How can we hold despair and hope, embrace diversity and take action together – shaping our communities and reimagining democracy?

Betka Wójcik and Vesna Lorenc joined the group of nearly 100 changemakers, activists and facilitators from across the Europe (and beyond) to explore this guiding question at the Art of Hosting training in Berlin.

To sit in a circle with such a diverse group – united by shared values and a commitment to action – was a rare and powerful gift. We came together around a deep care for dialogue, more just and sustainable future, meaningful education and collective and personal well-being. Beacuse the future starts in the circle. And every circle can become a turning point.

Dialogue facilitation has been at the heart of our work for quite a while now. In times of collapse, crises and growing polarization, the ability to facilitate meaningful dialogue, navigate complexity and co-create solutions has never been more critical. We returned from Berlin with fresh inspiration and new methods that will deepen and enrich our facilitation practice.

This training was organised in the scope of the project “EUDEM: Strengthening Democratic Resilience Across Europe” thanks to partnership between Commit (Germany), Galician Foundation of Development and Education (Poland), the European Network ALDA (Belgium), Europiamo ETS (Italy) and SocialFokus (Hungary). The project is funded by European Union.