| European Forum for Restorative Justice

The EFRJ is a platform for bringing people together, and its conferences are the best occasion to show the variety of expertise that the restorative justice movement includes, involving practitioners, researchers, academics, legal professionals, social workers, artists, policy makers and activists. The main themes of the 11th EFRJ conference "Justice beyond borders" will orientate the reflections and discussions of the parallel interactive sessions, but please feel free to propose your own theme: the EFRJ is the place to be creative, innovative and experimental!

Main themes

Space and Time

This theme focuses on space and time, either literally or figuratively conceived. We invite presentations that address and respond to these themes from various angles. Some examples could be:

Restorative justice and closed institutions: How can restorative justice be conceived and done in prisons, centers for undocumented migrants, psychiatric hospitals, drug rehabilitation units, etc.? How can restorative spaces be created in oppressive spaces? How can restorative justice in such institutions contribute to make the bridge with the outside world?
Restorative approaches in urban contexts: How can we create and sustain restorative cities? How to stage restorative justice in urban settings? How can buildings and borders reflect restorative values in order to shape and support people’s relationships and connections?
Restorative justice and space: How can we think about restorative design? What is the role of design and architecture to create spaces of (restorative) justice?
Restorative approaches in educational settings: How does a school become a restorative space? How does a school become a place for building restorative relationships?
Restorative justice and relational borders: How can restorative processes acknowledge class, gender, generational, religious, national, and racial differences, while at the same time undoing and transforming relations of oppression?
Boundaries in restorative processes: What boundaries are appropriate between stakeholders, and between practitioners and stakeholders? How to turn restorative justice into an ordinary day to day practice?
Restorative justice and time: How can we conceive of the notion of restoring the future by generating new meanings or memories of the past? How can we engage in intergenerational or historical forms of conflict? When is the ‘right time’ of repair?
Restorative justice and criminal justice: How can we create distance and proximity with the criminal justice system? How can different uses of “time” be adjusted in both systems? How can we align spaces? How to use restorative justice in cases of cross border crimes?
Restorative justice in the cyber-world: How can restorative justice practices adapt to online settings? What lessons have been learnt during the Covid-19 lockdowns? How can restorative justice serve the needs of those involved in cyber-crimes?

Language and Narratives

This theme focuses on language and narratives. We invite presentations that address and respond to these themes from various angles. Some examples could be:

Restorative justice across languages: How does the word “restorative” translate in different languages and does it retain the same meaning in all cultures? What is the meaning of this word and its roots? Why do English speaking countries refer to restorative justice while so many other countries stick with penal mediation?
Restorative justice beyond language: Do all participants understand words in the same way? How can people with different verbal and cognitive abilities be supported to participate actively in a process dominated by verbal communication?
Restorative justice across borders: How do key restorative justice values and principles travel across cultural and relational borders? What is the role of restorative justice to undo borders?
Restorative language and narratives: What are words that polarise (e.g. victim-offender labels), and which words restorative justice should cultivate?
Restorative justice practices: Is the “script” really restorative? How can restorative justice be integrated and complement other practices (e.g. therapy)? What practices have been useful to support citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic?
Beyond restorative justice practices: What innovative non-verbal communication practices are emerging to engage people in dialogue (rituals, song writing, storytelling, drawing, movement, painting, gift making, diaries, letters)? How to connect with practices sharing the same restorative justice goals and values but not necessarily following the “restorative justice rules”?
Restorative justice testimonies: What can we learn from experiences of practitioners and restorative justice ambassadors? What successful and unsuccessful stories can be shared from the field to further ameliorate restorative justice practices?

Formats

We encourage participants to contribute by choosing one of the following types of formats to actively participate in the programme of the conference. Please note that the Scientific Committee may re-contact you to revise the format and/or timing, if needed.

Dialogue session – 80 minutes (This session involves a group of minimum 2 presenters introducing a topic and facilitating a dialogue with the audience; the proposal must include the introduction to the topic as well as potential questions for discussion; please contact other presenters and submit a joined abstract)
Skills workshop – 80 minutes (This session involves one or more presenters who wish to facilitate practical exercises to learn specific practices or to share experience on specific situations; the proposal must include the details of the activity, including min-max number of participants, their level of experience, and materials needed)
Presentation – 40 minutes (This session is meant for individuals willing to engage into a dialogue on their experiences, practices or research findings as well as on any of the materials available in the virtual exhibition room*; this individual contribution will be combined with others of a similar theme into one parallel session)

Because of the uncertainties due to the Covid-19 sanitary rules, we are currently planning part of the parallel workshops to be delivered in an open space (3 hour sessions composed by two or more proposals around similar topics). This means that you must be prepared not to use any technical support (e.g. projectors or speakers) despite some old school printed materials you may take with you (e.g. printed slides or poster or gadgets). We will confirm the technical equipment of the venue (or open space) closer to the date of the event.

Virtual exhibition room

*A virtual exhibition room will be shared with registered participants two weeks prior to the event. This virtual space will include additional materials that can be used by presenters to support their dialogue session, training or presentation. In some cases, you may be contacted by the EFRJ communication officer to use your material(s) to promote parts of the event’s programme. If you plan to submit material(s) for the exhibition room, please refer to them in your abstract and chose one of these options in the webform:

Paper – max 10 pages (the paper must be submitted in a pdf format to be uploaded on the EFRJ website; font size Tahoma 12, including a max 10-words title and eventual references in APA style, and a 50 words biography of the author in the last page)
Poster – one page portrait format (the paper must be submitted in a pdf format to be uploaded on the EFRJ website and a printed A2 poster must be taken to the registration desk to be hang in the main walls of the venue)
Pre-recorded presentation – 10 minutes (the file must be submitted in Prezi or mp4 format to be uploaded on the EFRJ Vimeo channel and embedded in the EFRJ website)
Movie/documentary – 30-90 minutes (the password-protected link to the video will be embedded in the EFRJ website)

Submit your proposal here

Proposals must be submitted using the form below by 25 January 2022 (midnight Brussels time - extended deadline), accompanied by:

Personal contact details (name, job title, organisation, email, country), including emails of potential co-authors
Title of your proposal (max 10 words)
Type of contribution: dialogue session, training, presentation
Materials for the virtual exhibition room (optional): movie/documentary, paper, pre-recorded presentation, poster,
Abstract or detailed description of the session ( max 400 words)
Biography of the presenter(s) (max 50 words)
Keywords that describe your presentation/workshop

Please save your proposal in a Word document and copy paste your responses in the webform for your own reference. As you will not be requested to login on Google Forms, you will not receive a confirmation email (but you will see a confirmation message after your submission). You will hear from the conference committee by end February 2022.

Submit here your proposal

FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions