Law Times

PAGE 8 An online resource 1.800.263.3269 Focus On ADR MEDIATION Accreditation for peace professionals a world first BY JUDY VAN RHIJN For Law Times B ecoming part of a civilian peace force committed to third-party non-violent interventions throughout the world is a long road that has to involve more than good inten- tions. But attempts to create a comprehensive training cur- riculum and assessment process for Canadian peace workers are fi nally bearing fruit after years of planning and careful prepara- tion along with a cutting-edge accreditation procedure. Th e Civilian Peace Service Canada has been holding con- ferences since 2005 while devel- oping and testing a professional peace profi le that embraces both competencies and values. It has fi nally achieved that goal with a unique process that assesses a candidate's suitability on a number of levels. Richard Moore, president of MDR Associates Confl ict Reso- lution Inc. in Ottawa, points out that if people want to be a lawyer, accountant or paralegal, it's pretty clear how to do it; but if they want to contribute to building peace, they need something ex- tra. "Finding a path has not been it is such a complex and sensitive area," he says. "People don't want people looking at their values and judging if they're adequate. When we realized this, we held a confer- ence where there was a passionate exchange of views, which gave us pause, but afterwards we decided that we can't claim to be accredit- ing in this fi eld without looking at people's values. Now that we've done it, the comments are all to the eff ect [that] obviously, you have to do that. Th ere's no criti- cism now, just reinforcement." Th e organization's approach 'Lots of people do the competencies, but assessing values is a sticky area,' says Richard Moore. easy as there have been no inter- national precedents for the assess- ment of values. Lots of people do the competencies, but assessing values is a sticky area." Gordon Breedyk, co-chairman of the peace service's co-ordinating committee, has done extensive research into attempts by overseas peace groups to scrutinize core val- ues. "Th ere were some who tried and abandoned the eff ort because ENGAGING UNIONIZED EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEE MORALE AND PRODUCTIVITY Blaine Donais HOW TO BUILD A MORE PRODUCTIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIP This is the first book dedicated to employee engagement in the unionized work environment. Written by conflict management expert Blaine Donais, this text gives you the practical tools and guidance necessary to achieve an engaged unionized workforce. 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"We use a triangula- tion approach," Breedyk says. "We ask a candidate to do a self- assessment. It's very structured. We say, 'Here's our defi nition. What do you understand by, say, empathy? How have you applied it and how have you seen it make a diff erence in your practice?' "Th en we look at their cur- riculum vitae. We don't put a lot of stock in that, but it helps us prepare for the interview. We ask for references, two profes- sional and one personal. We have found that it is critical to ask very specifi c questions of the referee. From a combination of the self- assessment and the referee feed- back, we prepare a two-hour in- terview based on values alone. We structure it as a discussion. We are currently considering whether to add in various scenarios or group settings to see how people react to the challenge of building a project under pressure." Th e organization uses a three- member board of an academic, a practitioner, and someone with development experience to do the assessments. Breedyk has acted as an observer for the fi ve assessments conducted so far, of which two were successful. "It was intriguing and magical to watch these particular people interviewed," he notes, adding that unsuccessful candidates received feedback and a writ- ten summary so they could ad- dress their shortcomings and try again in the future. Th e fi rst two accredited peace professionals in Canada are Ben Hoff man and Yves Morneau. Candidates found the pro- cess enlightening, according to Breedyk. "One candidate came into the process with skepticism but became fascinated by the process and said he'd never been through anything like it. People take their defi nitions of values for granted. Th is senior per- son in the fi eld had never really thought about them, they were just assumptions." Th e second part of the process addresses competencies. "Competencies is the easier part," says Breedyk. "Th ere are courses through universities, private companies, and interna- tional organizations. Experience is more diffi cult to come by. Some groups will allow people to go on projects as volunteers or paid workers, but it's the old dilemma. Everyone wants you to have the experience before they'll give you the experience." Th ere are now several profes- sors and one international peace worker in line for the accredi- tation process. Moore believes lawyers are prime candidates for a career in peace building, although he has one qualifi ca- tion. "A lot of lawyers have ex- perience with ADR within the formal court system. It might be useful to have experience outside of that in more informal settings like community work." Another group the organiza- tion hopes to draw in is young professionals. "I get calls regu- larly from young people who want training or, more sadly, have taken training and don't know how to get work or experience," Moore says. "Th ere is no place I can point to that gives young in- dividuals experience." A conference in February aimed to engage young profes- sionals in the process. Th e goal of the workshop was to develop a civilian youth peace service program that will train young people in the competencies of non-violent confl ict manage- ment and provide employment opportunities for them to use those skills professionally. Breedyk notes the current ac- creditation process is geared to- wards someone with a fair bit of experience and has built up some confi dence but he doesn't think age is a point of departure. "Some young people come in with great confi dence and skill, but we've been asked to explore the pos- sibility of a modifi ed process for young people to give them some direction. Th ey might have con- cluded that they can't satisfy the process but they want to know how to get to where they can." It's not yet clear how well the new designation will play out internationally, but Moore and Breedyk are encouraged by the positive feedback they've received from other profession- als. "Chartered arbitrators and chartered mediators are seen as gold standard in Canada," says Moore. "Over time, people will become familiar with the des- ignation and with the people and the work they do. I would expect that internationally it will be seen as important." April 4, 2011 • lAw Times

• Cover
• Helping Hands
• Handcuffed Courts
• Focus On ADR/Mediation