Learning mediation from the world's best experts
Recently, the first- and second-year students of the Education and Research Institute of Communications of West Ukrainian National University majoring in Psychology of Negotiation and Mediation underwent a series of training sessions on developing practical mediation skills, led by Jan van Zwieten, Rector of the Netherlands Business Academy, Honorary Professor of WUNU.
Future negotiators and mediators are trained in a mixed mode, especially when it comes to classes with invited practitioners from different parts of the world, given the difficulties we are experiencing during the full-scale war in Ukraine. While lectures via video link could be quite productive, professional skills need to be trained live. Therefore, the ERIC has foreign lecturers who periodically come to Ukraine to meet with students to conduct high-quality practical classes in Ternopil and Kyiv.
Mastering the non-violent culture of dialogue together with a practitioner with vast experience, chairman of the board of the Dutch Quality Foundation for Mediators SKM, president of the Federation of Mediators of the Netherlands, a practicing mediator, coach, trainer, court mediator of the Court of Breda (Netherlands) is a unique opportunity for Ukrainian students.
The trainees studied the best European peacekeeping practices in the mediation system, basic mediator skills, the structure of mediation, questioning techniques, classification of mediation procedures, etc.
The second-year students studied the practice of mediation procedures, practiced conducting a mediation session from start to finish, practiced solving real cases from the lecturer's work, determined the criteria and algorithm for analysing cases for mediability, worked through all the stages of mediation over and over again, drafted mediation agreements, etc.
In general, the training sessions covered a broad range of topics related to theory and practice, including mediation simulations, role-playing exercises, group work, case studies, and analysis of video mediations by world-class practitioners.
We sincerely thank Professor Jan van Zwieten for his support and insightful experience.
