On Tuesday 16th May I attended the Civil Mediation Council's 2017 Conference at the Hyatt Regency, Birmingham City Hotel.

The main aim of this year's CMC's annual conference was to build upon its membership's experience and reflect upon the needs and interest of its membership, which was collated from a pre-Conference survey, along with the concerns of users of mediation.

The programme addressed the growing importance of mediation in the civil justice system, how mediation schemes can be established, and provided opportunities in workshop settings to explore dealing with a variety of practical aspects.

The highlight for me was the talk 'Carrot and Stick: defining the right role for mediation in the justice system'  by Dr Sue Prince, Associate Professor at Exeter University.  This particularly addressed some of the issues I am currently researching as part of my distance learning Masters' dissertation at Nottingham Trent University.