Schools are tasked with helping children to become socially competent(er), both in the on- and offline world. If conflicts occur, schools find out how they can tackle this behaviour and prevent it in the future. Schools cover various tracks here. More and more schools have understood that they can actively involve children and young people in their preventive and problem-solving approach. They integrate methodologies and programmes that give children and young people the opportunity to take responsibility when a conflict occurs. Some of these methods and programmes are looked at more closely in this article. The article concludes with a future-oriented dream that responds to some current educational needs.

In 1976 the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, about corporate social responsibility and sustainability, were carried. To implement the guidelines national contact points inform people and enterprises, and mediate in case of a complaint. This article describes the structure, procedure and role of the Dutch and Belgian National Contact Points.

Luc Vanheeswijck summarizes the current position of tax mediation in Belgium and outlines the differences between the Belgian and Dutch mediation method in fiscal matters. He also outlines the differences between mediation in tax matters and ‘classic’ mediation. He concludes that Belgian tax mediation is not mediation as is commonly understood. The article closes on a description of the results of de ‘Fiscale Bemiddelingsdienst’ (the Fiscal Mediation Service).

In this article Emese von Bóné discusses the main findings of a Netherlands research (report) into the origin and functioning of the Belgian justice de paix and the French juge de proximité, the successor of the French justice de paix. The report also provides avenues how this type of adjudication could be implemented in the Dutch administration of justice.

The new Belgian law on collaborative conflict resolution installs a disqualification clause, which parties have to sign before starting the negotiations. If they cannot resolve their dispute, they agree to stop the negotiations in advance. What skills do the lawyers need to make collaborative conflict resolution a success?

The Family Justice Centers are an international model where victims of domestic violence and child abuse can find all help needed under one roof. The FJCs are a collaboration of police, justice, welfare, help centers and authorities. The main target is empowering survivors of violence.
The development of the FJC-model is situated in an evolution of the approach of these forms of violence, starting with the recognition of violence against women and child abuse towards a multidisciplinary and collaborative model starting from the needs of survivors of violence. The FJC-model is explained from a field worker point of view and further developments and expected evolutions are mentioned.

Since 2004 all students in Flemish universities and university colleges have the right to file an internal appeal within their institution against a negative study progress decision. This contribution gives an overview on what the current legal framework of such an internal appeals procedure looks like and aims to discuss some focal points (the composition of the committee, the hearing of a student, formal aspects when filing the appeal, …) when developing such a procedure.

Deepening democracy could be a way to meet contemporary and future challenges of society. In such a way there is place for engagement and wisdom of civilians, accomplished by mediated discussion.

In recent years in The Netherlands around 120 mayors were trained as mediator. Focus of this multi method research was to collect the view of those mayors on – the future of - mediation as a tool in local public administration. More specific in conflicts with citizens, industry and other shareholders. Response rates on online survey was below standards but yield some descriptive aspects of this mayor group. Focus groups were informative. Mediation in local public administration is an accepted and successful phenomenon fact and will be further incorporated. Those mayors were pioneers and innovators but want to pass this method to organizational levels. One plead for incorporating principles and practice of mediation in all administrative processes and protocols.

Wendy Hensen analyzes the current Belgian legislation on tax mediation from the perspective of the traditional mediation doctrine. This legislation is in no way connected to the general set of rules on mediation incorporated into the Judicial Code. The question arises whether an internal comparative study between the two separate schemes can shed more light on potential bottlenecks in the current regulation. A comparison reveals significant differences in regard to the importance attributed to certain key elements of mediation, namely the principles of voluntary participation, confidentiality, party self-determination as well as the involvement of an independent and impartial third party who uses mediation methods and techniques. The customary interpretation and understanding of the concept ‘mediation’ apparently doesn’t apply to tax mediation. A brief overview of the Dutch mediation practice in fiscal affairs shows that a more holistic approach, in respect of the aforementioned principles, is nonetheless possible.

The rapid and ongoing development of the Internet has greatly affected new types and sources of conflict but also the ways conflicts are handled. Nowadays, more and more mediation service providers offer online tools to manage conflicts, going from fully e-supported mediations to hybrid mediations which are partly face to face (F2F) and partly computerized. Despite the increasing use of different types of e-supported mediation, practitioners and scholars know little about their effects or under which conditions different types of e-supported tools are best used. This contribution focuses on the role e-tools may play in text based mediations (mainly labor and divorce mediations) which are mediated by a human mediator. We hope to provide third parties of all sort (mediators, practitioners, consultants, managers, etc.) with practical guidelines for the use of e-supported mediation.

A specialist needs an instrument to be effective. For a doctor it is his stethoscope, for a lawyer it is the law books, for a psychologist it is the psychological tests and for a mediator it is the mediation matrix. This article explains how to operate the mediation matrix, that is based upon the Transactional Analysis theory and cybernetics. It can be used as a route planner that helps the mediator to explain to his client what he is doing, how he does that and why he does that. This will reduce the client’s stress, improve his logical thinking and self management.
The mediation matrix is an instrument to improve structure and transparency. In this way the mediator can support the expression of blocking emotions. By doing this, the mediator can support the positive emotions which will follow. The mediator is no longer a person with a bag of technics, but a professional with an integrated theory and useful technique.

The author discusses the potential of developmental mediation. In developmental mediation the focus of the mediator is on retaining, adding and creating.

Research shows that many companies are unfamiliar with Effective Dispute Resolution (EDR) methods. Increasingly however managers wish to effectively solve disputes. This has resulted in the development of a simple tool for managers. Our conflict resolution chart is based on a literature study of factors proven to play a role in the choice for a particular dispute resolution method. The conflict resolution chart was refined based on the answers of ten managers to a questionnaire about the developed tool. The manager can use the chart as a first indicator of what course of actions with regard to the conflict he has to take.