20th World Forum of Mediation Centres

The World Forum of Mediation Centres was created in 2001 by the Mediation and Conflict Prevention Commission of the UIA.  It brings together the most important commercial mediation practitioners and ADR centres from around the world and offers an occasion to exchange views on the development of ADR and best practices.  The meeting in Thessaloniki will be the 20^th since the creation of the Forum.

In this meeting, we will ask the question if governments and courts can do more to increase the demand for mediation and focus on the all-important topic of how to bring the business case to mediation, recognising conflict avoidance and early resolution of disputes are vital management tools.  We will examine whether the current social problems and economic downturns have led to an increase in conflict and in particular how mediation can be used to help solve potential insolvency and bankruptcy issues, both in Greece and internationally.  

It has long been recognised that lawyers are a vital ingredient to the success of mediation but at the same time they can also be a barrier to its success; we will explore various aspects of this topic.  We will take advantage of the vast experience of some of the visiting mediators to pass on some tips and tricks that newly qualified mediators would find useful and hold our usual “Mining the Minds” session whereby our panel of experts will answer all those difficult questions you always wanted to ask.  Yet again, if you want to remain at the forefront of the latest thinking in mediation and ADR and wish to learn new techniques and ideas this is an event you cannot possibly afford to miss.

We are looking forward to welcoming you to Thessaloniki!