Glencree All-Island Women Peacebuilders Receive Mediation Training Certificates

27/2/2024: Glencree Women's Leadership Programme wrapped up it's most recent 2-day Mediation Training workshop with the presentation of certificates to participants in Dundalk last week. Among those who completed this follow-up stage of the training workshops were programme participants and members of the Glencree All-Island Women's Peacebuilding Network who had completed the Introduction to Mediation Training workshops held in August and October 2023.

Facilitated by Certified MII Mediator, Catherine O'Connell, the main focus of this latest workshop was the connection between theory and practice, and building up practical experience of participants. Key activities included role play, small group and whole group work, peer support and advice, and sharing facilitator experience and feedback.

With participant feedback an important element in informing the ongoing development of the Women’s Leadership Programme, key learnings and outcomes highlighted by participants included:

Mediation Skills:

- opportunity to practise mediation skills and gain confidence
- better insight and understanding of the whole mediation process
- unpredictability of the mediation process and the need of mediators to better manage the questions
- role of the mediator as facilitator rather than problem solver
- building trust with participants
- learning to listen, without judgement
- importance of reflective practice and more training
- skill of moving a discussion forward with the help of carefully timed and deliberately worded questions
- ability to recognising and managing one's own triggers and 'hot buttons'
- ability to identify the needs, interests, positions and requests from client narratives
- do's and don'ts of the mediation process

Relationship-building and Well-being:
The workshop also provided an important opportunity for participants to reconnect with fellow participants and members of the Glencree team following the earlier workshops in the series, and to build new relationships. Providing an opportunity for the women to pause in a busy and fast paced schedule, to rest, reflect and connect meaningfully was also highlighted as crucial to capacity-building, enhancing learning, upskilling and help in preventing burn out.

This latest workshop is part of an ongoing series of mediation training being undertaken by the Glencree Women's Leadership Programme. In December, the programme also launched a new ‘Mediation in Practice’ series. This initiative is designed to support and further build the capacity of programme participants and members of the Glencree All-Island Women’s Peacebuilding Network to engage in processes that promote peacebuilding. The Mediation in Practice series will also continue throughout 2024.

Ends.

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Participants in the Glencree Women's Leadership Programme Mediation Training Skills Workshop receive their certificates

In Their Words: How our participants summed up the Mediation Training workshop