November 2025 | End-Month Roundup

A wide range of organisations and individuals across every continent held events for this year's Restorative Justice Week, giving us a diverse and unique view of how restorative practices are growing worldwide. The week brought together film screenings, webinars, seminars, community dialogues, and arts-based gatherings that ranged from introductory sessions for newcomers to in-depth explorations for practitioners. Whether online or in-person, these events demonstrated the breadth and creativity of restorative work taking place across criminal justice contexts, communities and schools.
Additionally, a wealth of new materials was published throughout the week, offering insights from people with lived experiences, practitioners, and advocates emphasising the need for restorative justice to be recognised as central to upholding human rights, in line with this year's #RJWeek theme. Many of these contributions will be gathered in a magazine to be released on UN Human Rights Day (December 10th), so stay tuned! 

REstART Festival builds on the belief in art as a bridging force for justice, dialogue, and repair. This 2nd edition returns on the 6th-9th of December in Leuven (preceded by an opening event in Brussels on the 5th). REstART will bring together performances, short films, exhibitions and interactive workshops that invite participants to explore how creativity can reshape narratives of harm and violence through restorative lenses. Artworks will focus on stories of restorative justice in serious and complex cases such as terrorism, sexual violence, environmental harm, traffic offense and homicide, and on creative methods for encouraging dialogue among "enemies" or conflicting parties. Access to the full programme is available through the four-day Festival Pass, which grants entry to all events while spaces last (though individual registration for each activity is still required). Single-event tickets are also available if you prefer to attend only specific sessions. You can find the full schedule, ticket information, and FAQs on the Festival's information page. In the weeks ahead, we will also be spotlighting the artists whose contributions form the heart of REstART, sharing the stories and motivations behind their work so audiences can connect more deeply with them ahead of encountering their work in person - so keep an eye on our socials for the rollout and share the dedicated Facebook event page with your networks.

📍Brussels/Leuven (Belgium), 5th-9th December 2025

The 4th EFRJ Winter Academy returns to Leuven from the 2nd-6th of February 2026, bringing together practitioners, facilitators, and professionals seeking to deepen their practical skills in restorative justice through interactive and engaging learning. Across 5 days, participants will work with real case examples, explore innovative facilitation methods, and exchange strategies to address complex challenges. Registration is now open for both courses! “Advanced Restorative Justice Skills”, led by Bie Vanseveren, offers a renewed engagement with core principles of restorative justice through interactive exercises, with a special focus on victim-offender mediation, one of Europe’s most established restorative approaches. “Just how do you create a relational and restorative school”, led by Chris Straker, provides practical tools for building strong, connected school cultures that support students and educators alike.

Make the most of the early-bird rates for course registration, which apply until the 15th of December! 

📍Leuven (Belgium), 2nd-6th February 2026

Last week part of the organising team of the next EFRJ Conference met to prepare the event hosting 350+ guests in Poznań, Poland, from the 11th-13th of June 2026. Until December the 10th, we are still inviting proposals for interactive sessions that promote dialogue, collaboration, and fresh thinking. While the main theme focuses on the social impact of restorative justice, contributions on other topics are equally welcome, and we encourage researchers and practitioners to share their newest work even if it sits outside the central theme. The deadline for workshop proposals is the 10th of December, so please do send your proposals through - we look forward to receiving your submissions! Conference registration will open in early 2026, together with details of two pre-conference training courses.

📍Poznań (Poland), 11th-13th June 2026

In Gaza, stop-motion animator Haneen Koraz holds animation workshops for displaced children throughout the genocide and repeated violations of the recent ceasefire, offering young people a small sense of normalcy, joy and agency in circumstances no child should endure. Working with students between the ages of 9-14, Haneen has released over 50 short films that portray daily life through the children's own eyes, in their own words, giving them full control over how their stories are told. One especially moving piece, “#33 The Story of Sila and Selin,” follows two fairies who watch as children playing in the street come under fire; they discover a stockpile of bombs and sprinkle a magic potion over them, transforming them into flowers and sweets as they fall. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, the film captures the pure innocence of children while serving as a testament to how creativity can allow hope to flourish in even the darkest of circumstances. Similarly, to restorative justice, which advocates for those who were harmed to regain control, and Haneen and the children of Gaza demonstrate this in full force through their art. 

In our newsflashes we share the most interesting and relevant updated about our work and collect information from our members and other individuals and/or organisations working in related fields. Information includes news, local activities, international events, publications, inspiring talks or projects, and much more, taking place in Europe and beyond. Please contact us if you have any comments or any news you would like us to share in our future editions. You can enjoy the previous editions of the EFRJ Newsflashes here. Feel free to forward them to friends or colleagues and invite them to sign up on the EFRJ website!