Restorative Practice Resources Tagged With: Restorative Cities

'Overcrowding, noise and air pollution, long commutes and lack of daylight can take a huge toll on the mental well-being of city-dwellers. With mental healthcare services under increasing pressure, could a better approach to urban design and planning provide a solution?

The restrictions faced by city residents around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought home just how much urban design can affect our mental health – and created an imperative to seize this opportunity.'

'“Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing,” makes the case that cities with more green space, water features, street safety and social hubs and less congestion, noise, pollution and physical discomfort can make residents healthier and happier.

If that seems like common sense, Jenny Roe, co-author of the book, who has been working passionately in the field of human-centered design for more than 15 years, doesn’t disagree. But it took a global pandemic, she says, before “the world was ready to listen.”'

This initiative aims to transform Newcastle into a restorative city by building social cohesion and healthy communities. Newcastle has pockets of disadvantage in relation to unemployment, income, education, housing, child welfare, and criminal justice.

The School of Law and Justice is initiating change by working with a growing network of community partners to support the city’s proposed social and cultural transformation.

In the criminal justice system, it is anticipated that there will be less offending, decreased recidivism, increased rehabilitation of offenders, and greater victim and offender satisfaction with the process.

Additionally, members of the community will be provided with skills to effectively build relationships and resolve disputes, which aim to result in greater wellbeing, social coherence, and improved educational and social outcomes. Workplaces and organisations will have improved communication skills, improved productivity, and strengthened relationships.

As a result, Newcastle will become a happier and safer city, where residents can address harm and inappropriate behaviour.

'Dalhousie University is officially launching the first ever international lab focused on restorative justice, with the support of the Donald R. Sobey Foundation. The Restorative Research, Innovation & Education Lab (RRIELab), located in the Schulich School of Law, will be led by a fully funded chair held by Professor Jennifer Llewelyn, a distinguished global leader in restorative justice. The lab’s vision is to be a global centre of excellence that will accelerate the growth and development of a restorative approach to protect the health, safety and well-being of individuals and communities in Canada. The initial focus of the RRIELab will be on accelerating the growth and development of restorative justice as a key component to transform the justice system in Canada, as well as supporting the development of restorative cities around the world and responding to institutional abuses and failures.'

'It seems like a herculean task to ask every single person in a school to contribute to your schoolwide expectations. However, the Restorative Practice of the community circle is an excellent way to intentionally work together to establish community values and behavioral expectations. Restorative Practices ideals emphasize that “rules” established by authority figures are less likely to create the positive community we are seeking. Instead, our standards for how we interact should be co-created (WITH) so everyone feels like they contributed. When we adults show respect for students' needs and listen to their voice, we are modeling to them how to respect the needs of others. As students help in creating schoolwide and classroom expectations, they get to experience mutual respect and shared power.'

'In early 2016 the ACT Legislative Assembly committed to becoming a restorative city. In making this commitment, our parliamentary representatives recognised the work that had already been done to date and identified areas where restorative processes could assist in dealing with difficult social and community issues. As part of this, they committed to exploring what work needs to be done to be declared a restorative city.'

'Mr Gordon Ramsay MLA, will learn and share experiences with New Zealand counterparts as he continues the push to establish Canberra as a restorative city and gathers insights from Rotorua’s Dementia-Friendly city initiative.'

'The Newcastle as a Restorative City Initiative aims to transform Newcastle into a restorative city by building social cohesion and healthy communities. This has been fostered by an increased need for social, cultural and economic renewal in Newcastle to address the pockets of disadvantage in relation to unemployment, income, education, housing, child welfare, and criminal justice. Newcastle Law School is working towards initiating this change by working collaboratively with a growing network of community partners to support the proposed social and cultural transformation of Newcastle. The transformation of Newcastle into a restorative city is an innovative project that requires ongoing support from across the community for a change to a restorative culture to occur and to ensure that sustainable and useful strategies can be adopted across the community.'

'The Restorative Justice City map is an attempt to reimagine the urban landscape through a restorative lens, bringing people out of prisons and the criminal economy, into productive and useful work in the service of their own communities. If executed well, we’ll unlock critical untapped human potential needed to rebuild our many blighted urban communities. '

https://www.academia.edu/70240636/Urban_design_guidelines_for_places_wit...

State of Australian Cities Conference 2015
Urban design guidelines for places with restorative values

Abstract: This paper evolved from a case study of three Gold Coast beach precincts that examined the complex relationships between the urban design attributes and spatial arrangement of beach precincts and their effect on public access to activity, amenity and facility.

Australian and overseas urban design guidelines were examined along with the requirements of restorative places.

The focus of the scrutiny of the guidelines was to identify the nature of urban design principles that enhance egalitarian, walkable access to the restorative values found in beach precincts.

The intended goal was to produce urban design guidelines for walkable places with restorative values, where their design, planning and governance would reduce conflict amongst different groups.

This paper proposes an urban design model for the governance of accessibility to the inviting, secure and comfortable places associated with the values found in restorative environments. This model is a synthesis of the requirements of restorative environments and the urban design principles developed in
the course of the research.