Rights
Resources
Dialogue

Dr. Leopold von Carlowitz

Consulting, Facilitation and Mediation
25 years of international project experience

Philosophy

The equitable distribution of resources is at stake in a variety of contexts – from labour standards in supply chains, mining concessions over indigenous land, to the restitution of looted cultural assets. Related grievances can lead to conflicts between the various stakeholders.

Compromises on access, use and responsibility are more likely to be workable and sustainable if all stakeholders accept them as just. Informed and inclusive dialogue processes can help to ensure such consensus, as well as compliance with applicable laws. Accompanying measures designed to build required capacity and to mitigate losses can also play an important role in making resource-related compromises work. They tend to be most successful if jointly developed and implemented through participatory project management.

Profile

As a fully qualified lawyer, expert and process consultant, mediator and facilitator, I can help you to develop and implement tailor-made solutions for regulation, conflict management and dialogue processes. I offer comprehensive expertise in resource justice and dispute resolution.

In practice, these skills allow me to support collaboration and conflict resolution at both the technical and process levels. This dual approach enables greater strategic cohesion and better project implementation. It can reduce the risk of miscommunication, duplication of efforts and related costs, be it in the context of multi-stakeholder dialogue, conflict mediation or negotiation processes.

After 25 years of successful international project work, including in development cooperation in Namibia and with the United Nations in Kosovo, I have the necessary practical experience and sector knowledge to help your organisation or company overcome borders, promote cooperation and create a fair balance of interests. My regional focus has been on Africa and the Balkans.

Previous projects

Expertise

In international project practice and in peace and conflict research, I have acquired proven expertise and relevant networks in the fields of land and resource governance, business and human rights as well as reparation and reconciliation. In project work I bring these to bear in a solution-oriented manner.

Land and natural resource governance

  • Property and tenure rights
  • Restitution, expropriation and compensation
  • Commodity contracts and licenses

Business and human rights

  • Sustainable supply chains
  • Environmental and social standards
  • Corporate responsibility and liability
  • Grievance mechanisms and access to justice
  • Human rights, including rights of indigenous peoples
  • Multi-stakeholder dialogues

Reparation and reconciliation

  • Transitional justice and peacebuilding
  • Colonial history and decolonisation
  • Rule of law and legal pluralism
  • Conflict management and resolution

My interdisciplinary background as a fully qualified lawyer, with a Doctor of Laws (Goethe University Frankfurt) and a Master’s degree in International Relations (University of Cambridge), and as a certified mediator ensures a holistic approach. Specialised knowledge in various fields, including land and resource governance, also enables a deeper understanding of the specific context.

Publications

Education and Training

2023 – Executive Training on Association Law and Management, Schomerius & Partner

2014-21 – Training as Mediator

  • Radius/Institut für Kommunikation und Konfliktmanagement (2021)
  • London School of Mediation (2016)
  • Center for International Peace Operations’ course “Mediation in the Field” (2014)

2016 – Executive Training “Extractive Industries and Sustainable Development”, Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment, New York

2008 – Doctorate in Law on international property law, Frankfurt/Main

1997 – Second Legal State Exam, Berlin

1994 – Master of Philosophy, International Relations, Cambridge, UK

1993 – First Legal State Exam, Berlin

Publications

Networks

With my long experience in international project work and research, I am able to draw on an extensive network of contacts and partners in different fields. Previous employers and cooperation partners include the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the United Nations, various research institutions, non-governmental organisations and partnerships working on land and resource issues, responsible supply chains, human rights and conflict transformation. Furthermore, I am a member of different professional associations, give lectures at various universities and am certified with the German Mediation Society.

Memberships / Cooperations

 

Services

I provide flexibly deployable advisory, facilitation and mediation services to help resolve legal and policy questions related to the equitable distribution of resources. I also provide support in the form of process design, methodological input and implementation advice, as required. In particular, I offer any combination of the following services:

Technical advice and capacity building

  • Legal, policy and organisational advice
  • Expert analysis, expert reports
  • Speech writing and delivery
  • Conceptualisation of specialised events and training curricula

Process design and implementation

  • Design of dialogue and negotiation processes
  • Process planning and management
  • Support in establishing multi-stakeholder partnerships
  • Facilitation of expert panels and dialogue events

Mediation and conflict management

  • (Group) mediation of resource and local conflicts
  • Facilitation in an intercultural context
  • Mediation in private law cases