A new article entitled ‘No Sheriff in Town: Governance for the ODR Field’ has appeared in Negotiation Journal’s latest volume. In it, Noam Ebner and John Zeleznikow review current trends in the field of ODR, including its embrace by organizations in the ADR and legal world, and  the territory it is rapidly gaining with international institutions and systems around the world. Against this background, they survey the relatively low level of internal governance in ODR – organizations, standards of practice, ethical guidelines and accreditation programs are, at best, few and far between. The authors survey a variety of approach to organizing governance in professional fields, and suggest that the ODR field engage in conversation around considering a suitable governance map for itself. Without advocating for any particular model of governance, they raise a simple consideration in favor of urgency: If the ODR field does not set up its own model and structures of governance, external players and bodies will do so in its place.

One such conversation will take place during Cyberweek 2016. In the opening webinar, on Oct. 31st at 4pm Eastern US time, Noam Ebner and John Zeleznikow will review the already existing elements of governance in the ODR field, point out what is missing, and invite participants to raise their own ideas and suggestions for suitable approaches to governance and to discussing governance issues.

Join in!