Upcoming Event
Register for the IIRP's 13th World Conference, October 13-15, 2010, in Hull, England, UK

The IIRP's 13th World Conference, "Restorative Practices Across Disciplines," will be held October 13–15, 2010, in Hull, England, UK, in collaboration with Hull City Council. The conference will feature several plenary speakers, including Hull's Director of Children and Young People's Services Nigel Richardson, whose vision of a family-friendly city has led to training in restorative practices for 23,000 professionals and volunteers throughout the city.

Call for Presenters: Submit a proposal to present a 50-minute breakout session by March 31.

More information here »
Download Call for Presenters/Advance Notice flier (PDF) here »

IIRP's 2010 Summer Training Institute will be held July 26–July 30, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

The IIRP's Summer Training Institute brings together participants from all over the world for a weeklong immersion in the full range of restorative practices.

More information here.

Pilot Programme for New Formal Qualification in Restorative Practices

Skills for Justice, in partnership with the Restorative Justice Consortium, the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Norfolk Constabulary and the Association of Panel Members announces a programme to pilot a new qualification in restorative practices: an opportunity for practitioners to gain formal recognition for their skills in restorative practices. Both paid workers and volunteers are encouraged to sign up. Funding may be available to take part in this pilot. Two information workshops are scheduled, 1st April in London and 20th April in Birmingham.

Download PDF here »

Hundreds attend 12th IIRP World Conference

On October 21-23, 2009, nearly three hundred educators, social service, criminal justice and other professionals from 15 countries and 18 U.S. states gathered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, for the 12th IIRP World Conference, "Restoring Community in a Disconnected World, Part 2." Like all IIRP conferences, the event was acclaimed by attendees as a wonderful opportunity to support each other’s efforts and share success stories and questions around restorative practices. An in-depth report on the conference will be published soon in the Restorative Practices eForum. We will also be posting breakout session papers, as presenters continue to send them in.

More information here

Journal Reclaiming Children and Youth Publishes restorative practices issue — August 1, 2007

IIRP president and founder Ted Wachtel is guest editor of the summer 2007 issue of Reclaiming Children and Youth, a publication of the Reclaiming Youth Network. The issue, which focuses on restorative practices, includes articles by Ted Wachtel, IIRP professors Beth Rodman and Frida Rundell, communications coordinator Laura Mirsky and many restorative practitioners. Subscribe by June 22 to receive the restorative practices issue as the first issue. If subscribing after that date you must specifically request that issue.

More information about Reclaiming Children and Youth here.

International Institute for Restorative Practices approved as a graduate school by Pennsylvania Department of Education

On June 26 the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education signed the Certificate of Authority for the International Institute for Restorative Practices to operate as a graduate degree-granting institution. By this action, the Pennsylvania Department of Education has officially recognized "restorative practices" as a new discipline. The IIRP is the world's first graduate school wholly dedicated to restorative practices.

Courses will be offered on weekends to accommodate working adults and those traveling substantial distances. Summer weekday courses will be offered to accommodate teachers' summer break.

More information on the IIRP Graduate School here.

Over 300 attend IIRP conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, October 18-20, 2006

More than 300 participants from 17 countries attended the IIRP's 2006 conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, on October 18-20, 2006 (including participants from 8 Canadian provinces and 25 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C., and Guam). The conference brought together people from a variety of fields and backgrounds, to explore the development of “restorative communities,” where restorative practices are the primary modality for dealing with wrongdoing and conflict.

More information, including the conference schedule and papers, here.

Father and son in Burning Bridges

Directing Burning Bridges, a Documentary about a Restorative Conference

In this article, Laura Mirsky discusses her experience directing Burning Bridges, a documentary about the arson of Mood's Bridge, a historic covered bridge in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA, and the restorative justice conference held in its wake. This emotional conference brought together the six young men who burned down the bridge with their families and members of the community. Using news footage, interviews and video of the actual conference, the documentary tells the story of a community moving through grief and anger to healing.

Read the article here.

View a preview or order a copy here.

Donald Nathanson

Sir Charles Pollard

New Real Justice Featured Speakers Video Series

At its international conferences, the IIRP has hosted numerous professionals talking about their work. We are now offering selected conference speeches and interviews with many of these key theorists, innovators and practitioners. For more information or to purchase, click here.

• John Braithwaite, author of Crime, Shame and Reintegration, on restorative justice in modern society
• John Blad, editor of the Dutch Journal for Restorative Justice, on restorative justice and offending behavior
• Donald Nathanson, executive director of the Silvan S. Tomkins Institute, on the psychological value of restorative practices
• Tim Newell, former governor of Grendon and Spring Hill prisons, on restorative practices in U.K. prisons
• Heino Lilles, Judge, Yukon Territory, on circle sentencing in First Nation communities in Canada
• Sir Charles Pollard, former Chief Constable, Thames Valley, U.K., Police and chairman of the Justice Research Consortium, and Jackie Keyser, Inspector, Thames Valley Police, on restorative justice and police complaints
• Paul Schnell, police officer, St. Paul, Minnesota, on restorative policing
• Lode Walgrave, director, Research Group on Youth Criminology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, on restorative conferences with juvenile offenders
• Graham Waite, superintendent, Northern Territory Police, Australia, on a pre-court diversion scheme in Australia's Northern Territory