Public Mediation Programme
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What is public mediation?
Conflicts are a regular part of public life in a democracy. The Public Mediation Program (PMP) at the University of Amsterdam provides a platform to explore public controversies and to develop a practical repertoire for handling conflicts. It links research and practice in a shared effort to understand the challenges that conflict presents to those responsible for and affected by public problems. PMP aims to contribute to the development of practices that can help manage the risks and take advantage of the opportunities that public conflicts provide.
Public mediation is an attractive starting point because it provides a way for public officials to be active without taking sides and offers a constructive role to critical citizens. It does this by organizing negotiations among stakeholders in which government takes an active role at the table. PMP seeks to develop the practice of public mediation and adapt it to the Dutch context by organizing three services: a knowledge base, professional training and education, and practical support. The unique selling point of UvA’s Public Mediation Program is the relationship among these three lines of research and support.
A primary goal of PMP is to consolidate a knowledge base around issues related to the use of mediation and related practices to address controversial public problems. The knowledge base brings together relevant findings from academic research with insights that develop in grounded forms of inquiry organized around practical efforts to negotiate public responses to ‘wicked’ problems. Its organization addresses two core features of knowledge in this domain. The expression of competence and insight is contextual and understanding is constantly in development. PMP seeks to promote the kind of critical and informed reflection that is needed to function under these conditions and to adapt practice to new settings and new problems.
PMP responds to a practical challenge
Conflicts are a regular part of public life in a democracy. Whether the question is where to put a new road (or to store flood water), how to shape the details of new regulations, or how to allocate scarce resources, citizens often find themselves at odds with each other and with the government.
The approaches to addressing these problems can deepen the shadow that conflicts cast over public life and public institutions. They can intensify citizens’ doubts, heighten the threats that they feel, and strengthen their incentives to organize and resist. The delays that develop consume public resources and erode the legitimacy of government institutions.
Interaction between researchers and practitioners
The structure of PMP addresses the need for ongoing interaction between researchers and practitioners. PMP’s role is to coordinate the organization of this interaction, to organize research—particularly research that spans the boundary between research and practice—and to facilitate the development of international exchanges and cooperation.
The different strands of activity from the conflict clinic, to the training programs, to the ‘anatomische lessen’ each contribute to this goal. The goal is for PMP to be the partner in the Netherlands for the develop of new forms of practice and for international cooperation around public mediation, negotiation, and other designs for engaging stakeholders in efforts to address wicked public problems.
Wat is Public Mediation?
Conflicten tussen de overheid en burgers en andere stakeholders zijn van alle tijden. Denk aan conflicten over de aanleg van een snelweg, of over de vestiging van een asielzoekerscentrum. Public mediation of publieke (beleids)bemiddeling is het vakgebied van onderhandelen en bemiddelen in het publieke domein, waar de overheid zelf ook partij is.
Het Public Mediation Program van de UvA bevindt zich op het snijvlak van onderzoek, onderwijs en ondersteuning. Wat werkt wel en wat niet bij public mediation en waarom? Welke voorbeelden zijn er, nationaal en internationaal? Welke kennis en vaardigheden zijn nodig om met public mediation te werken? Wat moet een public mediator kunnen?
We doen casusonderzoek in de praktijk, leiden mensen op en geven praktische ondersteuning bij onderhandelingen en conflicten. De interactie tussen onderzoek, onderwijs en praktijk heeft als groot voordeel dat het onderwijs en onderzoek zeer goed aangetakt is bij de recente praktijk en anderzijds dat de praktijkondersteuning gebruik kan maken van de laatste (internationale) inzichten op het gebied van public mediation.