Deliberation and Sustained Dialogue

Our work on deliberation and sustained dialogue includes areas such as:

• Sustained Dialogue - a process for changing strained community relationships
• Community dialogue forums
• International connections

A printable copy of SCPI's latest report "Becoming Deliberative" is available in PDF format (36 pages long).

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Sustained Dialogue - a process for changing strained community relationships

an introduction

We would like to acknowledge the use of material from "A Public Peace Process - sustained dialogue to transform racial and ethnic conflicts", Harold Saunders, Palgrave, NY, 1999 and the five-stage flow chart prepared by Teddy Nemeroff, Institute for Democracy in South Africa, tnemeroff@idasa.org.za

Why sustained dialogue?

The Social and Civic Policy Institute has been working for several years to encourage the use of deliberative forms of dialogue by communities to identify critical issues and develop responses to them. We have found growing interest in going beyond deliberation to find a process that would enable communities to engage in ongoing, in-depth dialogue. Even when people interact in a deliberative manner there are underlying issues in New Zealand society that it is not possible to resolve, or even to understand adequately, in the limited time usually available. In discussion on issues such as economic development and employment opportunities underlying issues of race relations and institutionalised racism have often been raised. However, we have not had an adequate framework or suitable process to address them. A process that can help people move beyond addressing legal or constitutional issues and enable them to identify and explore underlying relationships.

This requires dialogue rather than debate, a willingness to listen to other views and commitment to ongoing dialogue.

In our work with a wide range of communities we have found that many people feel isolated from the talk through which it is possible to make sense of the world and to influence events. They do not feel that they have the ability to influence others (individuals, groups, organisations or government). It often seems that the ability to influence has moved away from ordinary people to a range of officials and professionals who claim to speak and act on our behalf.

Individuals and communities may also be concerned over how to respond to the increasing diversity in society (in terms of ethnicity, culture, religion and status) where the disconnection between decision makers and those affected by these decisions is repeated within each group and where there may be a lack of trust between groups.

The concept of sustained dialogue

In the process of sustained dialogue people repeatedly return to the discussion table over extended periods of time to build the relationships essential to democratic and economic growth and community well-being. The concept is set out in detail by Harold Saunders in his book A Public Peace Process: Sustained Dialogue to transform Racial and Ethnic Conflicts. The process has been used in cities such as Baton Rouge in the US as well as in international situations in Palestine and Tajikistan. More recently in South Africa and New Zealand a sustained dialogue process has been used in local communities while a network of sustained dialogues on race relations is active among students in a number of US universities.

Sustained dialogue focuses on relationships that may have divided a community; that may be dysfunctional because of the way they have evolved over time; relationships that may appear calm on the surface but are underpinned by destructive interactions.

The focus is on practical problems and issues of concern to participants (they are what bring people together) and simultaneously on relationships that create and block the resolution of those problems. Sustained dialogue is not a problem-solving workshop; it is a sustained interaction to change relationships both in the "dialogue room" and in the wider community. The focus is on transforming and building relationships so that people can then deal effectively with practical problems.

Because sustained dialogue focuses on relationships that divide groups, it operates within a carefully defined concept of relationships which provides both an analytical and an operational framework. Participants will not easily talk about relationships as such, but the dialogue reveals their dynamics to participants as well as to moderators. Relationship is defined in terms of five components of interaction. Identity, interests, power (the capacity of acting together to influence events), perceptions and stereotypes about others, and patterns of interaction among those involved.

The concept of relationship can be both a diagnostic and an operational tool. One can analyse a relationship in this framework, and then get inside these components in dialogue to enhance understanding or change an interaction. In dialogue identity can be explored, and a person can be humanised or seen differently as misperceptions and stereotypes give way to face-to-face pictures. Common interests can be discovered and patterns of interaction can change from confrontational to cooperative. How people relate lies at the heart of dysfunctional or productive communities.

In describing the difference between sustained dialogue and other approaches, the effort to transform destructive relationships is a continuous process that unfolds through a series of recognisable phases. This process requires not a single meeting but a flow of meetings, each one building on the preceding meetings, and what happens between meetings may be as important as what happens within them.

Sustained dialogue differs from other public policy discussions or conflict resolution approaches in that: (1) It focuses not only on issues but, principally, on the relationships that under-pin the problems and must be changed if they are to be dealt with; (2) it is a process, built on the understanding that relationships change through a progression of experiences, which can be set out in a five-stage process.

This dialogue is more structured than a good conversation or study group and less structured than a negotiation. It is designed for communities experiencing tensions and divisions that limit their ability to work together.

The five stages that sustained dialogue works through are:

1. Deciding to Engage
2. Mapping and Naming
3. Exploring Problems and Relationships
4. Scenario Building, or developing options
5. Acting Together

These five stages are not prescriptive - they provide a framework to give a sense of direction and to check that important tasks have been carried out.

1. Deciding to Engage - people decide to reach out to each other, or a third party might provide a space for dialogue and invite conflicting parties to come together.
2. Mapping Relationships and Naming Problems - participants come together to map and name the elements of the problems and the relationships responsible for creating and dealing with them.
3. Exploring Problems and Relationships - participants explore specific problems to uncover the dynamics of underlying relationships.
4. Scenario Building - participants consider options and design a scenario to enable the community to take practical steps to change troubled relationships.
5. Acting Together - participants develop ways to put their preferred scenario into practice.

Practical value of sustained dialogue

In considering community issues where a sustained dialogue approach could be used people may move from a specific issue to explore wider concerns such as "what kind of community do we want to live in?" or "what kind of country do we want New Zealand to be?"

This highlights the value of spending adequate time at the second stage (naming and framing) to clarify both the core nature of an issue and who needs to be involved in a particular dialogue.

In dialogue apparently clear issues may become more complex. A discussion on Treaty issues that began with ownership of resources moved to identify the issue of "belonging" in New Zealand as a critical concern; discussion with church leaders about the place of gay and lesbian Ministers led to considering the independence of individual congregations and discussion on bio-technology raised the issue of how we treat risk. Whether the initial issue or those that emerge during this stage are in reality the most critical can only be resolved in the "dialogue room"; what is important is that the breadth of the discussion is not pre-determined and limited. From our discussions in New Zealand the following points have been raised in support of taking a sustained dialogue approach.

1. An educational approach is not enough — i.e. simply providing more external information about difficult issues without allowing the opportunity to also explore people's "internal" knowledge of their own situation and experiences is unlikely to lead to improved relationships.
2. The value of having a parallel process to formal government procedures — not one that is in conflict with government, but one that has its own time-line and pathway that is independent of government direction; that may in some cases sit alongside formal procedures and interact with them.
3. The action of citizens outside of government provides recognition of our right to act; citizens' ability to give themselves permissions to talk without government authorisation.
4. The importance of moving beyond time constraints — the sustained dialogue process is open-ended in terms both of time and outcome.
5. The value of having a systematic process with substance to guide participants through a dialogue.
6. The importance of ongoing connections and communication beyond the dialogue room as it proceeds.
7. Going beyond a legal solution to issues, which requires a personal investment of energy; this is critical with difficult issues that cannot simply be passed over the government or the courts to deal with on our behalf.

The Social and Civic Policy Institute has supported community groups engaged in various forms of dialogue including the participation of Pacific people in economic development, youth issues and mental health consumers involvement in service planning. SCPI is working with migrant and refugee groups in Auckland and Wellington to identify issues and develop a dialogue process with members of the host communities in the localities where they live.

SCPI has a core group of practitioners who are available to assist communities develop a sustained dialogue approach to issues of concern.

Flowchart of Sustained Dialogue Stages

Flowchart prepared by Teddy Nemeroff tnemeroff@idasa.org.za

For more information, contact David Robinson at davidjrobinson@xtra.co.nz

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Community dialogue forums

SCPI has been developing the use of a deliberative approach by communities to identify critical issues and develop responses to them. There has been growing interest in moving to a process that enables communities to engage in ongoing, in-depth discussion. This requires dialogue rather than debate, a willingness to listen to other views, and commitment to an ongoing dialogue. We have found that an educational approach on its own is not sufficient; simply providing information about difficult issues without allowing the opportunity for people to share knowledge of their own situation and experiences is unlikely to lead to improved relationships. Going beyond a legal solution to issues requires a personal investment of energy.

We are developing community forums in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington exploring issues relating to 'living with diversity in New Zealand'. These are structured to be open to interested and concerned citizens from all backgrounds.

Participants are encouraged to share their opinions and feelings in a safe and welcoming environment, yet not without having their views challenged. These forums are deliberative, where people are encouraged to weigh the pros and cons of their views and to understand the views of others.

The dialogue training workshops and forums are moderated by moderators skilled in leading people to consider their own views and those of others more deeply.

Support will be available to enable those who are interested to continue the discussions begun at the forums in an ongoing community dialogue.

The community dialogues provide an opportunity for people to understand the opinions of others better and for all parties to understand better why people hold their views. This increased understanding is crucial to building community cohesion.

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International Connections

Kettering Foundation

During the last five years SCPI has sent ten people to training workshops in Dayton, Ohio, organised by the Kettering Foundation and the National Issues Forum. They have each participated in two week-long training courses in Dayton inconsecutive years.

In addition Sue Driver, Tu Williams, Louis Smith, and Richard Davis have held six-month fellowships with the Kettering Foundation.

International Institute for Sustained Dialogue

Hal Saunders, International Director of the Kettering Foundation and President of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue has visited New Zealand three times at the invitation of SCPI. These visits have included meetings with Ministers, members of the Human Rights Commission, academics, church leaders and running training courses and workshops in Wellington, Porirua, Manukau City and Auckland.

Institute for Democracy in South Africa

SCPI also sponsored the visit to New Zealand by Teddy Nemeroff, from IDASA, the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, in 2005. Teddy ran workshops and spoke about his experience in developing sustained dialogue in the USA, South Africa and Zimbabwe at meetings in Wellington, Opotiki, Auckland, and Manukau City.