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Conflict Resolution Day
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Conflict Resolution Day
2008
Conflict Resolution Day 2008 was celebrated
around the world on October 16. Inspired by
ACR’s Board Resolution proclaiming every third
Thursday in October for an annual celebration of
Conflict Resolution Day, 16 states in the United
States, 5 countries (Canada, France, Israel,
Nicaragua and Portugal), and various national
organizations held events on or around October
16. Details about events are still coming in. If
you held an event that is not currently listed
at
http://www.acrnet.org/crday/crday2008events.htm,
please send a brief description of your event to
ACR@acrnet.org.
Conflict Resolution Day was conceived in 2005 by
ACR to:
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Promote awareness of mediation, arbitration,
conciliation and other creative, peaceful
means of resolving conflict;
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Promote the use of conflict resolution in
schools, families, businesses, communities,
governments and the legal system;
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Recognize the significant contributions of
(peaceful) conflict resolvers; and
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Obtain national synergy by having
celebrations happen across the country and
around the world on the same day.
Some
of the highlights of 2008 include:
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ACR’s teleseminars – one for
graduate and undergraduate students in
conflict resolution and peace studies
programs and the other for practitioners.
The teleseminars were co-sponsored by the
United States Institute of Peace and the
Institute for Conflict Analysis and
Resolution. The Workplace Section also
hosted two teleseminars for practitioners.
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The 13th Annual
Peacemaker of the Year Award was presented
by The Mediation Center of San Joaquin and
The University of the Pacific School of
International Studies in Stockton,
California.
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Events were held throughout
Colorado and included free mediations by
mediators in Colorado Springs; a statewide
ADR Conference featuring Ambassador Dennis
Ross; an Un-Debate of “political hopefuls
and political experts” hosted by the
University of Colorado at Boulder; and a
book fair at Barnes & Nobles which included
Reading for Peace at the top of each hour
held by the Conflict Center in Denver.
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In Washington, DC, the
Office of Ombudsman at Gallaudet University
and the Office of Ombudsman at
Transportation Security Administration
headquarters offered programs on resolving
conflicts using available resources.
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The
third annual Conflict Resolution Day Student
Art Contest was held in Maryland
by the Maryland Mediation and Conflict
Resolution Office (MACRO).
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The Minnesota ACR Chapter
(Conflict Resolution Minnesota) hosted a day
long course on Empathic Listening at Hamline
University.
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The National Center for
Technology and Dispute Resolution held its
annual week long all-online conference to
coincide with Conflict Resolution Day.
-
Thirty-six conflict styles
workshops were held throughout Alberta,
Canada, and the Canadian Federal Network for
Informal Conflict Management System invited
all Deputy Heads and Informal Conflict
Management Coordinators and Practitioners to
organize events to raise awareness and build
employee skills.
-
Negocia Business School in
Paris offered a program titled “Conflict
Resolution between Corporations.”
-
Additional events were held
in Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana,
Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
Texas, South Carolina, Washington State,
Nicaragua, Tel Aviv, Israel, and Lisbon,
Portugal. Read more at
http://www.acrnet.org/crday/crday2008events.htm
Groups partnered with book stores, universities,
religious organizations, Holocaust Memorial
Centers, courts, community mediation centers,
Mediators Beyond Borders, the Environmental
Protection Agency, and others. More than 10
proclamations were obtained from mayors,
governors, and university presidents.
Conflict Resolution Day 2009 will take place on
October 15, and it is never too early to start
planning your event!
For
a list of Conflict
Resolution Day 2008 events,
click here.
For
a list of
Conflict Resolution Day 2007 events, click here.
For a list of
Conflict Resolution
Day 2006 events,
click here.
For
a list of
Conflict Resolution
Day 2005 events,
click here.
Conflict Resolution Day Event Resources
For
a general list of event ideas,
click here.
Posters are available for your use and now
available in six languages. To download a copy of a poster,
please click on the links below. You may also
purchase a glossy, 12 x 18 reproduction of the
Conflict Resolution Day Poster in English. The image
costs $5.00 (shipping included). To order,
download
a product order form and fax or mail with
payment to ACR.
• Conflict
Resolution Day Poster - English
• Conflict
Resolution Day Poster - Spanish
• Conflict
Resolution Day Poster - French
•
Conflict Resolution Day Poster - Japanese
•
Conflict Resolution Day Poster -
Hebrew
•
Conflict
Resolution Day Poster - Arabic
For
ideas on holding events in K-12 schools or with
K-12 students, check out conflict resolution lessons
and activities for elementary, middle and high
school classrooms in the book
Peaceful
Schools Build Peaceful Communities,
produced by the Florida
Law Related Education Association, Inc. and the
Florida Dispute Resolution Center. Additional
resources for the classroom include
School
Activity Suggestions,
also produced by the Florida Dispute Resolution
Center.
For
a toolkit on planning school-based Conflict Resolution
Day events, including sample proclamations,
click here.
Interested in securing
a proclamation in your state? To view a request
letter that helped secure the Pennsylvania gubernatorial
proclamation,
click here.
To see the Mediation Week
Proclamation from the Governor of Florida, click
here
How to Get Involved
Interested in working
on Conflict Resolution Day 2008? Have an event
planned or in progress that you’d like ACR
to know about and promote? Send an email to
acr@ACRnet.org.
History
In 2005, in order
to increase public awareness about conflict resolution
and its many benefits, ACR’s Board of Directors
adopted a resolution designating October 20, 2005
as Conflict Resolution Day. ACR coordinated its
efforts with other conflict resolution organizations
and reached out to local, state and international
groups to build interest in holding local celebrations
in conjunction with Conflict Resolution Day. Events
were held in Canada, Portugal, and 22 U.S. states.
Also in the United States, a number of counties,
cities and states adopted proclamations designating
day- or week-long conflict resolution celebrations.
In March 2006, ACR’s Board of
Directors adopted a resolution designating the
third Thursday in October as Conflict Resolution
Day. Going forward, Conflict Resolution Day will
always be held on the third Thursday of October.
This year the event will be on October 16, 2008.
To read the resolution,
click here.
In 2006,
World Mediation Forum (WMF) joined
ACR in co-sponsoring Conflict Resolution
Day. To read the WMF resolution,
click here.
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