Victoria University of Wellington is offering a free online course on restorative justice as part of its new VictoriaX programme.

The course is an introduction to the theory and practice of restorative justice and Aotearoa New Zealand’s pioneering role in the movement.

VictoraX is part of the edX online learning destination founded by American universities MIT and Harvard.

EdX is a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) provider which offers nearly 2,000 free courses from over 100 universities worldwide.

The course offered at Victoria teaches restorative practices and how they can bring about positive change for schools, families, workplaces and community agencies.

“Restorative justice is a process whereby all the parties with a stake in a particular offence or conflict come together with trained facilitators to have a conversation about what’s happened, what the impact has been and how things can be repaired,” says Professor Chris Marshall, one of the course presenters.

Presenting the course with Professor Marshall are Dr Tom Noakes-Duncan and Haley Farrar. All three are specialists in the restorative justice field.

Restorative Justice and Practice: Emergence of a Social Movement starts on 1 May 2018and is now open for free online enrolment.