, Portland OR was granted $1,750 for LINKS statewide center association. Funds will be used to train and organize centers to advocate for continued state funding to support community dispute resolution centers in Oregon. LINKS will also create a centralized mechanism for addressing issues shared by centers across the state.

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Community Mediation, page 3

Center for Alternatives in Community Justice, State College, PA was awarded a technology grant of $846 towards the purchase of a laptop computer to assist in their court mediation program.

Hill Country Alternative Dispute Resolution Center, Inc., Kerrville, TX received a

start-up grant of $1,590 for family mediation training and travel related to community education.

Conflict Resolution Center, Roanoke, VA received $2,000 to support a newly formed community mediation program in the areas of board development; strategic planning; articles of incorporation and bylaws; achieving 501(c)(3) status; and case management procedures.

Mediation and Settlement Center, Montesano, WA was awarded a technology minigrant of $500 towards the purchase of a desktop computer and a LaserJet printer.

Okanogan County Dispute Resolution Center, Omak WA received $4,500 to design and implement a pilot Juvenile Restorative Justice program in Okanogan County.

Community Mediation Services, Newfoundland, Canada was granted $2,500 to raise community awareness of non-violent, non-adversarial methods of conflict resolution through presentations and a media campaign.

For further information, contact Joanne Galindo, Associate Director at (202) 667-9700; jgalindo@nafcm.org; http://www.nafcm.org.

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