Learning the circle, so we can hold it for others.

Today at Alt Hotel Calgary Downtown, we joined Connecting the Dots Diversity & Inclusion Council (CDDIC) for their “Train-the-Trainer” Ìtùnú Restorative Justice Circle Facilitation session — three hands-on hours on how a circle works: a keeper who guides without judging, a centrepiece that grounds the space, a talking piece that gives everyone equal voice, guiding questions, and agreements the circle makes and holds together.

Ìtùnú is a Yorùbá word for comfort, consolation, and the restoration of balance — and that is what restorative justice is for: naming harm, taking responsibility, and repairing relationships, with safeguards for the person harmed.

Thank you to Priscilla Ojomu, Executive Director of Connecting the Dots Diversity & Inclusion Council, for leading the session, and to the Government of Alberta’s Alberta Restorative Justice Grant for making it possible. IRES believes in restoration through community — today we learned more about how to practise it.