June 17th, 2021, one day of the International Academy of Dispute Resolution's (INADR) organized 10th World Mediation Congress was broadcast live from Mykolas Romeris University (MRU). The event titled, "Common Ground: Using Mediation to Cool off a Heated Planet," was held online from June 16th-18th, 2021.
The event was broadcast on June 17th from MRU and opening addresses were delivered by: Dennis R. Favaro, President of INADR, USA; and MRU Law School Dean Prof. Dr. Lyra Jakulevičienė. The day-long event was moderated by MRU Law Prof. Dr. Agnė Tvaronavičienė.
During the day, application of mediation in resolving disagreements in the public sphere was discussed. One of the key-note speakers was Molly Melching, founder of Tostan, a well-known NGO active in Africa. She shared her experience of respectful communication and the widespread use of mediation techniques in changing the attitudes of traditional African communities towards harmful traditional customs. According to Melching, outrage can save one or two people, but only empathy can change the whole system!
Former MRU professor, currently working at the University of Warsaw, Dr. Renata Mienkowska-Norkienė examined whether Europe is still an example of a successful fight for prosperity and peace. In addition, Belgian philologist and social anthropologist Hans Verrept shared his insights on how intercultural mediation helps to avoid conflicts in healthcare.
Mediator Anat Cabili, practicing in Israel, shared her experience of working in the public sector, applying mediation and ensuring cooperation between public, non-profit and business organizations and promoting public involvement in decision-making. The event concluded with a discussion on mandatory mediation.
The focus of the Mediation Congress 2021 was mediation as a means to promote social dialogue and increase mutual understanding between different interest groups.
Speakers at the Congress linked from around the world and explored mediation as a tool to resolve and prevent conflicts in environmental and intercultural disputes, public administration issues and political dialogues.
INADR was founded in 1985 in USA. Its mission is to build, through education, world-wide recognition of the power of dispute resolution processes to peacefully resolve conflicts and promote conciliation and healing. MRU and INADR are fostering sustainable social partnership relations since 2016, when the first international student mediation tournament in Lithuania Mediate’16 was co-organized. This year, MRU has the great honor to be one of the academic partners of this World Congress.
The event was free and open to all for viewing via the INADR YouTube platform.
The Congress was broadcast from North America, Europe and Asia with academic partners: MRU; Chicago-based Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and India's National Law Institute University in Bhopal.
To see the program, please click here
