The 11th international conference of the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) "Justice beyond borders. Restorative connections through space and language" takes place in the island of Sardinia. The choice of the location is not coincidental. The Mediterranean sea has always been a place of encounters, exchange, and hospitality, but also of conflict, clashes, and confrontation. The sea, apparently infinite and without borders, enabled human beings to travel towards places where they encountered natural, social and political borders.
It is the liminal metaphors of borders, boundaries, and frontiers that will inspire and challenge us throughout our 3-day event. Our main focus is understanding together the way in which restorative approaches can contribute towards undoing suffering and injustices that are experienced by people because of physical, economic, cultural, political and social borders. Only by getting closer to limits, can we re-examine identities, transcend constructed barriers and discover new ways to embrace diversity and live together at peace.
Also, 2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the EFRJ. Restorative justice itself has come of age and it is part of a larger eco-system. In the light of modern global challenges, we want to understand also the way in which the restorative justice community challenges its own borders, discover new spaces and forms of practice and overcome language and cultural barriers.
