Events

Proactive Restorative Justice in School Violence Prevention
June 6 @ 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm EDT

Engage in this exciting webinar, Proactive Restorative Justice in School Violence Prevention. This 90-minute event will be on June 6th, 2025, at 3:00 pm ET (USA. UTC -5) and led by Mara I. Hernández. Please use the Time Zone Converter to determine when this engaging conversation will be in your time zone. This PeaceConnect session is $10 for non-MBBI members, $5 for MBBI Members.
Register here!
Abstract: In this presentation I will share progress in an action-research project that seeks to implement and evaluate an intervention model for the effective prevention of violence and discrimination, replicable in any high school or higher education institution. The intervention is an experiential workshop con “Proactive Restorative Practices for the Prevention of Violence and Discrimination” that seeks to raise awareness among all members of the community – students, teachers and administrative staff – regarding what types of behaviors constitute violence and negatively impact coexistence, based on the exchange of experiences in a safe space for dialogue. The workshop also provides an introduction to proactive restorative practice as an approach to prevention and early response to harmful behaviors. The project incorporates practices and principles of education for peace and restorative justice, as well as gender, human rights and masculinity perspectives, with aim of impacting three root causes of violence and discrimination: (a) environments that reward or tolerate violence, (b) beliefs and attitudes of superiority linked to structural inequalities, and (c) lack of collaborative capabilities. I will provide a brief overview of the theoretical framework and pedagogical approach of the workshop offered in different departments of UNAM in the context of the project, as well as preliminary findings that have emerged, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Bio: Mara I. Hernández has more than 20 years of experience as practitioner and academic in the fields of conflict resolution, mediation, consensus facilitation, violence prevention and restorative justice. She holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she specialized in negotiation and democratic theory, and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University. She is also a certified mediator from the Harvard Law School.
Mara is founder and Executive Director at Diálogo, Innovación y Cambio (Dialogica), an innovation lab and consulting firm in her field of expertise, and founding member of the Consensus Building Institute Global Network, established to share expertise in the field among practitioners world wide. She also teaches at UNAM where she has led the implementation of alternative dispute resolution for the Ombuds Office and currently leads an action-research project in violence and discrimination prevention in highschool and higher educación. As an international mediator and consensus facilitator, she has worked in Brazil, Nicaragua, Chile and Ecuador. She has consulted for the UN, the Inter-American Development Bank, the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Center for Transitional Justice, the Mexican Senate, the World Bank, USAID and the Canadian Government, among others. She has published several books such as “Negociación Política en Democracia” [Political Negotiations in Democracy] and “Resolución de Conflictos, Justicia Restaurativa y Atención a la Violencia de Género en Ámbitos Universitarios” [Conflict Resolution, Restorative Justice and Gendered Violence in University Settings].