In his book ‘Growth - A Reckoning’, Daniel Susskind eloquently sets out what he terms the ‘Growth Dilemma’ – how to balance the promise of economic growth against its price. The promise comes…
"Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears." Surely some mistake, I thought; shouldn’t it be the other way round? Swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning-hooks?…
Reframing is an important part of the mediator’s toolkit. It can help parties look at things from a different perspective to broaden their understanding and it can help put offers and options in a…
The idea of using insights from behavioural science to achieve desirable policy goals burst into popular consciousness with the publication of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and…
Mediators work hard to help parties to a dispute to explore and understand their underlying needs and interests, which might have been forgotten or overlooked in the defence of a position that was…
The former British politician (and leadership contender when the Conservative Party was choosing Boris Johnson), Rory Stewart, is making a mark as an even more independent thinker than he was in the…
Back in 2020, just before the world changed, I wrote a blog post on this site suggesting the establishment of the World Mediators’ Alliance on Climate Change.
My argument was that mediation offers a…
It’s been a long time since I wrote a blog just about mediation practice. Other things always seem more important!
However, as I was mediating this week, a thought occurred to me about a rather…
I have been musing about what a mediator might say to President Putin given the opportunity. That led me to compose a letter a few weeks ago, with which I have since tinkered. This is merely a…
The escalating situation in Ukraine brings challenges to those of us committed to mediation and peace-making. Is there a time when what we stand for does not work and cannot be pursued? When dialogue…
