VADR conducted a CPD Zoom presentation on Tuesday 11 November featuring speaker Dr Katherine Johnson. The event carried one CPD point.
In a thought-provoking presentation, Katherine discussed The Mongolia Project, a collaborative initiative that bridges tradition, culture and modern mediation practice. Drawing on Mongolia’s rich nomadic heritage and complex journey through socialism and democracy, Katherine, through interpreter Emkhee Sharvdorj, offered a deeply personal reflection on social transformation, resilience, and the role of mediation in supporting families through change.
The project brings together mediators, legal experts and community leaders to strengthen family wellbeing, empower single fathers and establish Mongolia’s first Family and Children’s Court. Through this cross-cultural lens, Katherine highlighted how mediation can foster healing, connection, and systemic reform in rapidly changing societies. Inspiring, insightful and globally relevant, the session invited participants to see mediation not just as a process but as a bridge between worlds, generations, and ways of understanding.
Dr Katherine Pavlidis Johnson is a barrister, mediator and psychologist with more than 40 years’ experience in law, psychology and education, and is registered with the Attorney-General’s Department as a family dispute resolution practitioner (FDRP) in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia. She holds a PhD in Law from Macquarie University, where she developed the Re-Constructionist Model of mediation published in her book Mediation Quest: Making Sense of Loss. Katherine has practised as a barrister since 1993 and as an accredited mediator since 1996, serving on various national and international panels, including the International Mediation Institute, Papua New Guinea Supreme Court, World Law Alliance, World Mediation Organization, Supreme Court of NSW and Personal Injury Commission of NSW. As President of the Australian Dispute Resolution Association and the founder of PAVE the Way to Peace, she continues to promote the link between dispute resolution and mental health in strengthening community wellbeing.
