Our Projects and Processes

Centre for Good Relations (CfGR), hosts a variety of projects and processes to support groups, communities, and organisations in Scotland. 

Civic mediation aims to support those experiencing conflict by addressing the systemic issues that influence their contexts. CfGR defines civic mediation as:

‘Using mediative processes to seek constructive ways through societal challenges, valuing the role of building relationships within a system to bring about effective change, and working to transform conflict to achieve long-term positive outcomes’.

Our aim in any project is to 1) better understand the evolution of tensions/conflict in the context we are working in; 2) to build the capacity of members of that community to have confidence in dealing with conflict constructively; 3) create sustainable, long term plans to address the conflict in partnership with the people experiencing it. 

If you are interested in helping to fund our work or any of our processes, please contact our Directors, Abdul Rahim or Sam Tedcastle: abdul@centreforgoodrelations.com, sam@centreforgoodrelations.com.

Processes

Processes often take place over multiple months or years with the intention of continuously building relationships.

Once a community’s interest in a CfGR process is expressed, practitioners carry out a detailed assessment, and if appropriate approaches to any conflict/ issues identified are decided in collaboration with those experiencing the conflict.

Assessment Phase

Assessments are the first stage of all of CfGR’s processes. During this stage, practitioners speak with a wide range of people experiencing tension in their context to better understand their perspectives and concerns. The results of these assessments are based on the needs and experiences of those spoken with, and decisions on outcomes are put in the hands of relevant parties, with CfGR supporting the delivery if a mediative contribution is appropriate. 

These assessments vary in time, theme, and size. Assessments may include 1 on 1 conversations as well as larger group sessions intended to draw out difficult conversations with people at all levels of authority. In these conversations, practitioners will meet people where they are at and look at 1) the emerging themes of the conflict, and 2) the emotions expressed by participants. Practitioners will identify overlap or contrasts, explore with key actors how conflict has developed in their context, and how the community would like to be supported to address challenges.

Carrying out the assessment enables practitioners to co-develop meaningful interventions with the parties. Possible interventions include bringing in key partners together to address specific aspects of the conflict; hosting trainings to support interested individuals in conflict/ mediation techniques; and/or convening workshops to begin exploring and working though the key issues.

Two of our environmental processes have formed national groups to lead in interventions around their relevant conflicts, with CfGR supporting when helpful. You can learn more about these processes in the section “Civic dialogue processes” below, or on our specific project pages: Scotland’s Marine Futures and the Common Ground Forum.

Civic Dialogue Processes

Once an assessment has concluded, participants may chose to collect around their common interest. Two of CfGR’s processes which centre on peoples’ relationship with Scotland’s natural environment have resulted in the establishment of national reference groups (NRG) and local steering groups (LSG) where people with interests in key themes meet and discuss their relationships constructively and candidly.

With the Common Ground Forum and Scotland’s Marine Futures practitioners facilitate and support difficult conversations between different interest groups – such as industry, eNGOs, local government, national government, local communities, statutory bodies – including at NRG and LSG meetings. At those meetings, practitioners take what they learn from the assessments and feed back so that NRG/ LSG members can inform and guide how a process should develop.

Informal Mediative Processes 

Practicing civic mediation in public, non-traditional settings may not be the first thing people think of when they imagine mediation, but the practice is nothing new. Thinking more widely of reactions to public processions, protests, and marches, it is not uncommon for members of the public to have strong emotional reactions to mass demonstrations or maybe find themselves engaging with members of the acting party. A steward’s role is to facilitate engagement as needed between the public, police, and the acting party – exchanging information, passing along instruction, or preventing a potential escalation. CfGR has a long history of providing steward training to groups who engage in public demonstration, and more recently, has explored the possible role of community building around protests.

CfGR first engaged in practicing civic mediation at protests during our “Keeping Our Cool” initiative. Developed in collaboration with Centre for Good Relations, Scottish Mediation, and Place for Hope, these partners organised and supported a team of practitioners to engage with protesters, police, locals being impacted by the event, and participants in the conference. You can read more about some of the conversations hosted at the CoP26 Climate Conference on our Keeping Our Cool page.

This work with protests, marches, and parades has evolved into a larger project around public demonstration across Scotland. While every event is different, our practitioners’ goals are the same: develop an understanding of community tensions, and where community building practices may be helpful. To learn more about our work in this area, please see Protests and Demonstrations.

Trainings, Courses, and Workshops

In all of our projects, we aim to support the affected to have the tools needed to address their tensions. This often comes in the form of bespoke trainings, courses, and workshops. CfGR maintains the view that communities should not have to rely on our practitioners for long term development. To help communities reach their goals, our qualified trainers help members gain the skills needed to continue to convene mediative practices after our time with them ends.

More generally, CfGR offers a variety of training courses which are offered to the public, or on a bespoke basis to fit the needs of the organisation or individuals attending.

To learn more about the types of trainings offered, view our Trainings, Courses and Workshops page.