Major Events in 2009

Undoubtedly the highlight of the year was the visit of Harvard’s William Ury, who made such a strong impact in the Parliament, with business leaders, with faith groups and in his powerful Master Class at The Hub.

This was followed by a second visit by another good friend from the States, Ken Cloke, who also engaged at the highest levels and made a deep impression, not least at the historic conference on conflict resolution involving the churches in Scotland.

We also welcomed Michael Leathes to a dinner of IP specialists, and were privileged to speak at or be involved in several conferences in London, Edinburgh, New York, Copenhagen, Dundee, Dublin, Glasgow and elsewhere.

Our Multi-Party Dialogue workshops, most recently in early December, were enthusiastically received.

Other highlights of the year include:

• Prior to the Copenhagen COP 15 climate change summit, John Sturrock was privileged to facilitate discussions involving business and civic society leaders in response to the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Delivery Plan.  He then chaired a Scottish Government event in Copenhagen at which Scotland presented its plans to create a low carbon economy. Click here  and here to read John’s articles in The Scotsman during the conference, during which he and Charlie Woods also attended the Mediators Beyond Borders meetings. 

• Also this year, John Sturrock was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) and received an award as Mediator of the Year. Pamela Lyall attended the IAM conference in London and featured in the UK listing of mediators in Chambers Guide along with John Sturrock, who was again named in Band 1.

• Both Pam and John were among the founding mediators listed in the International Mediation Institute directory. Charlie Woods addressed a number of conferences following Core’s involvement in drafting the Scottish Government’s Guide to the Use of Mediation in Planning in Scotland and Hugh Donald was prominent in mediation workshops at the churches conference. Calum Macneill QC and Judith Scott were well received as mediators this year.