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New Dates Announced!
Mark your calendars! We’re delighted to announce that the dates for CDRC Vienna 2027 have been confirmed! The CDRC Week will take place from Friday, 9 July 2027 (The CDRC Mediation Conference) till Wednesday, 14 July 2026 (The Finals Reception).
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Mark your calendars!
We’re delighted to announce that the dates for CDRC Vienna 2027 have been confirmed! The CDRC Week will take place from Friday, 9 July 2027 (The CDRC Mediation Conference) till Wednesday, 14 July 2026 (The Finals Reception).
The applications for teams, expert assessors and volunteers will open on 1 December 2026.
Work is already underway to craft a competition of the highest calibre, complemented by a dynamic programme of learning and exchange. CDRC 2027 will once again feature sessions with leading experts and thought-provoking discussions on the latest in consensual dispute resolution. Participants can also look forward to a vibrant social and networking programme, offering opportunities to connect, collaborate, and celebrate with the global dispute resolution community.
We look forwarding to welcoming once again students, practitioners, academics and experts from around the globe, united in the spirit of learning and resolution!
Started in 2024, each year the CDRCxFreshfields Panel explores cutting-edge issues at the intersection of arbitration and mediation under the 'Power of Two' theme. This year's stellar panel featured some of THE most sought after experts in the field, viz., Stefan Kröll, Amelie Huber-Starlinger, Andrew Miller KC, Geoff Sharp and Catherine Davidson, and was moderated by Sofia Svinkovskaya and Inan Gupta. The topic for the discussion was 'The Power of Two: Leveraging Arbitration and Mediation Across the Disputes Lifecycle', with different stages of a dispute being broadly demarcated as pre-arbitration/litigation, case management conferences, mid-arbitration/litigation settlement windows and post-award settlement. The panel mooted the specific challenges and opportunities presented at each stage, with a special focus on mid-arbitration settlement windows, the roles of the arbitrator and mediator in identifying and utilising such windows and how the dispute resolution process can be optimised for maximising chances of settlement. Our thanks once again to the team at Freshfields, especially Eric Leikin, Sofia and Eva Lilek, for hosting this electric discussion!
Held in the resplendent Festsaal at the Rathaus, the Final Awards Reception marked the culmination of #CDRCat10. The evening brought together our partners, expert assessors, coaches as well as participating students, all gathered to honour the skill, dedication, and spirit that defined this milestone edition. As the hall filled with celebration and camaraderie, we closed the chapter on a decade of excellence and opened the door to all that lies ahead for CDRC.
A tripartite co-production by CMS, IMI and CDRC, the event featured a high-powered panel comprised of Nadja A., Hannah Tümpel, Leonardo D'Urso, Mary Walker, Nenad B. Kovacevic and Tat Lim, who discussed the various aspects of the art of mediation advocacy. The panelists drew upon their experience and reflected on what makes for a good mediation advocate, the emerging trends in different jurisdictions and the role of different stakeholders, including the judiciary, administering institutions and accrediting bodies in addressing contemporary challenges. The event was followed by a networking reception hosted at the offices of CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz. Our thanks once again to the team at CMS, especially Daniela Karollus-Bruner, Nenad B. Kovacevic, Lukas Peissl-Lewisch and Arno Zimmermann, as well as Ivana Ninčić Österle from IMI for their generous support.
Set against the timeless arches of the Arkadenhof at the University of Vienna, the reception was generously sponsored by our friends at CCAMI - Câmara de Conciliação Arbitragem e Mediação Intercultural. The evening brimmed with lively conversation, new connections, and a well-earned moment of celebration for our global community, all complemented by exceptional wines from our sponsor and classic Austrian vintner Weingut Bruendlmayer!
Professor Sultan Barakat, Professor of Public Law at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar is an expert with rich experience of acting as mediator in several headline-making conflicts between two or more states or between states and non-state actors. The interactive session, moderated by Prof Zachary Calo, featured a rich discussion on how the principles of mediation are moulded for use in conflict management and post-conflict recovery in state-state or state-non-state actor conflicts.
Our long-standing supporter KNOETZL opened its doors again this year for its signature wine-tasting reception for professionals. In what has become one of the key highlights of the CDRC social calendar, the attendees were offered a curated selection of Austrian wines, charcuterie and some of the most spectacular views of the city of Vienna. Our thanks once again to the team at KNOETZL, especially Bettina Knoetzl, Natascha Tunkel and Eugenia Mocanu for their unwavering support over the years!
At CDRC 2025, participants had the rare opportunity to engage in a live conversation with Judge Daniel Weinstein, a true global pioneer of mediation, founder of the Weinstein International Foundation and co-founder of JAMS, in a session moderated by Blazo Nedic, LL.M. (Pepperdine) and facilitated by Ellen S. Bass. Joining us via video link, Judge Weinstein shared reflections drawn from a lifetime devoted to the art and practice of mediation. He spoke of trust as the mediator’s greatest currency, of the need to balance empathy with resilience, and of the lessons that come from failure as much as success. He also offered a wider view — of a world where mediators across borders form a global community committed to dialogue and understanding, even in challenging times. His optimism for the future of mediation, and his candour about its limits, left a lasting impression on the participants.
Katja Kröll, a mediator and long-time assessor at CDRC Vienna, together with Prof. Stefan Kröll, a Director of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and the author of the Vis Moot case, led participants through an illuminating exploration of the economic and commercial aspects of the dispute featured in the Vis Moot case (an adapted version of which is used for CDRC Vienna). The session covered the economics of the underlying substantive dispute as well as the economics of the costs associated with the process of dispute resolution. Blending theory with application, the session served as a reminder of how such analyses can inform effective negotiation strategies, from identifying one's BATNA and WATNA to formulating robust settlement proposals.