Finns enjoy a good dialogue but participate less than before, according to a national survey

The DIAL project’s coordinator, The Sivis Study Centre from Finland, has been taking part in the national Well said (Hyvin sanottu) campaign for a few years. The campaign is coordinated by the public service broadcaster YLE, and its idea is to create safe spaces for dialogue and to strengthen mutual trust. One of the activities is the Well said festival, where we have facilitated dialogues every year.

One part of the campaign is a national survey on dialogue. This year, 76 % of the respondents said they enjoy deep conversations and over 90 % agreed that listening is vital in dialogue – a skill we have tried to address in the DIAL project as well.

However, people are quite worried that the culture of conversation and dialogue has deteriorated in the last year. This year 67 % of the respondents thought so. Most respondents call for more respect in public discussions and on social media.

It might be a consequence of increasing polarisation, but this time 22 % of the respondents said that they follow public discussions and debates less than before and 26 % said that they themselves participate less. There is a clear chance that some voices won’t be heard.

We can still be hopeful that the culture will eventually change, as most respondents would like to take part in dialogues, and over 90 % of them think that freedom of speech also includes responsibility. As adult educators we are in a good position to change the culture by offering spaces for dialogue and by strengthening the basic skills of dialogue: reflection, listening, speaking and sustaining one’s response. It is also our responsibility! We have provided materials to help you, which you can find in six languages here: https://eurolocaldevelopment.org/dial-2/

How would these figures look like in your country?

You can find a Finnish-language summary of the survey here: https://yle.fi/aihe/a/20-10007093

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