What is the difference between mediation and conflict facilitation?

These are two different approaches to managing conflict.

• Mediation: a structured process in which a neutral third party helps people reach an agreement that is shared and acceptable to both parties on a specific issue.
• Conflict facilitation: an approach that works on the relational and organisational dynamics that fuel the conflict, with the aim of improving the conditions for collaborating, communicating and dealing with disagreements constructively.

If conflicts are also linked to roles, expectations and ways of working, and not only to the explicit topic of the disagreement, it may also be useful to intervene in the dynamics that generate the disagreement and keep it going over time.