How well do you perform in making Scotland a better place to live?

Dec, 2018

"One of the privileges of my role is that I am invited to do things which give me an insight into aspects of life of which I might not otherwise be aware. Recently, I have been working with the Scottish Leaders Forum Strategic Leadership Group as it seeks to help the public sector and other ­leaders meet the challenges of Brexit and ­other events."

Festive Core News

Dec, 2018

Training opportunities, forthcoming events, mediation articles and blogs and other pieces for your interest.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

A View from Frankfurt

Nov, 2018

"My last blog reflected on an excellent mediation conference in Frankfurt on the Oder where the strength which comes from working together was clear. I started this present blog on the day that the EU agreed the terms of the UK’s departure from the organisation that has..."

Demonstration of an Early Joint Meeting

Nov, 2018

This is an example of one way a mediator might encourage parties in mediation to engage with each other at an early stage. Filmed in Athens, September 2018.

Insider: Report: Dispute Resolution

Nov, 2018

This article in the November edition of Insider, in which John Sturrock was interviewed, discusses the impact of Brexit on dispute resolution in Scotland. 

Mediation and Cups of Tea

Nov, 2018

What effect can negotiating over a cuppa have during a mediation?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Mediator Engagement in Politics – and other things we care about

Oct, 2018

"At a recent excellent conference hosted by Professor Ulla Glaesser at Viadrina University in Frankfurt (Oder), one of the workshop sessions focussed on the extent to which mediators can or should disclose or express their views when engaged in politically-related mediation work – or more generally."

A Universal Declaration of Interdependance is needed

Oct, 2018

"Not long ago, I read a review of Yuval Noah Harari’s new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. The message contained in it was so stark that I found myself temporarily paralysed with fear about the future."

Brexit will put up barriers the EU was made to pull down

Oct, 2018

"I don't understand how you British could give up so easily. We've been trying for years to get into the EU. People lost their lives. You call it a prison. You have no understanding of what it is like for us. We know about prisons. Your Brexit vote was demoralising and played into the hands of anti-Europeans in my country."

72+ Hours in a Life

Oct, 2018

"In a period of a little over 72 hours, everything I have learned in the past twenty years and all the roles I have aspired to play converged in a remarkable series of events..."

Autumn Core News

Oct, 2018

Training opportunities, forthcoming events, mediation articles and blogs and other pieces for your interest.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Letting Go

Sep, 2018

"'The last great act of a courageous leader is to let go', I suggested to the CEO as he pondered whether this was in fact a good time to step down.... He was holding on for his own reasons, unsure what the future would hold for him, uncertain about what he would do and where he could turn. He needed a prompt, permission, to accept responsibility.."

Diaries shed personal and professional light on Law Lord

Sep, 2018

Earlier this year, John Sturrock commented on the first of Lord Hope’s Diaries. He now reflects on the latest volume, which covers Lord Hope’s time as Lord President and is a fascinating account of a rapidly changing era.

Originally published in The Scotsman on 3 September 2018.

Guerrilla Gardening – and a Plea for a Universal Declaration of Interdependence

Aug, 2018

“Some ideas take seed... so, here is another seed. What might we do to reassert our sense of identity as part of the whole? How might might we express our need for, and dependence on, each other, as an antidote to isolation, silos and alienation?”

Time to make more of resolution option

Aug, 2018

The appointment of the new Cabinet Secretary for Justice is a good opportunity to ask some questions: What kind of dispute resolution system do we wish to encourage in contemporary Scotland? How should public money and resources be deployed to achieve the best results?...

Originally published as an article in The Scotsman  on 6 August 2018.

Paddling against the Current: Embodied Conflict

Jul, 2018

"If we are to add real value and take this field to where it needs to go, we simply must keep paddling, persevering, trying to acquire greater mastery of the difficult stuff, and overcoming our fear of social failure or appearance of technical incompetence."

To Understand Trump, Study his Mother's Trauma

Jul, 2018

"President Trump’s visit has provoked much comment on the behaviour and attitudes demonstrated by this most unusual man. Not so much attention has been paid to what lies beneath. Just what makes a man act and speak as he does? An answer may lie in his Scottish roots." Originally published in The Times.

Summer Core News

Jun, 2018

Residential Summer School, Reflections on IAM Conference and visit by William Ury and more...

The Edinburgh Declaration of International Mediators

Jun, 2018

This article, originally published in The Scotsman, was written in the aftermath of the annual International Academy of Mediators conference that took place in Edinburgh on 10-12 May. During the conference, nearly 100 mediators signed a declaration setting out what they believe in and commit to.

The certainties of the past will no longer afford security in the future

Jun, 2018

"It is becoming more and more evident that a binary approach to important political questions is no longer fit for purpose.  It is also fairly obvious that the certainties of the past will no longer afford security in the future. We live in an uncertain, ambiguous and somewhat paradoxical world. We need to find ways to enable our decision-making to be confidently nuanced, subject to change, provisional, open to multiple options, willing to adapt." Originally published in The Scotsman.