Restorative cities: Perspectives on current models at RJ World

Two of our speakers examine the progress in restorative cities.

Prof. Grazia Mannozzi

Grazia Mannozzi is professor of “Criminal Law” and of “Restorative Justice and Victim-offender Mediation” at the University of Insubria (Como – Italy).She is the Director of the Restorative Justice and Mediation Study Centre (CeSGReM) at the same University her research activity, she has mainly focused, always from a comparative perspective, on sentencing system, restorative justice, economic crimes, corruption, corporate liability, law and language. From speaking at several national and international conferences to working as honorary judge at the Court for the Enforcement of Sentences of Venice and Milan, her numerous accomplishments speak for her incredible work.

In the field of Restorative Justice she coordinated the thematic table on “Restorative justice, victim protection and mediation” as part of the General Assembly on enforcement of sanction instituted by the Italian Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando She is also a Member of the Legislative Commission to reform the enforcement of punishment and establish a normative frame for restorative justice

Her main publications, translated in several language, are on restorative justice, sentencing and corruption. In 2017, she published the first Italian handbook of restorative justice, titled “La giustizia riparativa. Formanti, parole e metodi”, Giappichelli, Torino (with Giovanni A. Lodigiani).

You can read her article titled “The emergence of the idea of a ‘restorative city’ and its link to restorative justice” in the International Journal of Restorative Justice here –https://www.elevenjournals.com/tijdschrift/TIJRJ/2019/2/IJRJ_2589-0891_2019_002_002_006

As former Chair of the EFRJ Working Group on ‘Restorative City’, her presentation is a dialogue on “restorative cities” in an ideal passing of the baton between the first Chair of the EFRJ Working Group on Restorative Cities and the current one. The conversation focuses on: a) the conceptual transition from restorative justice theory to the elaboration of the idea of “restorative cities”; b) the reasons for the “restorative cities” issue has become a pivotal theme in the action of the EFRJ and has led to the foundation of a Working Group (which has brought together experts from different disciplines and restorative cities realities).

Research Fellow on Restorative Justice Programme, Gian Luigi Lepri and Chiara Perini,associate professor of Criminal law and Restorative Justice at University of Insubria (Italy) will be presenting with her.After presenting the main examples of “restorative cities” that have developed concretely in Europe, the speakers will try to apply the SWOT Analysis to the “restorative cities” projects, evaluating their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The goal is to contribute to the work planning of the EFRJ Working Group and all those involved in promoting “restorative cities

To find out more about their interesting mission visithttps://www.euforumrj.org/en/working-group-restorative-cities

This video sums up EFRJ’s agenda on Building Restorative Cities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJIuBVT-GRA

Chris Straker

Co-founder of the Hull Centre for Restorative Practice in 2007. During his leadership there, The Hull Centre became known nationally as ‘progressive’ in restorative practice and its application across agencies working with families and young people.

Chris has drawn on this experience to develop training in restorative practice. He is also the Director, Lead Trainer and Consultant atRestorative Thinking Limited, UK. Chris is co-author of Restorative Thinking’s Secondary Curriculum Programme. As a Director with Restorative Thinking Limited, Chris supports Restorative Thinking’s strategic direction. He is the Lead Trainer and supports all of Restorative Thinking Limited’s work strands. In addition to multiple responsibilities and talks nationally and internationally, he has worked with cities on strategic, city-wide, implementation. He has written two chapters for the recent publication by EFRJ on restorative cities.

Exploring the myths behind the restorative city concept. Chris will use the UK as a backdrop for participants to explore their own ideas on what a restorative city means for them. Context is everything but there are some models he will use to create the opportunity for dialogue.

He addresses the question “Is the restorative city concept a move towards a new paradigm or just Emperor’s new clothes?”

His workshop explores the concept of right relationships (between professionals and professionals, and the professional and families they work with) and how best to develop these by an explicit dialogue; not only around our areas of agreement, but also our areas of difference. It will look to see how restorative processes can be used to deepen relationships at a city-wide level by an explicit and shared understanding of behaviours and language.

You can follow Chris on Twitter @strakerchrishttps://twitter.com/strakerchris?lang=en and know more about his work athttps://www.euforumrj.org/en/working-group-restorative-cities

Written by RJ World guest authors Konina and Anwesha

Konina Mandal is an Assistant Lecturer at Jindal Global Law School, O.P Jindal Global University, India. Her research interests include criminology and criminal justice, criminal laws and corrections. She will be co-presenting with Anwesha Panigrahi, Assistant Professor at ICFAI Law School,Hyderabad, India.

Anwesha Panigrahi is presently positioned as an Assistant Professor at ICFAI Law School, Hyderabad, India. She has an LLM in Criminal Justice, Family and Social Welfare. Her research interests include criminal justice, prison jurisprudence and prison laws, corrections, criminal laws and procedure. She will be co-presenting with Ms. Konina Mandal.