This panel of distinguished guests will discuss emerging visions for family mediation in North Dakota. All of the panelists served on the Subcommittee for Family Mediation in North Dakota, appointed by the Joint Committee on ADR, and as such, were given the task of creating the protocol for best practices of family mediation for the Supreme Court's new pilot project on family mediation. Join the panel to hear how family mediation has grown and developed in the State, what we learned in the process of creating the protocol, and what possible impacts the new pilot project may have.

  We love cars. Unfortunately, that has caused an explosion of road rage, among other things. We need to transform how we interact with other transportation system users so we can continue to be mobile while enjoying a sustainable, peaceful society. This presentation will show how a transformative approach worked to alleviate conflict after a Critical Mass bike protest turned into a police riot in Minneapolis, MN, and how we can use that example as a model for transforming our own transportation conflicts.

  In this interactive workshop we will look at 3 maps that can give directions about which way to turn in understanding conflict. Practical applications for analyzing what is going on in your own head or in a relationship you encounter at work or at home. These are especially useful tools for navigating the tension that develops in a relationship when we withhold our thoughts and feelings from the other party. Transformative moments happen when we are able to identify and explain "where we are at" to our self and to the other party.

  This session will offer a description of a Minnesota Department of Corrections transformative workplace conflict resolution system and detail twelve specific steps that can lead to effective change in organizational dynamic and context. Liberal question and answer time will be allowed to engage participants in their own topics of transformative organizational change.

  Understand conflict theory and community development through the practice and teaching of Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Living in harmony requires skills for experiences of disharmony. We will teach the fundamental process of NVC - observations, feelings, needs and requests - with the philosophical concepts of creating a world where everyone's need are met. Moving from domination to partnership is a paradigm shift for transforming communities. NVC offers a process and practice that facilitates changes in consciousness.

  Participants in this workshop will learn more about the transformative model for mediation and conflict intervention as described in "The Promise of Mediation" (Bush, Folger 1994, 2004). Descriptions of various theories and models for mediation and how they each impact participation, control of the process, and outcomes will be compared. The historical use of two models of mediation by the UND Conflict Resolution Center will be discussed in order to provide real examples of transformative mediation in practice.

  This session will explore the application of the principles of navigation to the process of conducting group conflict assessments and interventions. Inspired by personal leadership and mediation stories, participants will have the opportunity to interact with and learn to use several assessment tools that have been proven helpful in the process of helping groups get unstuck. Navigating Conflict is a fusion of the disciplines of organizational development and mediation and is an ideal session for leaders and mediators alike.

  In 1998 Federal, State and Local water management agencies signed an agreement, after 18 months of mediation that established goals and a process for flood damage reduction and natural resource enhancement in Minnesota's part of the Red River Basin. Implementing that agreement has proven challenging. The situation leading to the need for mediation, the mediation process used, and the ongoing implementation of the agreement will be discussed.

  The Inipi, or sweatlodge ceremony is a traditional ceremony practiced by Native American tribes throughout the United States for social, spiritual, physical, and emotional healing and well-being. This session will explain the myriad uses and functions of the sweat, and participants will have the opportunity to participate in a sweat later in the day led by local spiritual leaders. (Be advised that participants will sit through an entire sweat lodge ceremony. Individuals with heart conditions or with low heat tolerance are forewarned)

  Participants will learn different processes to assess, and improve, one's practice as a transformative mediator. By means of video examples, participants will learn how to link their interventions as a mediator to fundamental premises of the transformative orientation.

  Recovering addicts and their families are a very conflicted group. For the addict, it's as familiar as the first step of Alcoholic Anonymous. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable. Families also deal with unmanageability and most have withdrawn support allowing their loved one to free fall toward complete conflict and chaos.

  The work of conflict management, transformative mediation and homeostatic model training, allows addicts and families to develop a language and deeper understanding of fundamental dynamics of conflict and normalizes the emotional gymnastics generally part of the recovery process for all parties.