| Seventeen years ago, Dominic Barter walked into a shantytown near his home in Rio de Janeiro with a question – what happens when I walk toward conflict, rather than away from it? Could it be that conflict becomes violent when we attempt to suppress it and that moving toward it might actually increase safety?The process that emerged from these meetings supports people to walk toward their conflicts with each other and to have their fights in more effective ways, increasing community and individual safety, resilience, and well-being.Known as Restorative Circles (RC), it has been used in families, schools, courts, workplaces, neighborhoods, churches, and other communities in over 20 countries, in response to situations ranging from name calling to | ||
| homicide. The award-winning projects in Brazil rate highly in participant satisfaction, reduced recidivism rates, and decreased costs.Now Dominic is coming to Champaign-Urbana to share what he’s learned from his experiences with RC and to support those present to bring this learning into places where we live, work, learn, play and pray. | ||
| Overview: October 12, 8:30am – 9:30pmFacilitation Practice: October 13-15, 8:30 – 9:30pm,
October 16, 8:30 – 6pm
Independent Media Center (IMC) 202 South Broadway #100, Urbana, IL
For information about the events and to register: tinyurl.com/restorativecu (or call 217-722-3471)
For information about RC: www.restorativecircles.org
Teachers learning RC, Rondonia, Brazil, 2007 |
The Overview will be an interactive day of demonstration and experiential learning, with Dominic presenting the key elements of RC and describing the development of a systemic context that supports its use.The Facilitation Practice will create the conditions for focused exploration, peer support and group practice in the dynamics of RC facilitation for those who want to facilitate RCs in their own communities.About the long days: We have scheduled long days to make the events accessible to people whose schedules vary widely from each other. We hope that scheduling it this way will help everyone who wants to be there to participate in as much of the events as they can. There will, of course, be long breaks for lunch and dinner and shorter breaks throughout the days.
Cost: There is no specific registration or participation fee. During the events, information will be shared on the financial costs of developing this event, RC itself and the projects Dominic and his colleagues support in several countries. Voluntary contributions will be invited to cover these costs. Sponsors: Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR), ACCESS Initiative, Champaign County, Illinois Office of the State’s Attorney, Julia Rietz, Office of Equal Opportunity and Access (University of Illinois), Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice (CUCPJ), OpEdNews.com, Native American Cultural House, University Housing. |
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