In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) at Conrad Grebel University College, we are proud and excited to be hosting the Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship (ICPF) conference from February 9-11, 2018. The three day conference will explore the meaning, history, and practice of restorative justice by discussing different approaches, its use in different cultural contexts, the teaching of restorative justice principles, and how alumni from the PACS department are engaged in this important work.
Restorative justice is a method of "addressing conflict and crime that enables the person who caused the harm, people who were affected by the harm, and the community to create a meaningful solution. In contrast to the traditional justice system in Canada, which seeks to establish a punishment for each act of wrongdoing assuming that will contribute to victim and societal satisfaction, restorative justice focuses on repairing damages and restoring relationships. It is not a specific model, but a set of principles that can be flexibly applied to a variety of situations of conflict" (Community Justice Initiatives, 2017).
The conference will include a number of speakers, most of whom are part of the extended Grebel community, to host a variety of workshops that explore different aspects of restorative justice. While the talent for the conference is locally obtained from Waterloo, conference participants are students invited from schools all over Canada and the U.S., including Mennonite schools, whom are eager to learn more about restorative justice and what it has to offer.
The ICPF conference is an annual student led event that rotates among Mennonite-affiliated colleges in the U.S. and Canada. It is being organized by a group of passionate University of Waterloo students, for students. The conference also provides student participants the opportunity to travel from schools all over the continent, to collaborate and discuss on the topic of restorative justice with other students that share the same interest in peace and justice.
To learn more about attending the ICPF conference, check out our website.