EFRJ Newsflash
November 2016 (II)- Special Edition RJ WEEK 2016

We hope you enjoy the current special edition, dedicated to the international Restorative Justice Week 2016. If you have any comments or any news you would like us to share, please let us know: newsflash@euforumrj.org.
If you want to let others know about this newsflash, please forward it to your friends or colleagues and invite them to sign up on the EFRJ website!
If you missed the previous editions, click here!
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE WEEK 2016

 

The International RJ WEEK will take place on 20-27 November 2016. Several events are organised in Europe and beyond! If your event is not yet mentioned in the EFRJ website, please contact us and we will help you to disseminate it, also on social media (#RJWeek)!
Get inspired by some RJ initiatives… 21 November, Paris (FR): The French platform ‘Citoyens et Justice’ is organising a conference on RJ. More info here.
 23 November, Tempio Pausania (IT): More than 100 students will create the first ‘restorative flashmob’ using restorative words and a red thread in the city centre. More info here.
 24 November, Leuven (BE): Moderator (the Flemish RJ services) organises a conference on the implications of the Victims Directive. More info here.
 21-25 November (NL): The Dutch probation developed a ‘menu’ with all kinds of activities and interesting speakers to facilitate local organisations to fill in their RJ program. More info here.
Check the EFRJ website to find more RJ initiatives!
ARTS, JUSTICE AND STORYTELLING
The EFRJ is organising a series of events in Brussels and Leuven on the potentials of storytelling in RJ, looking at different forms of arts, such as theatre, comics and films, which create the space for telling, sharing, listening to and understanding different stories. Registrations are still open!
RJ posters on restorative questions
A group of artists collaborated in the Project NIA, an organization based in Chicago (US), to create RJ postersfeaturing ‘restorative questions’. All posters are available for public download. Print out your favorites to promote the #RJWeek 2016 in your area!
Restorative Arts Project
space2face is a restorative arts project initiated in 2008 in the UK. It merges the arts with restorative practices to work with people of all ages who are involved in conflict or harm in their lives. It provides space for participants to look at what has happened, how it has affected them and others, and what they need to be able to move on with their lives in a safer way.
CSC’s Resource Kit 2016
Every year, on occasion of the RJ WEEK, the Correctional Services of Canada’s RJ Division produces a resource kit that includes articles and highlights news and recent developments in the field of RJ. This year’s kit includes an article by Prof. Ivo Aertsen (KU Leuven), one of the founders of the EFRJ, entitled ‘Building Restorative Justice Nation Wide’.
RJC posters for the RJ WEEK
Also this year, the Restorative Justice Council (UK) produced a series of posters in occasion of the RJ WEEK. Click here to download the ones celebrating the #RJWeek 2016.
Guide on arts and justice
The National Criminal Justice Arts Alliance launched a new guide for commissioners on arts, culture and innovation in criminal justice settings. The guide also includes case studies demonstrating how arts activities can be used to meet the needs of offenders.
Utopia: Arts, Prisoners and Victims
In autumn 2016, the city of Leuven (Belgium) is organising the festival ‘500 Years Utopia‘. On this occasion, both prisons in Leuven will work together with prisoners, victims and professionals around the theme of utopia and, more specifically, about how an ideal world with victims and offenders should look like. Different forms of art will be used to share the personal stories of both parties.
Media, Conflict and Democratisation
The EU-funded project ‘Media, Conflict and Democratisation‘ (MeCoDEM, 2014-2017) investigates the interplay of media’s communication strategies and democratisation processes in different forms of conflicts in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and
South Africa.
Drawing on victims of child trafficking 
Drawing the Times is a platform for graphic journalists and cartoonists worldwide to publish works on global issues and local stories. In one of the projects, an artist worked with a group of teenagers to create a collection of short cartoon stories about child trafficking. They used visual art and written words to convey the terrors of child trafficking, of knowing victims, and potentially becoming victimized themselves.
Photo exhibition on forgiveness
The photographic exhibition ‘Los Rostros del Perdón’ (The Faces of Forgiveness) consists of 8 pictures of people with different stories of forgiveness and reconciliation in Colombia. It aims at generating personal and collective reflections on forgiveness starting from real life experiences. This photographic project is the result of the work of the Colombian foundation ‘Plan Perdón’. Currently, the exposition is present in Brussels in the Colombian consulate.
Moment of inspiration
The Argument Room was a monthly interactive debating forum streamed live on the internet between 2011 and 2013. Its primary concerns were the arts and social justice. Discussions took place on a monthly basis with different guests and a different focus each month.