Conference at Adelaide, South Australia
University of South Australia
City West Campus
70 North Terrace, Adelaide
29 November - 1 December 2001

The Centre for Peace, Conflict & Mediation at the University of South Australia convened the inaugural Asia Pacific Mediation Forum from 29 November to 1 December 2001.  A major sponsor for this forum was the World Mediation Forum (WMF) - a not-for-profit global organisation committed to the ideals of continuing education, learning and promotion in the field of conflict management and dispute resolution. 

The venue was the City West campus of the University of South Australia, in the north-western corner of Adelaide city, about a 10-minute walk (or free bus trip) from the city centre. Campus map.

Forum Theme - Reconciliation: Conversations Beyond Cultural Boundaries

The theme of this first forum was chosen to encourage exploration of the assumptions, knowledge and skills underpinning various intra-cultural conflict management processes, their application to cross-cultural conflicts and to mediation in different cultural contexts.

The Forum included presenters and participants from more than eighteen countries in the region and from diverse professional backgrounds and fields of practice.

The conference program offered participants a choice of over 70 presentations in five streams, with a variety of formats including panels, papers, workshops, conversations and dialogues. Opportunities were also be provided for poster presentations and private conversations.

For more information about the range of speakers and their topics visit the Program page.

Poster sessions were available throughout the conference in the Atrium, Yungondi Building, UniSA City West Campus, 70 North Terrace, Adelaide.

The forum formally commenced at 1.00 pm with a welcome from the conference convenor, DALE BAGSHAW, and the opening address by Dr LOWITJA O’DONOGHUE AC CBE who is one of the most admired and influential Aboriginal women in Australia's history. Dr O'Donoghue was introduced by the University of South Australia's Vice Chanellor - Professor DENISE BRADLEY.

Another keynote presenter on this day was Professor KAY SCHAFFER: Telling, Witnessing and Responsibility: Reconstituting the Body Politic.

On Thursday evening DR JOSE RAMOS HORTA, Senior Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Second Transitional Government of East Time, Nobel Prize Laureate, was Keynote Speaker on the topic: Bridging religious and cultural divides. 

A keynote workshop Cross-Cultural Mediation by COMMISSIONER JAN JUNG_MIN SUNOO: (Commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Office of International and Dispute Resolution Services, California) featured among a variety of other presentations today.

The plenary session included presenters from different countries in the region.

To pre-empt the World Mediation Forum’s IV Congress in Argentina in 2002, the conference dinner featured a Latin American band. PROFESSOR JUAN TAUSK from Argentina gave a brief presentation. Guests at the dinner were welcomed by Tongan dancers.

MR GRAEME NEATE, the President of the Australian National Native Title Tribunal and Ms CHRISTINA SICKLES MERCHANT, author of Designing Conflict Management Systems were the keynote speakers today, along with many other presenters.

Advanced Skills Workshops (2 hours each) were available as part of the conference program to conference delegates after lunch on Saturday. COMMISSIONER JAN JUNG-MIN SUNOO and BRENDA SUNOO focused on Managing grief in the Workplace and SHIRLI KIRSCHNER repeated her Keynote Workshop on Designing Conflict Management Systems. JUDGE HUGH LANDERKIN and PROFESSOR ANDREW PIRIE conducted an Advanced Workshop outlining their approach to training judges in Canada. An opportunity was provided for mediators to share their successes and failures in a fourth workshop organised by MICHAEL WILLIS.

About the World Mediation Forum

The World Mediation Forum (WMF)  is a not-for-profit global organisation committed to the ideals of continuing education, learning and promotion in the field of conflict management and dispute resolution. Its primary functions are to organise conferences, congresses, lectures and publications to fulfil its objective of the exchange and development of knowledge and skills of mediation and conflict management.

The WMF convenes global forums bi-annually and sponsors national and regional forums in the years in-between. Dale Bagshaw is the Vice President of the WMF and Professor Juan Tausk is also on the WMF Steering Committee. Juan is convening the next WMF Congress in Argentina.

It is hoped that this will be the first of many WMF sponsored forums in the Asia Pacific region. Another is planned for Singapore in November 2003.

A Delegation from the Asia Pacific region was formed on the Saturday of the Forum to attend the IV WMF Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November 2002 (now postponed to 2003).

For further information please feel free to contact:

Asia Pacific Mediation Forum 2001 Executive Committee

Dale Bagshaw, Sylvia Emmett, Shirli Kirschner, Lesley Gruit and Ann Braybon.

Program Selection Committee

Dale Bagshaw, Associate Professor Di Bretherton, Sylivia Emmett, Shirli Kirschner, Professor Alison Mackinnon, John Steele

This conference was sponsored by the World Mediation Forum, the University of South Australia, The Hawke Institute, and the Department of Defence.

 Related sites: Ausdispute | Conflict Management Research Group | AAPAE Conference

Disclaimer | Copyright (c) 2001 University of South Australia  

Updated 05 March 2007