Guidepost

Responsive, Holistic, & Place-Based

This is an invitation is to become restorative in how we live, work, play, educate, govern, and interact with each other, the land and water.

Restorative values, principles and practices are to be implemented across multiple spaces — families, neighbourhoods, schools, parks, workplaces, policing, government and more.

Being restorative is about being responsive, flexible and holistic, and is informed by people and place.

No cookie cutter or top-down approach would work, especially given our diversity.

Effective processes are co-designed, drawing upon vast available lived experiences, research and wisdom.

There is an acknowledgement of people’s unique lived experiences, intersectionality of social identities, and impacts of structures of power and privilege.

Being restorative requires that we co-create accessible, brave spaces and places for connecting, ceremony, difficult conversations and resolution processes.

These places are physical locations indoors and outdoors. Spaces are also created within policies, procedures, meetings, and projects to ensure people feel respected, included, safe, seen, heard and able to express their authentic selves.

Restorative approaches can thus be implemented anywhere, anytime.

Processes, spaces and places are designed holistically and support us in active listening, sharing, becoming aware, regulating, learning, healing and being our best selves. Their designs incorporate nature, beauty, creativity, sound, colours and bring us into the present moment and open us to possibilities.

Attention is given to the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of beings and experiences.

Being responsive, holistic and place-based also recognizes that we are not separate from the natural world that feeds, nurtures, heals, sustains and inspires us. The natural and supernatural world of these lands enlighten how we become and be restorative.

It is a gift to be alive and to live on these lands. Celebration, joy and play are encouraged. Laughter is medicine too. This is also an invitation to be brave and bold in how we imagine, express and creatively grow together.

Being restorative will be reflected in many faces, places and spaces, collaboratively built by, with and for all people in caring reciprocity with the animals, land and water.

By Dr. Evelyn Zellerer
Peace of the Circle, 2026

Guidepost

Accountability, Healing, & Transformation

In a restorative approach, people take responsibility for their behaviour and we collaboratively achieve meaningful accountability for issues, conflict, crime, and harm involving individuals, groups, and institutions.

The historic, ongoing harms and impacts of colonization and all forms of oppression are addressed. Individual and collective healing are supported.

Restorative approaches become the first response.

Peacemaking is offered within homes, neighbourhoods and organizations, and a citywide restorative justice program is accessible to all. The legal system is an option when chosen or required.

We — people, organizations and institutions — respond holistically and restoratively with those who are harmed and those who harm, as well as all those who are impacted.

The root causes and context are taken into consideration as we move toward accountability, healing, resolution and transformation.

“Restorative justice is an approach to achieving justice that involves, to the extent possible, those who have a stake in a specific offense or harm to collectively identify and address harms, needs, and obligations in order to heal and put things as right as possible.”
– (Zehr, 2015)

Healing, justice and peace promote integrity, including a commitment to truth telling in relationships and systems.

This is an active practice and takes courage. It includes being vulnerable, speaking truth, actively listening with openness, and standing up to do what is best for all — community, loved ones, self and the planet.

Accountability and healing restore our humanity and create a greater future for all.

Restorative approaches are effective and also preventative. We learn from, heal, resolve and transform conflict, harm and crime. Relationships and communities are made stronger, as is a sense of belonging.

By Dr. Evelyn Zellerer
Peace of the Circle, 2026

Guidepost

Wisdom, Learning, & Expanding Capacities

Conflict is an opportunity, not just a problem. What matters is how we respond to it.

People of all ages need to become competent, confident and empowered to effectively communicate, have respectful relationships, and resolve conflict.

Responding restoratively to conflict and harm is an opportunity to learn, build capacities, strengthen relationships, and become wiser.

It takes courage to come together across our differences and have difficult conversations, while also upholding the guidepost of love and respect.

Courage and support help us to face adversities, challenges and harm, and to make required changes.

Courageous action builds resilience and wisdom.

Learning, expanding capacities and growth occur in a variety of ways, including raising awareness, education, training, land-based learning, lived experience, ceremony, and having sustainable resources for all to thrive.

The sacred and science go hand-in-hand.

An interdisciplinary, holistic approach is taken that brings forward Indigenous wisdom as well as knowledge from various sources.

Capacities strengthen and we grow as we actively listen to and learn from each other, honouring the wisdom including of youth, Elders, Indigenous Peoples, women, 2SLGBTQ+, those who are racialized, marginalized, newcomers, and persons with disabilities.

Social change is emergent and collaborative.

Individuals, families, communities, organizations and governments learn and practice effective communication, conflict resolution, peacemaking, anti-oppression, cultural competency, traditional medicines, and more.

We are strength-based, knowing we are resilient and that our communities are abundant.

Everything we require becomes available to us in ever-evolving, growing Circles of coming together. Together, we become ever more aware, conscious, knowledgeable and wise.

By Dr. Evelyn Zellerer
Peace of the Circle, 2026

Guidepost

Love, Respect, & Relational

Lead with love.

As great leaders have taught us, a radical love is powerful and will reliably guide us forward.

Radical and fierce love asks us to choose connection over division, curiosity over judgment, and courage over fear. We are talking about agape, an all-embracing love.

The earth is the ultimate source of unconditional love, gifting us every second with everything we require to thrive. The land and water are to be honoured and free from harm within a reciprocal relationship. The land and water are alive and also our kin.

Love is a sacred law.

Love requires us to stay open, vulnerable, and empathetic - even in the face of conflict.

Be respectful.

Have respect for all — ourselves, those who are different from us, those we disagree with, and even those who have caused harm.

Respect does not mean agreement. It means recognizing the humanity and dignity of every person. We can engage in respectful dialogue.

Respect is another sacred law.

Be relational.

This means recognizing our interconnectedness and shared humanity. The profound Indigenous teaching of All My Relations reminds us that we are literally all related to one another, all living beings and all of nature.

We are all kin. There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’, which is a deeply colonized way of thinking that leads to seperation, dehumanizing the 'other' and harm.

As we express our diversity, we are all participants in interconnected ecosystems that are influenced by each other’s brilliance, needs, challenges, and choices. Science reveals the fascinating extensiveness of our mutual influence and relationality.

This is a fabulous opportunity to get to know both our uniqueness and unity.

Restorative justice is relational justice.

A restorative approach is offered when conflict, harm and crime occur. The ownership of conflicts is restored to the parties involved through participatory, humanizing, and empowering dialogue processes. There is balanced care for all parties.

Acknowledge intersectionality.

Each person has various, interconnecting social identities — such as gender, race, class — and these intersect with structures of power and privilege. Appreciating the diversity of each person’s unique lived experiences and the impacts of systems means creating spaces and processes where all people can be seen and heard, and have their needs met.

There is a shared commitment to reduce judgment, shame and stigma, and to collectively address systemic factors related to harm and oppression.

Restorative justice is about healing and creating just relations, while honouring our diversity and uplifting our shared humanity.

We cannot get to a good place unless we go in a good way. This means coming together with respect and leading with love.

By Dr. Evelyn Zellerer
Peace of the Circle, 2026