Click the link below to access the 2022 program with workshop descriptions and presenter biographies. Note: For sustainability purposes we will NOT be printing this program. You are invited to print this program if you would like a physical copy with you at the Forum. Otherwise, participants are encouraged to access the PDF on their mobile device during the conference.
Our lives and worlds have not been “normal” for a while now and what was once our practice may no longer be. We have all been disconnected from many of the communities that once sustained our lives, including the broader community of restorative justice practitioners. In that spirit, our gathering in May will primarily be an opportunity to reconvene, reconnect with one another, share what we have been doing the last two years, and begin conversations about what is now emerging in the Pacific Northwest.
Three key areas of focus for the conference are:
Restorative Justice in a COVID-19 World: An opportunity to reflect and share about how your work changed during pandemic life.
Emerging Practices of Restorative Justice and Beyond: Transformative Justice, Healing Justice, Prison-Industrial Complex Abolition and many more emerging frames for thinking about restorative practices are now a part of the public conversation. How do these frames expand our understanding of RJ?
Antiracism and Restorative Justice: What is the relationship between restorative justice and racial justice? Acknowledging how the field of "restorative justice" on this continent has been in some ways shaped by white dominant practices and systems, how do we incorporate the work of racial justice in our restorative practice?
Check-In 1:00pm, Open Space 1:30pm-5:00pm It's been so long since we've seen each other... let's reconnect! Join us for an afternoon of Open Space Technology, where the agenda is created and managed by all who attend. This experience guarantees the conversations we have will be the ones we need the most!
Open Space meetings happen in circles. With a few simple logistical guidelines, participants are empowered to name and join the conversations they most want to have. This structure elevates topics that are urgent to the participants, promotes equality of voice and co-ownership of the experience. It has been used successfully to provide ah-ha’s, breakthroughs, community-building and fresh thinking for groups of a few people and a few thousand people. If you’ve ever been to a conference or training where the most valuable conversations happened at the coffee breaks, Open Space is designed to make those conversations the main event.
Please consider whether you can join us for this half-day Open Space kickoff to our Forum – form stronger interpersonal connections, spark new ideas, and grow your sense of belonging in this RJ community, leading into the two days of more traditional programming.
Wednesday, May 18th Future of Restorative Frameworks: Building the Next Generation
Plenary begins at 9:00am (Check-In 8:30am) King County adult and youth collaborators building a network of Restorative Justice and anti-oppression.
Restorative Justice is alive and growing in the Puget Sound area! This inspiring and interactive keynote session will include a diversity of voices and stories about the work that is happening now and the impacts it is having in the community. We will hear from adults immersed in the work as well as young people who have experienced the programming and are helping to shape its future with their earned wisdom and vision. Through the sharing of powerful stories, this hopeful future takes shape in our minds.
The presenters include people from Dispute Resolution of King County (KCDRC) and Bridging Cultural Gaps (BCG), Community Passageways, King County Criminal Justice Strategy & Policy Section, and the King County Alternative Dispute Resolution Program Office. Representing government-based and grassroots change initiatives, these four groups and their youth leadership will highlight their work in RJ, restorative mediation, and anti-oppression. They will focus on how resource sharing and true collaboration have manifested in strong programming, relationships, and empowerment of the community and youth leaders. The work includes responding to the impacts of trauma and adversity in the lives of youth involved in the juvenile justice system and those who have been impacted when harm occurs.
Discussion topics will include: - Using racial justice as a platform to address cultural gaps in schools - Restorative skills used as we share the responsibility and challenge to save lives and address public health and safety needs - Results from using a public health approach as part of King County's work to advance the goal of zero youth detention - Lessons learned: Shifting the white dominant restorative approach by centering the BIPOC experience.
Thursday, May 19th Rodney Youckton & Farley Youckton
Plenary begins at 9:00am (Check-In 8:30am) Rodney Youckton and Farley Youckton of the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation will be speaking to the tribe's history, present and future in relation to community, government, and justice. Stay tuned for more detailed information!