The Restorative Justice for All Institute (RJ4All) is pleased to announce the 3rd International Symposium on Restorative Justice under the theme "Disciplining and Taking Restorative Justice Forward: From Research & Theory to International Policy & Practice".

The Symposium will be held 17-24 June 2016, in Skopelos, Greece. The event will build upon the successful model of the 1st International Symposium on Restorative Justice 2012  and the 2nd International Symposium on Restorative Justice 2014  that had the format of an ancient Greek symposium allowing in-depth discussion, relationship building and self-reflection. The presentations were then published as Gavrielides, T. and Artinopoulou, V. (2013)  "Reconstructing Restorative Justice Philosophy, Furnam: Ashgate. 

To see photos from the 2012 symposium please follow this link. Photos from the 2014 Symposium can be found here.

Itinerary

• 16/17 June: Arrival in Athens
• 17 June: Event  on the ancient and secret ground of Plato’s Academy & welcome reception under the Acropolis
• 18 June: Departure from Athens to Skopelos
• 19 June: Mamma Mia tour in Skopelos (complementary)
• 19 June: Symposium Opening evening ceremony in Skopelos (complementary - refreshments and light dinner)
• 20-23 June: Symposium sessions (morning and afternoons, complementary refreshments)
• 24 June: Social Programme and Closing evening Symposium ceremony
• 25 June: Departure from Skopelos to Athens

The theme & Impetus

Unlike traditional conferences, ancient Greek Symposia aim to build relationships amongst the participants and through these bonds foster deep and honest dialogue about matters that most institutions tend to shy away from. Gavrielides and Artinopoulou wrote about the Symposium methodology in the book that resulted from the 1^st Symposium.

In 2016, RJ4All will bring together international experts from a range of disciplines to address the issue of moving restorative justice beyond theory and research to international policy and practice. At a critical point for international policy reform, we will apply a multi-disciplinary approach to answer questions for international players (e.g. European Commission, the UN), national governments and policy fora. Key topics to be covered:

• Delivering justice and criminal justice in a difficult financial climate
• Addressing the lack of morality and ethics in businesses, banking and financial institutions
• Understanding, preventing and mitigating international terror while respecting human rights and liberties
• Balancing the rights of all those affected by conflict (victims, offenders, families and communities).

Institutions worldwide have invested millions on research programmes aiming to address these key concerns and yet we are far from achieving consensus and indeed real outcomes. The Symposium will debate issues impacting horizontally and vertically on all the aforementioned global concerns. Our intention is two fold. First, to enhance knowledge and second to create ground breaking international policy for better criminal justice and justice practice. Submitted abstracts for the 2016 Symposium already cover issues such as:

• The real world crisis
• Learning from First Nations People
• Solution focused practices for victims
• The role of mindfulness and spirituality
• Achieving organisational cultural change
• Changing prison, parole and probation
• Evaluation and impact assessment for restorative justice
• The role of art and design for criminal and restorative justice policy and practice
• Why conflicts are not property.

This is a special, 7 day highly scientific event, structured around the values of friendship, respect, academic rigour and confidentiality. 

• The Symposium Programme
• The Symposium Abstracts
• Delegates
• Registration
• Accommodation
• Travelling information
• Sponsors
• Social Programme

Delegates

1. ORGANISER: Prof Theo Gavrielides, Co- Director RJ4All Institute, UK​
2. ORGANISER: Prof Vasso Artinopoulou,  Co- Director RJ4All Institute, Greece
3. ​SECRETARIAT: Iro Michael, RJ4All Institute, Greece
4. SECRETARIAT: Alexandra Koufouli, RJ4All Institute, Greece
5. Prof Lorraine Gamman, Professor of Design at the University of the Arts London; Director Design Against Crime Research Centre, UK
6. Mr John Apsouris, Group General Counsel, Hellenic Petroleum S.A., Greece
7. Ms Penelope Griffith, Executive Director, Collaborative Solutions for Communities, USA
8. Ms Jasmina Nikolic, Victimology Society of Serbia, Serbia
9. Prof Vesna Nikolic-Ristanovic, Director, Victimology Society of Serbia; Professor, Faculty for Special Education, Belgrade University, Serbia
10. Ms Karla Olinek, Justice Coordinator for the Nak'azdli Alternate Justice Centre, Canada
11. Ms Margaret Thorsborne, pioneer of restorative approaches in education and workplaces - Practitioner, facilitator, trainer, consultant, author, Australia
12. Dr Lorenn Walker, Health educator, Restorative lawyer; Director, Hawai’i Friends of Restorative Justice, USA
13. Dr Jane Bolitho, School of Social Sciences, UNSW, Australia
14. Dr William Wood, Senior lecturer, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University; Associate editor, Victims & Offenders, Australia
15. Dr Anne Hayden, Research Associate of Office of Pro Vice-Chancellor, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand 
16. Mr Steve Brady, Trauma-Informed Counsellor, Restorative Practices Trainer & Facilitator, Australia
17. Judge Evangelia Palaiologou, PhD, Honorary Judge, Chairman of “Association of Greek Judges and Prosecutors for the Democracy and the Liberties”, Greece

Please follow the link to read delegates' biographies.

Accommodation

Due to limited transport options on the island, only in town accommodation will be arranged.  We have reserved one of the best hotels on the island: Prince Stafylos Hotel. For your convenience, RJ4All has arranged the following fees for excellent accommodation by the sea. Please also note that these fees refer to high quality hotels, close to the symposium’s meeting point for the complimentary shuttle bus service which will be provided for the meetings of the participants on the island. 

Registration

RJ4All is a not for profit organisation with no additional income for this event. We have secured some funding for this event and we have used this to subsidise costs for everyone.

The registration fee covers the following: 

• Opening evening reception in Athens including refreshments (Friday 17 June)
• Welcome reception in Skopelos including refreshments and light food (Sunday 19 June)
• Inland transportation (shuttle bus) in Skopelos
• Delegates' pack and stationary
• Administration for the event
• Refreshments during presentations
• Subsidised cost for dinners and lunches (offered at reduced prices)
• Publication and conference material

Please kindly note that the registration fee does not cover accommodation and travelling costs (flights, taxis etc). We will help you search for the best flight tickets. Costs can be varied (e.g. from London, if booked early there are flights for £75 return). Flight costs will be covered directly by the participants. 

For a more detailed description of the total costs please see the table below:

Payment options:

1. Use this paypal link  
2. BACS & Invoice please contact: RJsymposium@rj4all.info

(*Please note that registration fee is not refundable)

For more information on attendance and registration, travelling and accommodation, funding and sponsorships, as well as important dates and deadlines, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Sponsors 

This event is unfunded and run on our Institute's non-profit principle. Individuals or organisations with an interest to sponsor or support this international initiative should get in touch to discuss the details and the available packages. 

The organizations and companies below kindly sponsored and supported the event:

HELLENIC PETROLEUM – with special acknowledgements to the President of the Board, Prof. E. Tsotsoros 

IOANNIS LYRAS, MD & Dr. PARI RAPTI 

Local supporters:

City of Athens Organization of Culture, Sports and Youth – Municipality of Athens 

Municipality of Skopelos – Δήμος Σκοπέλου

Kastani Beach Bar

Prince Stafylos Hotel – Skopelos Town

Blue Melody Apartments – Skopelos Town

Dolphin of Skopelos Agency

Episkopi Skopelou – Skopelos Town

Adrina Resort & Spa  – Panormos, Skopelos

P'tharakia cocktail bar – Glossa, Skopelos

Elios Sea House – Elios, Skopelos         

The Muses Restaurant – Skopelos Town

Molos Restaurant  - Old Port, Skopelos Town

Gyalos Restaurant –Skopelos town  

Photogramma Ltd – Cyprus