RJC Annual Conference 2026

Session Title

Presenter

Description

Moving From Risk to Safety: Safety Building as a basis for engagement, participation and culture change

Gavin Hudson & Nicola Fowler

Drawing on 30 years of restorative practice across justice, schools, social care and communities, Remedi explores its shift from top-down, risk-based approaches towards inclusive, accessible, trauma-informed Safety Building. This approach builds on its work with sensitive and complex cases, including domestic abuse, to support people to feel safer, heard and included.

Power, Repair and System Change: A Restorative Circle for Reflection and Action

Steve Green, Victoria Finnigan-Lord, Mary Liptrot & Izzy Fairhurst

What does meaningful repair look like when power is unequal and some voices are less often heard? In this interactive restorative circle, people with lived and professional experience of youth justice will explore accountability, participation and the potential for restorative practice to shape wider system change. Attendees will be invited to share perspectives and consider practical steps towards a more equitable and restorative youth justice system.

Who Gets to Feel Safe? Power, Equity and Inclusion in Restorative Practice

Sylvia Stevenson

Is giving everyone the same opportunity to speak enough to make a restorative process equitable? In this interactive workshop, exploring the intersection between restorative practice, equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI)participants will use a fictional workplace scenario to explore how power, identity and past experiences can shape who feels safe and able to take part. The session offers practical questions for more inclusive preparation, including when a joint meeting may not be the right step.

“Liberating Electra” Script reading

Human Story Theatre Company

Oliver was a teenager when he murdered his father.  Now at the end of his 12-year prison sentence, he longs to reconnect with his family.  His sister Eliza is determined that must never happen.

Based on a true story, LIBERATING ELECTRA by award-winning writer Rebecca Abrams is a searing and hope-inspiring new play about the devastating impact of domestic violence and the transformative power of restorative justice.  

Please note: Liberating Electra explores themes of domestic violence, murder, trauma and imprisonment, which some audience members may find distressing. 

Closed is not the same as resolved

Leah Brown

When an organisation closes a complaint, who decides whether the harm has been addressed? In this interactive workshop, Address the harm® invites delegates to examine a complaint from both the organisation’s and the complainant’s perspectives. Together, they will explore how power shapes what counts as resolution and consider practical questions for testing whether harm has been acknowledged, addressed and meaningfully resolved.

“I’m sorry, we messed up”: A Practice-Based Case Study exploring institutional courage and the role of Restorative Practitioners in leading system change.

Dr Davina Cull

& Rebecca Rushton

What happens when the harm someone seeks to address lies not only with an individual, but within the systems they must navigate? Drawing on a case involving a victim of fatal violence and the Parole Board, Dr Davina Cull and Rebecca Rushton explore how restorative practitioners can create opportunities for dialogue, accountability and repair beyond conventional pathways. The session asks what it takes for institutions to acknowledge harm—and for practitioners to help turn that acknowledgement into meaningful change.

Restorative Approaches inside

Sam Warman and Esther Wanjie-Nyeko – Belong

How can restorative practice support people and relationships in prisons under pressure? Drawing on its work across several prison sites, Belong will share practice-based examples, including restorative post-incident debriefs and support for people serving Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences. The session will explore what practitioners are learning from this work and how those insights can inform wider change across the criminal justice system.

Building a restorative culture in prisons – Guidance for Leadership

Dr Katherine Doolin

James Simon

How can prison leaders create the conditions for restorative practice to take root? Drawing on Volume Two of their leadership guide, ‘Building a Restorative Culture in Prisons’, Dr Katherine Doolin and James Simon will share practical starting points for this work, including leadership support, staff development and safe responses to harm. The session will consider how small, well-supported steps can strengthen relationships, accountability and opportunities for repair.

The Unsent Letter: Does it matter?

David Masters

What can restorative justice offer when direct communication is not possible or appropriate? Drawing on practice in Wales Probation Service, David Masters will explore restorative journalling as an alternative to an unsent letter. The session will consider how journalling works, its potential benefits for participants and practitioners, and what research on expressive writing might suggest for its future development.

Developing children and young people-led conflict resolution in schools: A shared learning report by the Restorative Justice Council and Quakers in Britain

Ben Harper and James Simon

How can schools support children and young people to resolve everyday conflict while keeping clear boundaries around more complex harm? Drawing on a shared learning report by the Restorative Justice Council and Quakers in Britain, Ben Harper and James Simon will explore insights from schools in England and Northern Ireland. The session will consider how peer mediation and adult-led restorative practice can work together within a wider relational culture, giving pupils meaningful opportunities to participate while safeguarding responsibilities remain with adults.

Beyond the Bullet: Building Restorative Justice Systems That Pair Accountability With Better Outcomes

Hon. Ieshia E. Gray

How can restorative justice respond to serious harm while strengthening accountability and public safety? Drawing on her experience in a community court for emerging adults, Judge Leshia E. Gray will use an interactive scenario to explore how restorative approaches can address harm, understand the circumstances behind it and support more effective outcomes. The session will consider what it takes to embed this work within court systems and community partnerships.

The Unseen Ripple Effect Beyond the Sentence

Molly Leach

When one person is imprisoned, how does the sentence affect the family around them? Drawing on her lived experience, Molly Leach will explore the often-unseen effects of incarceration on relationships, care, connection and belonging. The session will invite participants to consider whose needs are recognised, how institutional processes can compound harm, and where restorative approaches might create space for dialogue, support and repair without assuming that family reconnection is always appropriate or desired.

From Fragmented Systems to Restorative School Communities: Children’s Voices from the 5-Scale Project in Colombia  

Antonio Varón, Irene Salas-Menotti and John Doughty

What can children’s own understanding of justice teach us about building restorative school communities? Drawing on the 5-Scale project in Bogotá, Colombia, Antonio Varón, Irene Salas-Menotti and John Doughty will share how workshops with children explored fairness, rights, conflict and repair. In a facilitated conversation, they will consider what worked, what did not, and what UK practitioners might adapt to strengthen relationships and children’s participation in schools.

Restorative Justice and Collective Trauma:

Exploring the Possibilities and Limits of Repair

Srila Devi

What can restorative justice offer when harm is collective, historical or carried across generations? Drawing on examples of institutional apology and approaches to collective trauma, Srila Devi will explore the possibilities and limits of acknowledgement, accountability and repair. The session invites delegates to consider when symbolic acts can contribute to meaningful change, and where more substantive action is needed.

The Future of the Profession: Standards, Credibility and Accountability in an Era of Complexity

Aisa Shearing

As restorative practice becomes more influential across increasingly complex systems, what will it take to earn and sustain public trust? In this closing keynote, Our Senior Standards Officer Aisa Shearing will challenge the sector to look beyond growth and consider the standards, capability and accountability needed for its next decade. The session sets out a vision for a profession ready to respond to complexity with confidence, integrity and a shared commitment to quality.

Type

2 Day Conference Pass

(16th & 18th Nov)

Online Conference Pass Only

(18th Nov)

RJC Member

£75

£45

Non-Member

£185*

£155*

Before 14 days of the event

100%

Between 5 and 13 days of the event   

50%

Within 4 days of the event

0%