Dialogue as an everyday skill

Dialogue is vital in our polarized times.

The DIAL Erasmus Plus project has set out to
improve dialogue skills in everyday settings.

Many of us think that dialogue is not doing well. In fact, in Finland 68 % of respondents of the recent national dialogue survey run by the Hyvin sanottu campaign that the country's conversation culture has deteriorated in the last 12 months. This development has swiped across Europe with heated debates in both mainstream and social media, which carry to our everyday interactions. It is also evident that the skills of entering a dialogue don't fall evenly, as Eurobarometer 508 has suggested.

As a result, the Dialogue In Adult Learning Erasmus Plus project (DIAL) has set out to bring dialogue and related skills from facilitated discussions to everyday settings: workplaces, schools, housing communities and so on. We have set out to reach out to learners who don't have as much access to more formal dialogue or who haven't practiced their skills in a long time.

We have had a strong emphasis on dialogue as a basic skill and the basic skills of dialogue. The skills of listening, self-reflection, restraint and constructive communication have perhaps not featured that much lately in at least public debates, but the dialogue survey referred to above also showed that people in Finland and probably elsewhere, too, have a longing for dialogue where you can listen, learn and feel connected. We need to reintroduce the skills of everyday dialogue!

But how to do it? We have so far designed under the title Dialogue for all a dialogue guide with an introduction to dialogue skills in everyday settings and a training manual for dialogue promoters, who are people whose communities might benefit from engaging in more dialogue in their everyday lives, such as teachers, volunteer supervisors etc. We have ran pilot training in Finland, Greece, Italy, Poland and Slovenia to a welcoming audience.

Now you can join us on our dialogue journey as well! We will organize a 90-minute webinar on 11/12/2023 at 13:00 CET on dialogue as a basic skills and the obstacles of everyday dialogue. You can also share your ideas with others. You can sign up here.

The importance of dialogue extends of course beyond the personal to the workplace and our democracies. This is why it's vital to spread it as widely as possible. You are welcome to join us!

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