Under the redoubtable leadership of its President Thierry Garby, the UIA World Mediation Forum will meet in Athens on March 11 and 12, 2011. This collegial organization is an initiative of the Union International des Avocats, and the Athens gathering will be the 15th since the creation of the Forum.
As appropriate for a convening of global scale, the conference will address such diverse topics as the European ADR Directive, cultural differences as they effect internationbal settlement negotiation, mediation styles and skills, and other related topics.
It will be an opportunity to learn about the development of commercial mediation in Greece, from Catherine Cotsaki (President of the Hellenic Union of Mediators), Ioanna Anastassopoulou (President of the Hellenic Mediation and Arbitration Centre) and Greek Minister of Justice Harry Kastanidis.
Other speakers will be drawn from some of the highest-profile advocates and practitioners of mediation in the world: Greg Hunt of CEDR; Jane Gunn of UK’s Corporate Peacemakers; Helena De Backer of Brussels; Laura Elena Pop of Romania; John Bosnak of the Netherlands Mediation Institute; and Jeff Abrams of the USA.
I am especially looking forward to a Saturday session on “Intercultural Mediation” that will feature three admired professionals and very good friends: Colin J. Wall of Hong Kong, and Wang Chengjie and Cheng Hui, both of CCPIT’s Mediation Centre in Beijing.
The period of reduced-fee registration expires on February 11. Information, including registration, is available at this site. I doubt that anyone electing to attend this one will regret it in the least.