The Community Dialogue Toolbox
If you are reading this guide then you are aware that polarization has become a systemic risk for democratic societies across the Western world. Civil society organizations and governments are looking for scalable and effective tools to address rising ideological divides. The purpose of this guide is to share with you a depolarization tool that has been developed and applied in Poland since 2021. We have designed the Polish Dialogue program in a way that enables easy and fast replication in other countries – starting with Central Europe.
This guide is written for civil society organizations and informal groups that want to launch a depolarization program in their country. You don’t have to be an established CSO – we started the New Community Foundation just four years ago. What you will need is: an intent on addressing polarization in your country, access to local facilitators and willingness to reach across ideological divides in your society. And you will need a grant to launch the project. We will provide you with a starter kit of knowledge and will be happy to partner with you further down the road.
The development of the Polish Dialogue program has been co-funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, the Bosch Foundation and the European Climate Foundation. This guide was financed by the National Endowment for Democracy.
Table of contents
Key concepts:
Setting up your own dialogue program: