The need to communicate with each other is one of the basic human needs. Appreciation and sense of acceptance is something everybody strives for. Disagreeing, sharing views on challenging and controversial issues that are high on society’s political agenda can be very difficult. Since conflict, compromise, debate are intrinsic to democracy, we have to find ways to communicate across political and ideological differences.
This session will draw on experiences of initiatives that are striving to improve culture of political debates and social cohesion. With inputs from Germany, Finland and Latvia, the purpose of this session is to discuss value, methods and challenges relating to promoting frank debate and discourse among people of a different viewpoints in a polarised world.