PRESENTED BY: Skye Bowen
Our current climate can make it difficult to have conversations related to social justice. How do we navigate conversations around race, identity, colonization, and genocide in order to create a climate that values each other's humanity? This workshop will give you tangible tools rooted in restorative justice praxis to be able to have conversations that are difficult but critical to maintaining relationships. In one of the most challenging times of our lives, understanding how to create and hold equitable spaces in the workplace is essential to our well-being. Decolonization needs to happen in education, social work, health care, justice systems and many more. Learn how restorative justice, when understood from an Afro-Indigenous lens, can transform your relationships and create a climate that is rooted in UBUNTU - "I am because we are."
PRESENTED BY: Ish Orkar
When we go to work, we bring our trauma and our grief. This includes generational trauma passed down from our families of origin. How can restorative practices help us create workplaces that help us heal from previous toxic environments, rather than exacerbate prior wounds? How do we navigate the trauma so many of us are socialized to hide and feel shame about? Join us to vision toward how healing helps us move ourselves-and others-toward freedom from workplace wounding.
PRESENTED BY: Celine Lee
Victim centeredness is a key element that restorative programs promote. But what does victim centeredness look like within the complexities of the victim and offender dynamic? Using her lived experience and background as a victim support worker and victim advocate, Celine will walk workshop participants through the principles of victim centerdness, including legislated rights victims are entitled to. This session will create a thought-provoking environment for participants to consider whether their programs are victim centered.
PRESENTED BY: Angela Green
In this session, educators will explore how restorative practices support the use of high impact instructional practices for math. Practical tools and strategies will be shared for creating safe environments for all students to learn math and develop SEL skills.
PRESENTED BY: Erin Lee and Pamela Cross
In this symposium, we will discuss the process of the CKW inquest and overview of the 86 recommendations with a specific focus on restorative justice and IPV as well as the use of community safety and well-being plans, situation tables and high-risk tables as approaches to resolving intimate partner violence. Through relationship building, finding common ground, and the determination to reduce the incidents of violence across communities we can create meaningful change.
PRESENTED BY: Noreen Demeria
The IJC has a goal to ameliorate the serious overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the justice system and seeks to accomplish this through restorative measures. We seek to accomplish this goal through compassionate, caring and culturally supportive services to those accessing legal support and services. We seek to protect the rights of Indigenous people involved in the criminal justice system. The IJC supports restorative approaches to justice which reflect the cultural values and worldviews of Indigenous peoples. The IJC educates and advocates for systemic change to reduce recidivism and over incarceration of Indigenous people. The IJC supports the implementation and substance of the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action (TRC).
PRESENTED BY: Danielle McGettigan
Some takeaways include: Valuing the wisdom and insight contained with the lived experiences of people who are incarcerated and how their school experiences impacted their lives while examining how this insight can inform policy and practice, as presented through a phenomenological lens; Understanding pathologizing within the education system and as a mechanism for the school-to-prison pipeline phenomenon; Examining the interconnectedness within the self as a foundation for relationality and its implications for systemic change.
PRÉSENTÉ PAR: Sara Carver
L'usage des pratiques réparatrices sont une façon proactive de discuter de certains sujets sensibles ou controversés. Ces sujets sont omniprésents dans le quotidien des élèves et du personnel. Par exemple, une œuvre littéraire qui contient du langage dérogatoire (par exemple le mot "N" est présent dans le roman "To kill a Mockingbird"), ou une œuvre qui suscite des réactions émotives chez certains élèves sont abordés en milieu scolaire chaque jour. Comment bien préparer nos élèves à discuter de ces sujets à l'aide des pratiques réparatrices? De plus, les sujets controversés sont présents dans l'actualité à tous les jours. Nos élèves transigent dans une sociétés abondante en désinformations et en mouvements hyper polarisés...comment s'y retrouver? Être exposé à des valeurs et des idées différentes de celles avec lesquelles l'on a grandit en milieu familial est un outil puissant d'éducation à l'acceptation des différences, à l'empathie envers l'autre. Les pratiques réparatrices permettent des dialogues authentiques au sein de la communauté classe. Une approche ÉDI utilisée en parallèle avec des stratégies réparatrices contribuent à la création d'un milieu accueillant et sécurisant pour tous les élèves.
Workshop Session A / Séance d'atelier A
Nov. 18, 2024 - Morning/Matin
Workshops/Ateliers
PRESENTED BY: Shana Louallen
This workshop is a case study of 3 different human interest organizations that adopted Restorative Practices as a cultural shift in organizational development and practice. The workshop will lay out both tailored + identical steps each organization engaged with in managing the culture change work and highlight how HR departments went from being oppositional forces of organizational protection to equitable allies. This workshop, using the tiers of RJ work (community building, harm + healing, re-integration), will also lay out the challenges faced at each stage, how each organization navigated it, and the subsequent lessons learned. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of how to design for bringing restorative practices into the workplace with real-world honesty about both the difficulty and the rewards of transformation in doing so.
PRESENTED BY: Keri Posno, Holley Deckert and Karen Coward
St. Leonard’s Community Services (SLCS) is a non-profit, charitable organization in London, Ontario that has a long-standing history of working within Restorative Justice. The Restorative Approaches youth diversion and school-based teams, in partnership with our local school boards and justice partners, work with youth to assist them in navigating conflict and bullying using restorative interventions to support students to stay engaged in their education, school community, and to reduce the likelihood of justice system involvement. Join us to hear more about the incredible community collaborations our teams are engaging in as we work towards our organizational goals of becoming a restorative agency. With new grant funding that allows us to expand our restorative reach throughout the city with the goal to address the prevention of youth violence and justice involvement, we continue to take steps toward our ultimate vision of becoming a restorative city.
PRESENTED BY: Tracey Devereaux
For the past several years, the Nova Scotia government's Restorative Initiatives Unit (RIU) and staff at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility (CNSCF) have been collaborating to integrate restorative approaches within the facility's Women’s Unit. In this session, RIU and CNSCF staff will lead a presentation that: takes participants through a history and evolution of the restorative approaches in facilities initiative; provides information on the work underway in the facility, with the goal of giving participants a sense of what taking a restorative approach looks like in practice; and highlights challenges, learnings, and opportunities associated with introducing restorative approaches in the facility context.
PRESENTED BY: Pamela Buttery
This workshop will equip you with practical knowledge and skills that you can apply to enhance your leadership practice and interpersonal influence. Through the circle process, you will explore multiple aspects of social identities and various uses of proactive and responsive circles.
PRESENTED BY: Brielle Mariucci
Restorative Justice and Participatory Action Research are both values based practices that foster equity, self-determination, accountability, and healing. They reject top-down approaches to public safety, and lessen the dependency on the state as the primary option for conflict intervention. In the Spring, Brielle partnered with the Neighborhood Safety Initiative to implement restorative practices into a community action project in East New York designed by and for residents of the Boulevard Public Houses. Activities included building empathy and listening skills, holding meetings in circles, and developing collective values. In doing so, this team of residents cultivated relationship building skills and that foster community autonomy in matters of wellbeing and public safety. This conversation seeks to highlight the insights gained from this thesis, and invites practitioners, researchers, academics, and community members to broaden the scope of how restorative practices may be implemented across the network of criminal legal reform.
PRESENTED BY: April Clay and Tawon Green
Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of advanced restorative justice techniques, focusing on enhancing student belonging and connectivity, exemplified by case studies of circles in Southern California. Evidence of Impact: The session will feature interactive restorative justice circle discussions and activities, allowing attendees to experience community building firsthand and learn through active participation. Strategies for Increasing Youth Engagement: Participants will explore effective strategies for engaging youth, particularly those who are disconnected, highlighting how community-building restorative justice activities can offer substantial benefits.
PANELIST INCLUDE: Johnny Aitken, Jess Willows, Kaile Shilling, Sophia Torres and Sarah McDonald
This panel will explore how various forms of art, such as writing, music, theater, digital arts, and story telling can be used to facilitate healing and reconciliation in restorative justice practices.
PRÉSENTÉ PAR: Elyse Buligan
Inspirer les participants à l'aide d'une démarche expliquée, de stratégies, d'idées et d'une boite à outils : Approche intégrée de prévention, d'intervention et de soutien, vous pouvez créer un environnement où le comportement positif est encouragé et où les erreurs sont vues comme des occasions d'apprentissage et de croissance plutôt que de conflit et de punition. Contribue à renforcer la confiance, la collaboration, l'équité et à promouvoir un climat sécuritaire et respectueux pour tous les membres de la communauté. Inspirer les participants à l'aide d'une démarche expliquée, de stratégies, d'idées et d'une boite à outils : Approche intégrée de prévention, d'intervention et de soutien, vous pouvez créer un environnement où le comportement positif est encouragé et où les erreurs sont vues comme des occasions d'apprentissage et de croissance plutôt que de conflit et de punition.
Workshop Session B / Séance d'atelier B
Nov. 18, 2024 - Afternoon/L'Aprés midi
PRESENTED BY: Dr. Evelyn Zellerer and Norm Leech
Vancouver is the first city in Canada to commit to becoming a restorative city! Learn about this exciting initiative and our journey thus far through a presentation followed by dialogue. A restorative city expands beyond the legal system to implement restorative values, principles and practices across multiple spaces – neighbourhoods, schools, parks, policing and more. This initiative is being led by Peace of the Circle and the Restorative Collective Vancouver. We are an impressive team of diverse voices and wisdom from Indigenous-led organizations, First Nations, service providers including for youth, seniors and women, parks & recreation, education, policing, community corrections, business associations and more. We are creating a relational, holistic, decolonizing approach to transforming conflict, harm and crime and are collaboratively moving toward healing, safety, justice and peace.
PRESENTED BY: Michael Wade
Restorative practices, traditionally utilized in justice and school settings, focus on repairing harm, building relationships, and fostering community. This presentation explores the innovative adaptation of these practices to community settings, specifically within housing and homelessness social services. Participants will learn about our journey and results of integrating restorative practices into our community services with the goal of creating a supportive and inclusive environment that enhances client outcomes and strengthens community bonds.
PRESENTED BY: Heather Loudon and Nadine Okalik
Tungasuvvingat Inuit's Restorative Justice Program presentation focuses on Inuit history and culturally appropriate restorative justice practices. The presentation will highlight various topics, such as the Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit principles, Inuit and the criminal justice system, intergenerational trauma and shame in restorative justice, and overall structure of the program. The presentation includes group exercises, traditional Inuit games, and a power-point presentation.
PRESENTED BY: Charles Dent and Raegan Mager
The Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission has successfully implemented a restorative approach to its work over the past several years. This change was initiated because the Commission believed that its highly-legalized complaint process was not the most effective way to address human rights conflicts. In this discussion we will explore the pivotal moments and lessons learned while implementing a restorative approach to a legal complaint process.
PRESENTED BY: Catherine Brooke
The audience will have a better understanding of the PeerLife program and the various ways peers can be utilized to support individuals, in particular marginalized and vulnerable populations. PeerLife is a community-based program that delivers services to lifers and other long term inmates inside and outside of Ontario federal prisons to increase the likelihood of successful reintegration into the community. The program offers a way for peers to give back and restore some of the harm they have done by committing themselves to the improvement of other lifers leaving the institutions, helping them with successful reintegration thus ensuring public safety. The audience will hear a first-hand account from one of the workers the ways in which the program impacted him and how he now gives back to his fellow lifers and his community. Participants will learn some of the challenges but also rewards of utilizing a peer model in restorative justice programming and how to work with larger stakeholders, for example, levels of government to garner support for innovative approaches towards rehabilitation and reintegration.
PRESENTED BY: Cory Hartling
In this presentation participants will have an opportunity to learn about School District 48’s (Sea to Sky) efforts to implement, district wide, circle practice as tool for community building, teaching, and restorative justice. We will discuss key strategies and considerations for implementation while also sharing some practical tools and tangible results we have collectively achieved. Participants will leave with an understanding of a pathway to implement circle practice on the micro and macro level of a school district moving from policy to practice. Implementation Strategies: Participants will learn some key strategies utilized by Sea to Sky in the implementation of circle practice throughout our district. We will discuss potential strategies and methodologies used to transition from policy statement to effective day to day practice in schools. This includes insights into staff training, engaging stakeholders, and overcoming initial challenges.
PRÉSENTÉ PAR: Olivia Stroz-Breton et Chantal Chicoine
Équijustice est une association provinciale à but non lucratif comptant 23 membres à travers tout le Québec. Le réseau offre une expertise en matière de justice réparatrice et de médiation citoyenne. Mus par des valeurs de respect et d’ouverture, nous privilégions une approche humaine et équitable. Le Réseau Équijustice a pour mission de développer une justice équitable et accessible à tous en invitant les personnes à s’engager dans la gestion des difficultés qu’elles vivent et en les accompagnant dans le respect de leurs droits et de leurs différences. Pour se faire, le Réseau Equijustice offre différents services en justice réparatrice et ce, autant pour les personnes mineures que pour les adultes, dans un cadre social ou en matière de justice. Cet atelier donnera l’occasion de faire le tour des services et initiatives du Réseau Equijustice et de ses membres en matière de justice réparatrice au Québec. Nous détaillerons les différents services soit dans le cadre de la Loi sur le système de justice pénale pour les adolescents, le Programme de mesure de rechange général, Parenthèse, la médiation citoyenne, la médiation spécialisée, la médiation en proche aidance, etc.
Workshop Session C / Séance d'atelier C
Nov. 19, 2024 - Morning/Matin
Workshop Session D / Séance d'atelier D
Nov. 19, 2024 - Afternoon/L'Aprés midi
PRESENTED BY: Stacey Alderwick
Institutions like the idea of restorative approaches, but these are typically applied only after harm has been perpetrated, as a downstream intervention rather than a preventative response. Restorative practices require organizational and community fortitude to resist becoming domesticated or pushed to the margins. There is deep value in restorative justice and embedding relational practices into institutions, schools and communities, despite the risk of encountering misalignment during the mainstreaming process. Join us for a group dialogue and an honest conversation on the challenge of mainstreaming RJ.
PRESENTED BY: Lisa Charlong Norris
Practitioners in RF or in Addiction, whether they work in community, in counselling centres, in schools, in court rooms, in prisons, might be surprised to know that at the heart of recovery from alcohol, drugs, and addictive processes, are restorative language and principles. And since addiction is pervasive, the language of restorative justice is as pervasive, once terms and principles between these two domains are bridged. Recovery is about restoring relationships: with self, with community, with family . Recovery is about taking responsibility for harms done and making restitution. There are a number of bridges to be made and in this session we will explore some of them and hopefully leave with a sense of knowing RJ seeds are planted in surprising places.
PRESENTED BY: Fairooz Kermalli, Alina Raza and Ariel Burns
This past year, OCDSB Learning Support Staff offered Listening Circles to students and staff impacted by Tragic/Critical Events including student deaths and impactful group experiences. In this workshop we will share our method, learnings and experiences that have come out of this work. We will also discuss our next steps and hopes for continuing this meaningful work.
PRESENTED BY: Jane Evans, Norm Desjardins and Dr. Muhammad Asadullah
Recognizing the important role that raising awareness through data and research can play in increasing the understanding and use of restorative justice in Canada, a National Restorative Justice Research Network (Research Network) is being developed to build a restorative justice research community. The Research Network will provide an opportunity to create connections between sectors (e.g., justice, education, health, social), promote and support community-based resolutions to address conflict and harm, learn about best practices, build knowledge, and identify how we can tell the restorative justice story in Canada through data and research. This listening session will provide an opportunity to hear what has been shared to date, through an engagement survey, and further share ideas around the development of the Research Network in a collaborative way. This will ensure that the Research Network focuses on addressing knowledge gaps, strengthening existing research networks and helping to create and grow new ones for years to come. Come join the discussion and have your say.
PRESENTED BY: Catherine Bargen
Takeaways: Understanding the current HR realities and pressures on modern workplaces (e.g. responding to complaints, culture-building, implementing equitable policies, social justice reckoning); Understanding how restorative justice offers a unified framework to assist workplaces to navigate these pressures cohesively, instead of "piecemeal"; Examples and Tools for how to implement this unified restorative framework in the workplace.
PRESENTED BY: Stacey Mountford and Lesley Robertson
The Thames Valley District School Board has developed a framework, The Essential Conditions for Learning, rooted in the science of restorative practices that prioritizes relationships through affirming identities, classroom practices, community building and curriculum. This workshop will share Thames Valley’s journey in supporting the prioritization of the proactive nature of restorative practices. Participants will be introduced to our Implementing the Essential Conditions for Learning foldable that was developed to provide school-based staff with practical strategies to intentionally build strong relationships WITH school communities.
PRESENTED BY: Elle Halladay
We will explore the critical intersection of homelessness, and the transformative potential of restorative justice. These issues are interconnected, often ensnaring vulnerable individuals in cycles of exploitation and instability. By integrating Housing First and restorative practices, we offer insight into homelessness and community development, emphasizing long-term stability and reintegration. Startling statistics reveal that 22% of incarcerated individuals experience homelessness, and one-third of those leaving correctional facilities are released without a fixed address, which can delay release. We'll examine how this approach reduces recidivism, enhances well-being, and fosters stronger community ties, through case studies, impacts and benefits, challenges and considerations and recommendations.