Community Mediation Section
Community Mediation Articles
The Exceptional Power of Vision
There are many keys to reaching possible agreement. The list includes, among others, discovering not incompatible interests, soothing a hurt relationship, or finding a common enemy. Uncovering a transcending vision can accelerate and amplify the coming together of contending parties. Vision helps achieve agreement.
Lessons from the Iroquois
In our mediation efforts, once we are in the realm of “public policy,” we are inevitably poking our noses into questions of intergenerational equity and “governance” and how authentic collaboration can be achieved or improved.
In Isolation Together
Ok, we’ve got a problem: Britain has announced a new Minister of Loneliness.
SCOTUS to Consider Delegation of “Wholly Groundless” Arbitrability Claims
The high court's opinion will resolve a split among the Circuit Courts of Appeal regarding whether a court may decide the issue of arbitrability in situations where the arbitration claim is groundless.
A Toddler's Wisdom on Conflict Resolution
The values we share matter more than our differences.
The Edinburgh Declaration of International Mediators
I write this in the aftermath of the really uplifting and wonderfully diverse conference which I had the privilege to host and chair recently in my home city, under the auspices of the International Academy of Mediators.
The Gang of Fourteen
These are dark times, especially if you are part of the loose community of people who by virtue of nature and/or nurture, are of a mediative persuasion.
The Time for Dispute Resolution Alternatives (DRA) has come
There was a time, not long ago, when those who found themselves in a dispute had two basic choices: They could either file a lawsuit/initiate some formal complaint process or they could just walk away from the conflict and try to move on.
ODR for All: Digital Accessibility and Disability Accommodations in Online Dispute Resolution
The promise of online dispute resolution (ODR) depends on accessibility.
Two-Step to Prioritize Relationship
A great move for improving your effectiveness in conflict is mastering the two-step discussion process.
3 Reasons Why You Want to Mediate Guardianship Disputes
Settling the issue of who should take legal guardianship over a ward can be a long, drawn out, and tedious process.
Optimizing the Use of Joint Sessions in Mediation
Much has been said and written about the demise of the joint meeting in mediation. In my experience, such a view is premature and, I fear, is potentially wasteful of the power that mediation brings for creative problem-solving.
Social Media-tion: A Bridge for Young Mediators to Enter--and Re-Define--The Profession?
For years, a gap has existed between mediation training of young students and entry into the field as professional mediators.
What it Takes to be Conflict Masterful
How we define conflict mastery and the characteristics needed to be and be seen as such varies.
Teaching Social Justice on Campus for Self Awareness, Community Sustainability, and Systems Change
This article addresses the relevance of teaching social justice on campus - in the classroom and in student affairs - and the challenge of maintaining a balanced and reasoned approach.
How Turkey Went from Virtually Zero to 30,828 Mediations in Just One Month
Mediation and the “Snowball” Effect in the Mediterranean: How Turkey Went from Virtually Zero to 30,828 Mediations in Just One Month (and Greece is Next!).
Reflections on Parkland, from a Broward County Parent / Conflict Resolution Practitioner
The author, a parent of a child in Broward County Schools (where Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School is located), reflects on possible usages of ADR, mediation, facilitation, and consensus-building in the seemingly never-ending national struggle over guns.
Juries of Their Peers
When I was in fourth grade, a few millennia ago, our teacher established a system so we could settle a lot of our own disputes.
Three Quotations from Lincoln on Conflict Resolution
It’s ironic that the president who led us through by most measures our most destructive war had some of the most profound things to say about peace-making.
Criminal Justice and ADR
What does ADR mean in the criminal justice context?
On the Road to Solutions that Work for All
The idea of our bus tour was to engage local communities in conversations about what was important to them in their area and explore how effective dialogue can aid problem-solving, help resolve contentious issues and reduce conflict.
Eye of the Storm Leadership: Guerilla Bridge Building
Guerilla warfare is unconventional. Instead of relying on large, slow moving armies and doctrines of overwhelming force, guerillas depend on invisibility, highly portable weapons, quick ambushes, booby traps, and hundreds of pressuring tactics that achieve practical offensive or defensive results.
I Would Never ...
The other day a coaching client told me that she became angry at a man she works with who criticized how she managed a situation.
How Will the Way We Resolve Our Workplace and Family Business Disputes Impact our Thanksgiving Meal?
The opposition in disputes is not “the other side”, because I don’t see a workplace in terms of having two sides – employees vs. employers.
The Question That Brings Hamster Wheel Debates to a Standstill
Some debates, arguments, and bickering go on and on, without leading anywhere (except to more frustration).