First Meeting of the Academic Forum

  REPORT BY VICTORIA HARRIS

The CMC has launched a new Academic Forum to support mediation initiatives within Higher Education. The first Forum meeting was held on the 9 March and the Group identified priorities to include research, mediation clinics, student wellbeing and mediation within the curriculum. The next meeting is on 20 April on the topic of mediation clinics with guest speakers Maria Moscati and Ben Waters.

The Higher Education sector is in a unique position to influence the narrative around conflict with the next generation of lawyers and other graduates, as well as through mediation research initiatives.

The Civil Mediation Council are supporting the work of the sector with a new Academic Forum that met for the first time on the 9 March.

The Group which is chaired by Dr Jane Bryan, currently has representatives from 14 Higher Education Institutions and comprises 29 Members.  It is open to all who work within a Higher Education setting or who are interested in research on the topic of mediation.

At the first Forum meeting, priorities for the group were identified as:

1.  Mediation Clinics – how to set one up and best practice

2.  Inclusion of mediation within the curriculum

3.  The use of mediation within universities to support conflict resolution and student wellbeing

4.  Research – particularly around collaboration and funding.

The next Forum will take place on the 20 April and we are delighted to welcome Maria Moscati from the University of Sussex and Ben Waters from Canterbury Christ Church University to speak to the group about their experience of setting up and running Mediation Clinics. Maria and Ben will be sharing their experiences with the Group to assist those who are thinking about setting up a mediation clinic at their own institution.

In addition to the meeting on the 20 April, future Academic Forum meetings are scheduled for 22 June, 14 September and 30 November.  All meetings will take place online at lunchtime to try to accommodate busy teaching schedules.  The ‘lunch and learn’ format is designed to support learning, collaboration and networking.

If you are interested to join the group and would like to attend the next Academic Forum meeting on the 20 April, contact CMC Projects Manager Victoria Harris.