Train-the-trainer seminar on business mediation

Presentation and discussion of the findings of a working group.
Presentation and discussion of the findings of a working group.
Montenegro

A train-the-trainer seminar on business mediation, funded by project support from the Federal Foreign Office, took place in Podgorica, Montenegro, from 3-5 November, organised by the IRZ and the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution.

After welcoming speeches by the Permanent Representative of the German Ambassador, Ralf Reusch, who emphasised the importance of the IRZ's activities in Montenegro, the event was opened by the Director of the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution, Marina Lutovac, and the responsible Project Area Manager of the IRZ, Dr. Stefan Pürner.

Prof. Dr. Renata Dendörfer Ditges and Simone Pöhlmann, both lawyers and certified mediators with many years of experience in meditation and mediator training, and authors of many specialist publications based on a practical case, then explained all five phases of the mediation process. Topics such as “Disruptions in mediation” and “Mediative language” were addressed in small work groups and using roleplay. This interactive approach received a particularly positive response from the participants.

Mediation is very important in Montenegro. This is evidenced not only by the founding of the Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution, which is supported by the European Union and the Council of Europe, but also because the Centre’s 2022 annual report stated that 201 mediators for civil law and 37 for criminal law have already received training, and several thousand mediation proceedings have taken place.