The pandemic has brought about changes that none of us would have anticipated. Personally, before this all started, I was not in favour of online mediation and had barely heard of Zoom. With the initial lockdown, I gloomily assumed that work would simply fall away.
 
Here we are, 8 months on, and Core now has as many mediations occurring online as we would have had in pre-pandemic days. And nearly all have resulted in satisfactory outcomes for all concerned. Not only that but we have been able to be much more flexible in how we go about it, to the advantage of those involved - including in particular the parties themselves. I wrote a blog about it in the early summer. Even more extraordinary in some ways is that online training (including our Summer School) has also really blossomed with outstanding results for those taking part. Who would have imagined indeed...
 
The year since March has been markedly different in other ways. Major developments have been:

What will 2021 bring?  It would be folly to try to predict but, after this year, we ought to be reassured by our collective ability to adapt and improvise in these strange and uncertain times, while also remembering those who have not been able to do so.

"Being able to focus on the organisation’s needs rather than the people really transformed my thinking. And bringing that focus also helped everyone involved to shift to a positive position" - Anna Fowlie, CEO, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
 

During 2020, Core's mediations included these topics: professional negligence regarding tax advice, public sector service provision, large infrastructure projects, surveyors negligence, insolvency, employment and management, serious injury claims, succession to a family estate, agriculture and farming, bullying and harassment claims, restrictive covenants, property construction, partnership claims, and family business issues.

“I want to thank you for the work you did with us because I am convinced it was the turning point for me personally and I am also pretty sure my colleague would likely say something similar.  I find myself talking a lot about how you worked with us and the changes it produced when advising other people in similar stuck... situations.” - Mediation client, 2020

Read John Sturrock's recent publications:

Mediators' Green Pledge will form foundation of sector's response to climate change 
- The Scotsman, 29 October 2020

Reflections on the US Election 2020 
- November 2020

Recognising Trauma:  Litigation and Politics are Harming Us 
- Kluwer Mediation Blog, 28 November 2020

Might a version of what we do in mediation help develop and strengthen bonds between organisations that want to move beyond a merely transactional relationship to work more closely together to deliver a more effective service? 

Core Associate, Charlie Woods' article in Kluwer Mediation Blog, 8 October 2020

Read more.

 

A Mediator’s Musings by John Sturrock.

 

Riders on the Storm by Alastair McIntosh – one of the best summaries of climate change science – and a challenge to deniers and alarmists, while inviting us all to live differently.

 

Greed is Dead – Politics after Individualism by Paul Collier and John Kay – mediation features in this timely and wise analysis by two leading economists.

 

The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu – the authorship tells you all you need to know!

 

The Justice Factory by Ian Mitchell – a provocative book, second edition published in late 2020, for those interested in the Scottish justice and political system.