Alternative Dispute Resolution in legal education

The Promise of 21st Century Skills 

Event on Thursday 18 January 2018, Jan Van Eyck Academy, Academieplein 1, 6211 KM Maastricht
Technology is one of the main factors challenging the 21st-century job market. With a new wave of automatization just around the corner, one of the main questions a lot of professions will have in common is: what can professionals do, that machines cannot? One of the answers to this question relates to the increased attention given at international level to soft skills in education. These skills include empathy, communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity, to mention a few.

Maastricht University’s Law Faculty has been trying to innovate the way in which legal education is delivered in the 21st century, through its inherent pedagogy (Problem-Based Learning) as well as out-of-the-classroom education such as moot court competitions and legal clinics. One of the activities undertaken in this respect is the WeMediate course, a SURF Net supported online course designed for the development of 21st-century skills through mediation simulations. This course uses professional content made by well-renowned invited mediators from around the world and aims to make students aware of the potential of mediation for the development of their interpersonal communication skills. Still, mediation is only one type of Alternative Dispute Resolution which may be interesting for universities to adopt; arbitration, as well as negotiation, could play a much more central role in the creation of a future professional.

The aim of this conference is to bring together educators, researchers, professionals and students, to engage in a meaningful dialogue regarding the future of legal education, using ADR as a means to deliver significant skills to future graduates.

 Please register here