EFRJ Summer School 2019

A brief historical note on the EFRJ Summer School

Every two years, the EFRJ organises a Summer School in a different location in Europe and on a different theme. After the EFRJ’s foundation in 2000, the EFRJ Summer School was held  in:

• Pilsen, Czech Republic (2005)
• Riga, Latvia (2007)
• Barcelona, Spain (2009)
• Canterbury, United Kingdom (2011)
• Vienna, Austria (2013)
• Lisbon, Portugal (2015)
• Como, Italy (2017)

In general, the EFRJ Summer School aims at bringing together practitioners, researchers, trainers and other professionals interested in RJ from across Europe and beyond to exchange and discuss practices, ideas, challenges, projects in the field of RJ.

EFRJ SUMMER SCHOOL 2019

The EFRJ is happy to invite you to participate in its 8th edition of the Summer School, organised within the walls of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Gdańsk University in the North of Poland (22-26 July 2019).

This year’s theme is “Child-friendly Restorative Justice”. The focus will be on both, young victims and offenders, to identify appropriate restorative responses to conflict and crime involving this specific vulnerable group. Among others, much attention will be given to innovative practices for making the offer and encouraging dialogue and the sharing of emotions when children and adolescents are involved in a restorative process. The topic is in line with the EFRJ’s agenda during the next years, namely to ensure that every person in Europe will have the right of access to RJ services, in any criminal case and at any stage of the criminal procedures.

The Summer School 2019 will provide a safe and inspiring space for participants to gain additional knowledge and, where relevant, to practice advanced skills that will bring benefit to victims and offenders.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE BOOKLET

Audience

We are targeting an audience of about 30 RJ practitioners (e.g. mediators, facilitators, animators of RJ processes), educators, researchers, project coordinators, policymakers, victim support officers, criminal justice professionals, trainers, service managers, and others with a particular interest in RJ with children and adolescents, from different countries in Europe and beyond. Participants are expected to have knowledge about RJ theories and/or practices, since the training will focus specifically on the application of RJ in cases involving minors. The whole training will be held in English.

Registrations will close once we receive 30 applications (registration is complete only after the payment). The final deadline for registering is 30 June. Registrations open in January 2019.

Theme & Format

The emphasis of the Summer School 2019 will be on the use of RJ in cases involving children and adolescents, which may be more complex and sensitive to deal with. The training will include frontal presentations, but it will mostly consist of practical workshops and interactive exercises focusing on:

• access to RJ for minors
• preparatory meetings for minors, their families and communities of support
• facilitation of a RJ process involving minors
• experiencing different languages for engaging with minors
• training of RJ practitioners dealing with minors
• supervision and support of RJ practitioners dealing with minors
• cooperation with other institutions (e.g. child care, victim support, schools)

The Summer School will also include sessions provided by the local team in Gdansk and a field visit.

Programme

Click here to download the draft programme. In order to organize your trip to Gdansk, see below the schedule of the full week 22-26 July (Monday to Friday): please note that this schedule is subject to minor changes.

Trainers & Experts

• Bie Vansereven, Alba (Belgium)
• Belinda Hopkins, Tranforming Conflict (UK)

Click here to know more our our two trainers and their organisations!

In addition, the Summer School will benefit from some interventions from the local team of the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Gdańsk University.

Aims & Outcomes

During the Summer School 2019 trainers and participants will identify good practices to use RJ in cases involving children and adolescents. Such good practices will be in the field of access and actual initiation and facilitation of RJ processes, as well as training and supervision of RJ practitioners and cooperation with different institutions taking care of minors. At the end of the Summer School 2019, participants will be more:

• resourceful, and be able to provide a coherent rationale of the benefits and risks of RJ to interested stakeholders, including minors and their families;
• resilient, and be able to make effective use of practice supervision so that they can support participants through the restorative process;
• restorative, having reviewed and revised key principles of knowledge and practice.

Venue & local organising team

The Summer School 2019 will be hosted in the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Gdańsk University with the support of the Polish Centre of Mediation Division Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot, the Pomeranian Centre of Mediation and Arbitration and the Centre for School and Peer Mediation. The local organizing team is comprised of our former Board member Beata Czarnecka-Dzialuk, the Vice-Dean of the Law faculty Professor Wojciech Zalewski, the director of the Polish Centre of Mediation Katarzyna Stryjek and the executive director of Probation Officers Krzysztof Stasiak.

Registrations & Fees

The deadline to register to the EFRJ Summer School 2019 is 15 June (Early-bird fee: 30 April). A waiting list will be open if we fill the 30 places available for this edition of the Summer School before the deadline for registrations. Register here! Registration is complete only after the payment has been received.

The registration fee includes:

• Participation fee and materials for the five-day training (22-26 July)
• Accommodation, incl. 4 nights (22-25 July), Breakfast & City tax, at Smart Hotel Garnizon*
• Lunches, coffee breaks and one dinner

*Please note that we have booked single rooms for individual use. Please contact the EFRJ secretariat if you need a double room, or if you do not need accommodation in Gdansk.

Waivers: The EFRJ will grant a limited number of (full/ partial) waivers to participants for whom it is financially difficult to attend the Summer School. Applicants must be members of the EFRJ since 2018, or earlier: still, if you are a new member in 2019, you can register with a reduced fee. Full waivers cover the full registration fee (all inclusive); partial waivers will cover half registration fee. Transports to Gdansk are not covered by the waivers. The deadline to submit a waiver request is 15 March 2019. Please use the online waiver application form to submit your application. The main criteria for the selection are: experience, profession, motivation, and country representation. We will evaluate each request and inform you about the results within two weeks after the deadline. In case of negative response, the early-bird fee applies.

Cancellation policy: If you cancel your registration to the Summer School before 1 May, you will receive a refund of 70% of your registration fee. After this date, reimbursement is no longer possible.

Practical information

Venue‘s address: Faculty of Law and Administration of the Gdańsk University, Jana Bażyńskiego 6, 80-980 Gdańsk

Hotel‘s address: Smart Hotel Garnizon, ul. Słowackiego 3, 80-257 Gdańsk

Travel: There is an international airport in Gdańsk, also known as Lech Wałęsa Airport (named after former Polish president), located 12km West of the city. To reach the city from the airport, take Bus line 210 of ZTM Gdansk (40 minutes from Gdansk Airport to the railway station Dworzec Glówny). There are other 11 international airports in Poland: click here to know more.