Defining Dialogue

At the Dialogue Society, we understand dialogue to consist of meaningful interaction and exchange between people of different groups (social, cultural, political and religious) who come together through various kinds of conversations or activities with a view to increased understanding.

Target Audience

Overall, the Dialogue Society’s target audience is a proportional cross-section of people from different backgrounds living and working within the regions in which we operate.

In addition to bringing people together across cultural and religious lines, we are concerned to bring together people from the following sectors: academia, stakeholders, community and media. The work done by relevant professionals and volunteers within all these sectors can have a significant impact on the character of society. However, while each sector has a role to play in helping society to develop in a cohesive and empathic direction, channels of communication between them can be lacking and they can easily become insular. We aim to bring the different sectors into a creative, constructive dialogue that will inform and enhance the work of all.

Areas of Interest

The Dialogue Society is interested in facilitating dialogue on the following areas of interest:

• Dialogue theories and practice
• Community cohesion and multiculturalism
• Identity, integration and citizenship
• Family, education and youth
• Media, culture and communication
• Human rights and civil liberties
• Theology and religious studies
• World cultures and societies
• Peace-building and conflict resolution

Our Method

The Dialogue Society seeks to contribute to social cohesion at three different levels: directly bringing different social groups together, empowering others to do the same, and contributing to the development of thought on dialogue and community building. In short, Dialogue Society projects all fall under one of the three areas of work in the table below: