Creating Spaces for Dialogue - A Role for Civil Society

This book offers four stories about dialogue processes supported by members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC). They show that civil society plays a vital role in rebuilding trust and in enabling collaborations between communities and societies polarised by conflict.

The authors describe how the dialogue processes unfolded, and share resulting lessons and observations. They also present their views on the questions that need to be addressed in designing a meaningful process. Who can initiate a dialogue? What is the most efficient format? How are participants identified and engaged? How does the agenda shape and define the relationships? And most importantly, at what stage should a dialogue develop into a collaboration across a conflict divide?
The first two stories provide an account of civil society contribution to normalising inter-state relations between the US and Cuba, and Russia and Georgia. The next two chapters offer chronicles of community dialogues between Serbians and Albanians in Serbia and Kosovo, and Christians and Muslims in Indonesia.

You can download the full publication here.