Mediation Without Borders 🌍 Stop No. 23 in France 🇫🇷 with Elena Alvarez 🇮🇹 On mediation as a safe space for dialogue

Mediation Without Borders 🌍

Stop No. 23 in France 🇫🇷 with Elena Alvarez 🇮🇹 On mediation as a safe space for dialogue

The next stop in the Mediation Without Borders series takes us to France. This time, I had the opportunity to speak with Elena Alvarez, originally from Italy, who now lives and works in France. Her professional background is rooted in law, and her current work is connected with supporting families, especially children within Udaf des Hauts-de-Seine (UDAF 92). Alongside this practice, she is also involved in family mediation and in exploring how people in difficult family situations can be helped to rediscover a space for dialogue.

What caught my attention about Elena was the natural way in which she connects her legal experience with sensitivity to human relationships. When I asked her what brought her to mediation, she answered simply: she is interested in what happens in people’s lives. At the same time, she clearly emphasized that it is not the mediator’s role to decide for the parties what should be done or changed.

This is where she sees the true meaning of mediation. Not in someone from the outside bringing the “right” solution, but in creating a safe framework in which people can communicate again.

The mediator as a framework, not as a judge

Elena mainly works in France, people may come to mediation voluntarily, but they may also be referred or ordered by a court to at least meet with a mediator. However, whether they continue with the mediation process remains their own decision.

This is important. Even when a court recommends mediation, the actual mediation process remains based on voluntariness. The parties can decide whether they want to continue and whether this form of dialogue makes sense for them.

According to Elena, mediation in France is still not as well known as it deserves to be. That is why she considers awareness-raising to be an important part of her work. It is not enough to wait for people to look for mediation on their own. It is necessary to explain what mediation is for, when it can help, and what difference it can make compared to an ordinary dispute or court proceedings.

This topic is very close to the Czech context as well. In our country too, people often do not look for “mediation” as a method. They are more likely looking for calmer communication, the possibility of being heard, a safer way to talk, or a path out of being stuck in a dispute.

When mediation helps — and when caution is needed

One of the sensitive topics in our conversation was domestic and gender-based violence. Elena points out that violence can be a serious obstacle to mediation. At the same time, she believes that it is not always possible to work only with the simple sentence: “Where there has been violence, mediation can never take place.”

Such situations must be assessed very carefully and on a case-by-case basis. The safety of the parties, voluntariness, the possibility to speak freely, and the mediator’s ability to recognize power imbalance are essential. If mediation could expose one of the parties to further pressure or risk, it has no place in that form.

This is precisely where we can see that mediation is not a universal answer to every conflict. It is a powerful tool, but it requires responsibility, experience, and the ability to recognize when it is appropriate — and when it is not.

What the conversation reminded me

My conversation with Elena Alvarez reminded me once again that mediation has different legal frameworks, educational paths, and levels of public awareness in different countries. But the basic question is similar: how can we create a space in which people are able to speak to each other differently than they do in an ordinary conflict?

Elena presents mediation as a safe framework in which the mediator is neither a judge nor an adviser, but a person who helps the parties rediscover the possibility of dialogue.

And that is why it makes sense to talk about mediation across borders. Not because it works the same way everywhere, but because everywhere it addresses a similar human need: to be heard, to understand the other person, and to have the opportunity to participate in one’s own solution.

🎧 You can listen to the full conversation in the Mediation Without Borders podcast.: