In this episode, I spoke with Manal Hamdoun Ghandour, a peacebuilding expert from Lebanon who works with a nonprofit addressing the country’s history of conflict, collective trauma, and efforts toward reconciliation. She shared what happened after Lebanon’s civil war ended—how the government passed an amnesty law that let perpetrators from all groups to walk free, and what that meant for the families of the thousands whose loved ones disappeared. Manal talked about how families responded to the ...
Jun 09, 2025•17 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Asylum centers are ripe for conflict. Residents share crowded spaces with those they do not know or speak the same language. Often traumatized and sometimes alone, they try to navigate the asylum process. It is also difficult for the employees to try to assist the residents when they do not understand the structure and the process, let alone ensure compliance. In this picture, an asylum center in Belgium started using restorative practices to decrease incidents, create more connection and increa...
May 12, 2025•26 min•Season 7Ep. 5
In this episode of WeCanFindAWay, I spoke with Georges Salines from France who lost his daughter Lola in the Battaclan terror attack in Paris in 2015. He explained how he got involved with Retissons du Lien, an NGO in Belgium that brought together the families of victims and perpetrators (covered in the second episode of season seven); what reaction he got from friends and family by being in the same group with perpetrator families and what he learned about by being in there. He was shaken by ho...
Apr 24, 2025•18 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Bolu Kartalkaya’da yaşananlar ertesi mağdur aileleri hızla bir araya geldiler, acılarını paylaştılar. Aynı zamanda adalet arayışı için yargıya yönlendirildiler. Konuğum Ulaş Karan, mağdurların yargıya yönlendirilmesinin onları yıllar sürecek bir hukuk labirentinin içine sokacağı ve bu sürecin başlı başına insanlık dışı olduğunu ifade etti. Karan, bunun sadece Türkiye’de değil başka ülkelerde de konunun hukukileşmesine ve dolayısıyla mağdurların beklentilerini karşılamamasına neden olduğunu ayrın...
Mar 12, 2025•29 min•Season 7Ep. 3
In this episode, I am talking to two persons from Retissons du Lien (Weaving links), a group established in Belgium in response to the terror attacks in Brussels (and Paris). The group brought together unlikely people such as victims of terrorism as well as the attackers’ families who lost their children due to radicalization. Add to this, front line workers in the field and long meetings, events and monitoring of the trials followed. My guests were Roland Prevot and Olenka Czarnoski who are act...
Feb 12, 2025•33 min•Season 7Ep. 2
In this episode, I sat down with Zaza Johnson Elsheikh, a seasoned interfaith mediator, to delve into the complexities of mediation in the context of the Sudanese conflict. Zaza shares her personal journey into interfaith mediation, sparked by an incident of bias and misunderstanding, and explores how her unique background equips her to address interfaith issues. The conversation shifts to the ongoing crisis in Sudan, highlighting the ethnic tensions, resource struggles, and the devastating impa...
Jan 17, 2025•31 min•Season 7Ep. 1
In this episode, I spoke with John Ford who has developed a self help app called “ The Empathy Set ”. We discussed with him what it means to be conflict competent; how an app can help people become conflict competent; whether the development of various apps can go beyond self help; and whether everyone can afford them or use them.
Dec 01, 2024•25 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Bu bölümde, Türkiye'deki Ombudsmanlık (Kamu Denetçiliği Kurumu)'ndaki denetçilerden birisi olan Av. Dr. Fatma Benli Yalçın ile Türkiye’de kamu denetçiliğine neden ihtiyaç olduğunu; hak aramada mahkemelerin neden yeterli olmadığını; kamu denetçiliğini tanıtmak için neler yaptıklarını; en çok hangi konularda başvuru aldıklarını ve örnek kararlarını; özellikle son dönemde yurtdışında yerine getirdikleri görevleri ve bunun nedenlerini konuştuk.
Nov 01, 2024•32 min
It is known that public services have been under strain in the UK and people are seeking solutions to their problems through various venues. Then, why are there so many ombudspersons while only 17% of the people know what an ombuds does? Why can this system not be reformed despite promises by various governments? What are the strengths and weaknesses of this fractured ombuds system in conflict resolution? What were the most significant cases handled by the Parliamentary and Health Ombuds? The fo...
Oct 01, 2024•32 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Life has changed considerably since we are no longer living in agrarian societies. While fertility rates are falling everywhere, people also live longer thanks to advances in medicine. What does this extended lifespan mean for people's conflicts later in life? In this episode, Sara Barnes explained the types of disputes that fall under elderly conflicts, how mediation can help resolving those and how their practice is shaped by the needs of the elderly.
Sep 13, 2024•36 min
Simel Sarıalioğlu, kısa bir süre önce hem kendisi hem Türkiye adına kısa bir zaman önce büyük bir başarıya imza atarak, ICC Milletlerarası Ticaret Odası Tahkim Divanı’na seçildi. Onunla ICC'ye seçilme sürecini; ICC’nin nasıl bir kurum olduğunu; ICC’de daha önce yüklendiği görevleri; bu göreve dek neler yaptığını ve hakemlik yapmak isteyen genç meslektaşlarına yönelik önerilerini konuştuk.
Aug 14, 2024•28 min
The war in Gaza led to many student protests in university campuses in the US and beyond. Many universities that were involved in the protests had ombudspersons for handling conflict in campuses. Yet, we did not see them getting involved and helping stakeholders. In this episode, we discussed the reasons for that; and whether ombudspersons really cannot do anything about these protests; what issues they were talking about among themselves in order to find entry points to handle the situation.
Jun 26, 2024•20 min
In this episode, we delve into Turkey's unique approach to mediation in its foreign policy. Our discussion uncovers how historical traditions, regional ambitions, and contemporary challenges have shaped Turkey's role as a mediator. From its initial engagements in Iraq and Iran to its involvement in the Balkans, Central Asia, and Africa, Turkey's mediation efforts have evolved significantly. We explore the influence of the Ottoman Empire's negotiation practices, the impact of the 1990s geopolitic...
Jun 09, 2024•26 min
Sivil toplum kuruluşları ve diğer kuruluşlar anlaşmazlık yaşadığında yokmuş gibi mi yapar; biriktirip üstüne mi yatar; hiyerarşiden mi medet umar? STKlar için kapasite geliştirme, çatışma çözümü, değişim yönetim sistemleri gibi konularda çalışan konuğum STKlar hangi konularda öz yardıma ihtiyaç duyuyor; kuruluşlarda kutuplaşma ve çatışma yaşandığında beraber varolma adına ne yapılabilir; derin demokrasi, derinlik ve balıklar, sosyokrasi gibi kavramları konuştuk.
Apr 29, 2024•25 min
After the war in Bosnia was finished in 1995, there were many projects about the war where soldiers, journalists and politicians told their story. However, for those who were children at the time, there was none. The invitation of Jasminko Halilovic who decided to create a platform for children to tell their story, first turned into a book project. Then, people started to send their childhood objects from war. Suddenly, the book became the greatest museum Project for War Childhood. Based on stor...
Mar 17, 2024•20 min
In this episode, I spoke with Gael Cochrane who works at Community Justice Scotland as a Learning, development and innovation Lead. She explained what it means to have a trauma-informed practice involving issues such as safety; choice; collaboration; empowerment and trust. She also said why this is needed; how someone working in the criminal justice system or in any mediation can realize that someone has trauma; and the relationship between trauma, criminal behavior and shame. These can also hel...
Feb 21, 2024•24 min
In this episode, I spoke with Ilan Bass from UK who is a community mediator. He explained what community mediation is; how he got involved in it; and gave examples of community mediation cases in neighborly disputes such as noise; life style clash; pets and boundaries while also taking about how public institutions can support mediation.
Jan 28, 2024•24 min
Müzakere ve arabuluculuk eğitimi almak, bir kişinin kariyerinde ne tür farklı imkanlara kapı açar? Süleymanoğlu kendi kariyerinden çeşitli örnekler verdi. Türkiye’de son on yılda arabuluculuk kanunu sayesinde neler başarıldığına değindi. İlerleme gösterilmesi gereken alanlar arasında eğitimler; ekonomik sıkıntıların işin nitelikli yapılması ile uyuşmaması; interdisipliner olunmaması ve arabuluculuğa meraksız yaklaşılması; yapay zekanın vaatlerinin anlaşılmaması; ve en önemlisi kullanıcıların gör...
Dec 24, 2023•39 min
Bu bölümde kolaylaştırıcılık nedir ve çok katılımcılı süreçlerde ne işe yarardan başladık. Şirket olsun apartman toplantısı veya işyeri olsun bir kolaylaştırıcı eşliğinde toplantı yapmanın nasıl katılımcı ve daha kolay uygulanan, kavgasız sonuçlar yaratabileceği konuşuldu. Türkiye'de çevre konusunda devletle toplum arasında başvurulmuş bir projeden kolaylaştırıcılık örnekleri verildi.
Nov 22, 2023•24 min
Released on the Centenary of the Republic of Türkiye, in this episode I spoke with Alper Koç who is an entertainment media lawyer. He talked about the different approaches taken to conflicts in the entertainment media business whether it is between talent and business or business to business. He also gave examples of platforms such as Netflix and others and discussed what they value in conflict and how the business is changing. Lastly, he talked about the dispute involving Disney series of Atatü...
Oct 29, 2023•24 min
In this episode, my guest was Belinda Hopkins who is the director of Transforming Conflict. We discussed how a restorative approach through circles can help students build relationships and values at schools. This would hence help with conflicts at school whether with fellow students or teachers but also among members of the administration. Belinda is a provider of training and consultancy in the field of restorative approaches in schools, residential care and other youth settings.
Sep 24, 2023•29 min
For over 100 years, the Canadian government in cooperation with the churches has taken away indigenous children from their families never to return them. They assimilated them, changed their religion and did much more. My guest Nergis Canefe explained how this was done and after all the pain and loss for the indigenous communities, there can be reconciliation between the aboriginals and Canadians of all sorts including those who arrived in the country recently. We discussed whether the adoption ...
Sep 09, 2023•47 min
Sanatçı ve hoca Işıl Eğrikavuk, toplumsal sanat işleri yapıyor. Bunlar başkalarıyla işbirliğine ve üretime dayanıyor. Ama ne sanat eğitimi ne de piyasa mekanizmaları anlaşmazlığa açık değil. Yıllar içinde başkaları ile bu süreçte neler yaşıyor; ortaya çıkan anlaşmazlıkları çözmek için neler yaptığını fark ediyor ve bu anlaşmazlık çözme kaslarını nasıl geliştirmek gerekiyor konuştuk. Photo: Işıl Eğrikavuk, Response Performance: A Fairytale on Benefits on Apple, 2016, Photographer: Nazlı Erdemirel...
Jun 30, 2023•24 min
In this episode, I interviewed the Anglo-German artist Angela Findlay who with her amazing book 'In My Grandfather's Shadow" talked about her German grandfather who was a general in the German army. She described how trauma, guilt and shame get transferred inter-generationally; how to forgive parents; what needs to be done to understand trauma better.
May 26, 2023•32 min
My guest in this episode is David Faro. He and I talked about crisis management and especially what happens in a crisis that may lead to conflict; how to improve communication and learning from a crisis. He explained how time pressure and high stakes can cause curse of knowledge especially when experts communicate with the public during a crisis. He also talked about hindsight bias and outcome bias that make crisis even more difficult to handle leading to conflicts when the crisis is over. He su...
Apr 17, 2023•27 min
Andrea Kupfer Schneider is a Professor of Law and Director of the Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law. She taught ADR, Negotiation, Ethics and International Conflict Resolution for over two decades. She co-authored several textbooks and books in the field. She explained how negotiation skills were needed in everyone’s life and why law schools needed to teach negotiation. She talked about her work on gender and negotiation and what skills women have in negotiation. She ...
Mar 19, 2023•26 min
Depremlerden sonra kaçınılmaz olarak sorumlu arayışı başlıyor. Ancak bu sürecin mahkemelerde yapılması halinde, hem sonuç almak yıllara yayılıyor hem de ispat meseleleri gündeme geliyor. Oysa depremzedelerin bir de bununla -hele avukatsız- uğraşacak takati olmuyor. İşte bu nedenle başka ülkelerde örneği görülen komisyon fikrini ele aldım. Sadece depremzedeler değil bu süreçte rol oynayan yerel ve merkezi yönetim ve inşaat sektöründen kişilerin de birbirini dinlemesini sağlayacak bir mekanizma to...
Feb 26, 2023•14 min
Emily May is the co-founder of 'Right To Be', an NGO that works to fight against street harassment. They designed a bystander intervention program for people that want to help anyone who is being harassed. These tactics are called 5Ds: delay; document; distract; direct and delegate. They are being consulted by many governments and transportation authorities. The picture of this episode was taken on London Underground. If you go to this link (www.gov.uk/enough) on their website, you can see simil...
Jan 18, 2023•27 min
Donna Douglass Williams is the Head of Ombuds at Pinterest, one of the first Ombuds programs in the tech sector. Ombuds is a confidential, impartial, informal resource that provides support to the workforce in navigating work challenges, developing constructive resolutions to conflicts and aims to promote an inspired workplace culture. Donna describes what led to the development of the ombuds program and how workplaces have shifted from fighting conflicts with employees in court to solving their...
Nov 30, 2022•25 min
My guest Gemma Varona is an academic researcher at the University of the Basque Country. Gemma describes a very interesting and ground-breaking concept – ‘restorative walking’ in great detail and explains how victims of political violence or harmed persons from environmental and animal rights cases in search of justice might choose this process moving forwards. She explains the importance of giving people from different groups (i.e people with disabilities, elderly people, children and young adu...
Oct 15, 2022•26 min
