2004 ACR Annual Conference

Valuing Peace in the 21st Century:

Expanding the Art and Practice of Conflict Resolution

September 29-October 2, 2004
Sacramento Convention Center
Sacramento, California

On this page:

• Post-Conference Updates

• 2004 Welcome from the President and CEO

• 2004 Conference Overview

• 2004 Keynote Speaker: John Paul Lederach

• 2004 Conference Program Committee

Post-Conference Updates

• Read Keynote Speaker John Paul Lederach's speech

• Purchase Conference Recordings, provided by Nationwide Recording Services

More than 1,250 members, practitioners and conflict resolution professionals participated in four days of pre-conference institutes, workshops, and meetings at ACR's 2004 Annual Conference held in Sacramento, California. If you could not make it to Sacramento, SAVE THE DATE and join us in Minneapolis for the 2005 Annual Conference.

Welcome

You will not want to miss the Fourth Annual Conference of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR). This four-day program—“Valuing Peace in the 21st Century: Expanding the Art and Practice of Conflict Resolution”—is the major event of the year for professionals in the field of conflict resolution. More than 1,500 people from across the country and around the world are expected to attend.

Please click on the links to the left for more information about this year’s exciting event.

This is a critical time in the development of our field and our organization. ACR’s conference will provide an opportunity to reflect on our accomplishments, celebrate our successes, and explore important issues impacting the field. Your presence at this conference will help build your career and support ACR’s work on behalf of the field.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to the members of the 2004 Conference Program Committee, committee co-chairs Gail Ervin and Dan DeStephen, the ACR Staff, and the Board of Directors. They have put in countless hours to find the best speakers, plan conference activities, and make sure every detail is in place.

So mark your calendar! We’re sure you will enjoy the conference and all that Sacramento and the surrounding area has to offer. We look forward to seeing you in Sacramento!

Conference Overview:

Join your colleagues in Sacramento for four days of inspirational speakers, skill-building workshops, and great networking opportunities.

You might want to arrive a day early and participate in one of the pre-conference skill-building institutes on Wednesday, September 29. These half- and full-day institutes offer the opportunity to delve deeper into issues and hone your skills with some of the field’s experts. Please see the 2004 Program for more information on these institutes numbered PC1.01 through PC3.02.

Also included this year is the Labor Arbitrator Development Program, a two-day learning opportunity designed for practicing labor arbitrators with five or more written cases. The program will focus on several areas: substantive aspects of arbitration (including just cause) decision-making, award-writing, advanced hearing procedures, and ethics. This program represents a national collaboration between the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), and the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA). Registration is limited.

The conference begins on Thursday morning, September 30, with an opening keynote by scholar and practitioner John Paul Lederach, widely known for the development of elicitive approaches to conflict transformation and the design and implementation of integrative and strategic approaches to peacebuilding. Workshops begin Thursday morning followed by an interactive World Café lunch, “Conflict Resolution at the Crossroads.” There is a welcoming reception with exhibitors and a dance on Thursday evening.

Throughout the conference, there will be mini-plenary events, Section meetings, and more than 150 workshops, offering a wide range of topics to satisfy the learning needs of both novice and seasoned practitioners.

In addition to a full schedule of formal presentations, the Exhibit Hall offers participants an informal place to meet with representatives from organizations and educational institutions, learn about the latest products, and find out about other opportunities and services. Stop by the ACR Resource Center to learn more about ACR and meet the staff. The conference closes on Saturday afternoon following the Presidential Luncheon and Membership Meeting.

Sacramento and the surrounding area provide many opportunities for recreational events with friends and family. Take in a play, wander through historic Old Sacramento, visit one of the city’s museums, or browse the many art galleries and shops. For a change of pace, hike or bike along the 23-mile American River, or visit the Sierra Nevada foothill wineries, only an hour away. You might want to build a family vacation around the conference: Sacramento is within two hours of Lake Tahoe, the Napa/Sonoma wine country, and Reno, Nevada.

Keynote Address:

“The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace”
by John Paul Lederach
Presenting Thursday, September 30, 2004
8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

John Paul Lederach is Professor of International Peacebuilding at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He was the founding director of the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University where he has been named a Distinguished Scholar. Lederach works extensively as a practitioner in conciliation processes in Latin America, Africa, and in Southeast and Central Asia. He is widely known for the development of elicitive approaches to conflict transformation and the design and implementation of integrative and strategic approaches to peacebuilding. He is the author of 16 books and manuals, including Building Peace: Sustainable Reconciliation in Divided Societies (U.S. Institute of Peace Press), The Little Book of Conflict Transformation (Good Books), and a forthcoming book on The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (Oxford University Press).

2004 Conference Program Committee

Program Committee Chairs:
Gail M. Ervin
Dan DeStephen

Program Committee: