International Institute for Restorative Practices - A Graduate School - Restoring Community in a Disconnected World

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The IIRP’s 11th World Conference brought together the largest group of restorative practice practitioners and advocates in its history. 516 participants from 16 countries attended the IIRP's 2008 conference in Toronto, Canada, on October 22-24, 2008, including those from 10 Canadian provinces and territories and 17 of the continental United States. Additional countries represented were: Australia, Barbados, Brazil, England, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore and Sweden.

The whole continuum of restorative practices was discussed, from the informal to the formal, including family group decision making and family group conferencing, restorative conferencing and circles, and restorative cautions and reprimands. All of these practices share the same underlying purpose: to build community, more effectively address wrongdoing and conflict, and empower people to make decisions about issues that affect them.

2008 conference keynote plenary speakers provided an international perspective on restorative practices theory and practice in a variety of settings, from education to social welfare to criminal justice.

Bruce Schenk, director of IIRP Canada and a veteran Ontario restorative justice practitioner, led a conference panel on restorative practices in Canadian schools. For a decade Schenk has been working in various restorative justice-based capacities, most recently spending two years as the full-time restorative practices advisor for Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. Panel participants included:
Helen Fox, superintendent of education with Ontario’s York Region District School Board, who has worked in secondary schools as a vice principal and principal; Rusty Hick, superintendent of education with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board; and Lynn Zammit, who established Canada's first education-based restorative justice conferencing model and now offers training and consulting to school boards and communities wishing to start RJ projects.
        
Dominic Barter, restorative justice consultant for the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, gave a plenary talk about his work bringing restorative circles into courts, schools, social services, prison systems and community organizations in Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He stressed the efficacy of circles in meeting “basic human needs for safety, dignity, active participation and justice.”

Sean Haresnape, family group conferencing (FGC) policy adviser to the Family Rights Group (FRG), London, England, spoke of the growth of FGC in the UK. (Sean stepped in for FRG chief executive Cathy Ashley, due to a last-minute emergency.)
He described the process in detail and related the wide variety of settings in which family group conferencing is being used, such as child protection, youth justice, education, domestic violence and mental health. FRG is a UK charity that advises families whose children are involved with social care services and is a major supporter and provider of family group conferencing.
Another highlight of the conference were the showings of three documentary films "Family Voices,” “Beyond Zero Tolerance: Restorative Practices in Schools” and “Toxic Talk: From Betrayal to Trust in a Workplace.”


During the three-day event, 120 scheduled breakout sessions took place, giving presenters the opportunity to share the results of their work utilizing restorative practices. These criminal justice, education and social service leaders shared their success stories in dealing with crime and conflict in communities, schools and families.