On October 9 to 12 mediation officer Ida Persson visited mediation offices in Turku and Ekenäs to become acquainted with mediation activities in mainland Finland. Ida met with Pia Slögs who is responsible for the Uusimaa mediation office and with Daniela Sundell, who is a mediation advisor in Turku, at the Southwest Finland mediation agency. Ida gained insights into how mediation activities are conducted at two large mediation agencies and she also gained an understanding of their work practices and approaches.
In Finland, mediation agencies in recent years have been merged and there are now 18 major agencies, compared to previous 25. All mediation agencies in their turn have branches in major cities. It is also possible to arrange mediation meetings in smaller towns without its own mediation agency.
The Southwest Finland mediation office in Turku has4 four full-time employees, one leading mediation advisor and three mediation advisors. The Åland mediation Office has one half-time employee. On the mainland the volontary mediators mediate many cases per year on a regular basis, one mediator may have 10 to 15 cases per year, compared to about 3-5 cases on Åland.
