Projects per year
Abstract
This article tells the story of University of Strathclyde Mediation Clinic through the
eyes of its founder. Taking its first case in 2012, by the start of 2021 it will be providing a free mediation service in 16 of Scotland’s 39 sheriff courts,1 covering more than half the country's population. Yet it started with no plan, no budget and little theory. Writing in the first person, the author makes the case that mediation clinics, like mediation itself, call for improvisation. While mediators may plan and train, learning frameworks for action and a body of expert knowledge, they must then encounter complex, fallible people and the unpredictable dynamics of conflict. Responding well is arguably more important than reparation.
And so it has been with the mediation clinic. The clinic was triggered by student
demand and was shaped by its volunteers; it adapted to law clinic gatekeepers and negotiated with university administration; and it reinvented itself through contact with the courts, with hundreds of clients and, most recently, with a pandemic. Each interaction has shaped it. Strathclyde Mediation Clinic is a work in progress, as it must be if it is to fulfil the hope of pracademia: bringing the academy into the world and the world into the academy.
eyes of its founder. Taking its first case in 2012, by the start of 2021 it will be providing a free mediation service in 16 of Scotland’s 39 sheriff courts,1 covering more than half the country's population. Yet it started with no plan, no budget and little theory. Writing in the first person, the author makes the case that mediation clinics, like mediation itself, call for improvisation. While mediators may plan and train, learning frameworks for action and a body of expert knowledge, they must then encounter complex, fallible people and the unpredictable dynamics of conflict. Responding well is arguably more important than reparation.
And so it has been with the mediation clinic. The clinic was triggered by student
demand and was shaped by its volunteers; it adapted to law clinic gatekeepers and negotiated with university administration; and it reinvented itself through contact with the courts, with hundreds of clients and, most recently, with a pandemic. Each interaction has shaped it. Strathclyde Mediation Clinic is a work in progress, as it must be if it is to fulfil the hope of pracademia: bringing the academy into the world and the world into the academy.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 18-28 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Nederlands-Vlaams tijdschrift voor Mediation en conflictmanagement |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 6 Feb 2021 |
Keywords
- mediation clinic
- students
- practicing
- circle of engagement
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Pracademia: a personal account of a mediation clinic and its development'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Active
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Simple Procedure Mediation Service to Sheriff Courts
3/02/17 → …
Project: Knowledge Exchange (Services/Consultancy)
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Activities
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Learning by Doing: The First UK Mediation Clinic Conference
Charlie Irvine (Organiser) & Charlie Irvine (Keynote/plenary speaker)
6 Feb 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organiser of major conference
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Mediation Under Simple Procedure: One Year On
Charlie Irvine (Recipient)
7 May 2018Activity: Public Engagement and Other Activities › Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation