Mediation of Systemic Conflict
Le Centre sur les droits de la personne et le pluralisme juridique accueille Andréa Morrison, co-directrice du projet PlatesFormes, directrice de Global Dialogue Inc. (globaldialogue.ca), et médiatrice à la Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse. Elle proposera un atelier sur des approches et plateformes pour structurer la collaboration dans la résolution de conflits systémiques par le biais de la médiation.
Résumé
[En anglais seulement] Social diversity can unleash many tensions, some of which erupt violently. This workshop will present an approach, platforms, to structuring collaboration in order to work through systemic conflict using mediation. Andrea will also review a current project, PlatesFormes, and explore the role that McGill’s Center for Human Rights could take within this project.
Andrea will begin by raising social justice concerns that have surfaced through research and twenty-five years of mediation practice, including eight years as a human rights mediator at the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse. She will question the capacity of current mediation models to respond to systemic conflict, and highlight the lack of collaborative social mechanisms, particularly within Quebec.
Andrea will then outline an approach and platforms, which could provide the necessary structure to address systemic conflict through neutral intervention. After presenting a theoretical prototype, she will then describe and critically analyse a current project for which she is co-director, PlatesFormes, funded by the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (Ottawa) and the Brian Bronfman Family Foundation. Unlike other projects which focus on solutions to social issues, PlatesFormes is focused on process itself; researching, developing and applying best practices to the mediation of complex social conflicts, while framing interventions to include human rights and intercultural mediation. Drawing upon the successes and challenges of the pilot project phase, Andrea will invite participants to dialogue key questions, such as the role of universities, and use this input to inform the PlatesFormes initiative.
La conférencière
[En anglais seulement] Since 1995, Andrea Morrison, BCL'92, LLB'92, has intervened as a neutral in commercial, workplace and public disputes, from neighbourhood zoning disputes involving multiple stakeholders (Benny Farm), to workplaces following allegations of harassment and racism. She is a permanent mediator for the Quebec Human Rights Commission (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse).
Andrea introduced the first course on mediation to the McGill Faculty of Law in 1997. She has since lectured at several universities, and has helped develop the intercultural mediation Masters Program at Université de Sherbrooke. She is a regular trainer for groups such as the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution and currently delivers commercial training for McGill in Africa with Louise Otis.
Andrea also has considerable experience in structuring collaboration. She has published a chapter on “Partnering”, and guided many groups to adopt a Partnering approach: including large-scale construction projects, McGill Human Rights project in Indonesia (Aceh), and the Ontario Business Network. She led the design of a Partnering model within the former Canadian International Development Agency. Her work with Indigenous peoples has included tribal justice planning, workshops, and intervention in many First Nations, such as Saddle Lake First Nation, and in several James Bay communities. She edited Justice for Natives: Searching for Common Ground (MQUP). Andrea is a member of the Quebec Bar. She holds degrees in both civil and common law from McGill and brings knowledge of six languages to her practice.