Event Description:
The CUNY Dispute Resolution Center at John Jay College, The Restorative Justice Initiative, The Master of Arts in Crime and Justice at John Jay College and The School of Education at Lehman College
invite everyone to
When Talking Heals:
Lessons learned from restorative justice applications in
Hungary's emerging democracy
RSVP: here
The restorative approach gives voice and choice to the people, enabling them to strengthen their relationships, build communities and to prevent and manage their conflicts. But what does it look like in practice in a young and vulnerable democracy? Drawing from her experiences in Hungary, Dr. Borbala Fellegi will examine how restorative practices have been used in her ‘silenced’ country, where citizens still feel the impact of 20th Century dictatorships.
Dr. Fellegi will address how to apply restorative justice under difficult circumstances, how to go beyond 'the handbook' and stay creative and adaptive to challenging societal conditions. She concludes that the principles and practices of mediation, circles and other restorative approaches can help to empower members of a society to share their stories and gain trust in each other.
Borbala Fellegi, PhD is a researcher, mediator, conference and peacemaking circle facilitator as well as a trainer and university lecturer in Hungary. Her PhD thesis was about the implementation of restorative justice in Hungary. As founder and executive director of the Foresee Research Group, she oversees Hungarian and EU programmes researching the potential application of mediation and peacemaking circles in community conflicts and prison settings in Hungary. She has been a consultant for the Council of Europe, the UNODC, the National Crime Prevention Board and the Office of Justice in Hungary. Since 2015 she has been in the faculty of the Master's Program of the International Institute for Restorative Practices. Her publications include numerous articles, book chapters, and the book, Towards restoration and peace, one of the first comprehensive studies on the implementation of restorative justice in Hungary. |