Online Study Platform on Mediation

Mediation is an effective interdisciplinary method of dispute resolution, where legal studies, entrepreneurship, administration and psychology converge. The EU has in the recent years embraced those alternative ways of dispute settlement for their main characteristics of being time and cost efficient. The applicable legislation - both on a European and national level, has been fully set out to meet those targets. However, an implementation process in practical terms is still underdeveloped in most, if not all of the Members States. The cultural and social challenge to change the general understanding about alternative dispute resolution methods continues along with the attempts to build trust in it as an efficient dispute settlement tool. Although assisted negotiation (or mediation) can find some historical antecedents in many countries, it is still poorly known in the layers of society subjected to litigation. Therefore in times when mediation legislation is still fresh, recently coming into effect, to raise awareness about its benefits among practitioners, the general public and more particularly – students, is crucial. Project is gathering 6 partner Universities and experts from mediation field. The object of this project is to create, operate, maintain and integrate in the curriculum of the partnering universities an online educational platform seeking to accomplish several main goals:1) digitalization of the teaching process to the extent possible by providing a database of information and materials allowing distance online studying;2) to facilitate the organization, administration and conduct of mock-mediation sessions and mediation tournaments among teams of students (especially useful in learning distance mediation and mediation with cross-cultural aspects). To reach this goal the partner universities will carry on multiple tasks including teaching activities for academics to increase their organizational and methodological skills necessary for organization of mock-mediation sessions and mock-mediation tournaments. A teaching material on methodology and the best practice manual will be elaborated to assist academics in organization of new mock-mediation sessions and mediation tournaments. The long term objective sought through the above is to allow students to practice the skills gathered in the course of their education in mediation and to additionally acquire specific training for conducting online dispute resolution processes