Conflict for the holidays

Happy holidays! At these times, the usual daily routines seem to be temporarily suspended, and modified with extra family time, neighbourhood socials, community happenings, and temptations… too numerous. Oh, and yes, conflict too.  Yet, I’m not going to go there, at least not in the usual way. I love what different cultures have to offer. […]

15 Ways to bridge the gap between cultures and communities in conflict

I shed tears this weekend.  They weren’t for me.  They were for others, and their stories, I heard, as a participant, along with 200+ others, in the first ever Truth and Reconciliation conference between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals in Victoria.  The conference was titled Open Hearts, Clear Minds: A Road to Reconciliation, and took place at […]

Social media: An opportunity to change your story and change your life

Your story, your identity, shapes how you live your life.  Change your story and you’ll change the way you live your life.  Social media presents an opportunity to do just that; a place where you can create a new story for yourself, and change your life. Two weeks ago, I participated in an all-day workshop […]

Mediation Business Summit takeaways

Although its been a month since I attended the Mediation Business Summit, I thought I’d share a few of my takeaways from the event. About the Summit The Summit was a multi-day event via telephone and web, designed for dispute resolution professionals by dispute resolution professionals, Tammy Lenski and Amanda Bucklow.  Sessions featured business management, […]

Getting to Resolution: Turning Conflict into Collaboration – Video book review

I’m always on the lookout for ideas and frames that give context to my work.  Recently I came across Getting to Resolution: Turning conflict into collaboration by Stewart Levine.  It does just that.  It touches my buttons; collaboration, conflict, resolution, mediation, community, systems thinking, to name a few. In this short video (can’t see it? […]