Polen Prosjekt 2

How do we build communities of disagreement in a society marked by increasing polarization?

Space for Conversation (Przestrzeń do rozmowy) is a national dialogue project in Poland aimed at strengthening dialogue skills, trust, and cooperation across social, cultural, and political divides. The project addresses one of the biggest challenges Poland faces today: increasing polarization and deeper societal divides between people with different experiences, life situations, and viewpoints.

Through training, networking, public dialogues, and support for local initiatives, the project aims to make the experience of good conversations and meaningful dialogue available to more people. The goal is to empower individuals and organizations working to reduce conflicts, build bridges, and create spaces for conversations about issues that matter to society.

>> Polish Project Page

Project title: Space for conversation. Promoting dialogue in Poland

Country: Poland

Period: 2026–2030

Partners:

Fundacja Edukacja dla Demokracji
Stocznia Foundation
Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue

Theme: Dialogue, democracy, depolarization, conflict transformation, and social trust.

Funding: The project is supported by EEA funds and has a grant of 1,215,927 euros from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway through the Civil Society Fund.

Dialogue as a tool for democracy

The project in Poland is based on the Nansen Peace Center’s dialogue methodology and is carried out in collaboration with Polish partners who want to strengthen the role of dialogue in society. The starting point is the belief that people who meet in respectful conversations develop a greater understanding of both themselves and others.

Dialogue gives participants the opportunity to see societal challenges in a broader context, while also meeting people as individuals rather than representatives of different groups or identities. In this way, dialogue can help counter stereotypes, build trust, and strengthen democratic participation.

Developing the dialogue environment in Poland

A main goal of the project is to strengthen and further develop the community of dialogue practitioners in Poland. Over several years, the project aims to build a national network of people who can facilitate dialogues, handle tough conversations, and create spaces where people with different perspectives can meet.

The project will help more people gain the skills and confidence to organize conversations between individuals who might not otherwise meet or talk about difficult issues.

Training on multiple levels

The project offers a comprehensive development program for people who want to work with dialogue.

Participants can, among other things, receive training in:

public dialogue
conflict dialogue
facilitation of dialogue processes
trainer training
guidance, mentoring, and supervision

The goal is to build both basic and advanced skills so that participants can use the methods in their own communities, organizations, and institutions.

Community and sharing experiences

An important part of the project is to build a strong professional community for dialogue practitioners.

Participants meet through professional forums, thematic gatherings, study visits, and network meetings in both Poland and Norway. Through sharing experiences and collaboration, a larger national environment is developed that can support, inspire, and learn from each other. [fed.org.pl]

The project will also establish a trainers’ network made up of qualified dialogue facilitators who can help spread knowledge about dialogue further in Poland.

Public dialogues on societal challenges

As part of the project, a series of public dialogues will be held on topics that create disagreement and tension in Polish society.

Through these processes, people with different experiences and opinions get the chance to meet, listen to each other, and explore complex issues in a safe and structured conversation space. At the same time, the project supports local dialogue initiatives led by participants who have completed training in dialogue facilitation.

Includes minorities and Ukrainian participants

The project is aimed at people working to reduce polarization and strengthen social cohesion, including in community work, the field of migration, and work with minority groups.

Participation is open to representatives from voluntary organizations, public institutions, and informal initiatives. Some training programs are also specifically open to Ukrainians living in Poland.

Knowledge, research, and learning resources

The project will develop new learning resources about dialogue and make them available in both Polish and Ukrainian. In addition, the partners will explore how dialogue affects people and communities by developing methods to measure the impact of dialogue work.

The experiences from the project will be gathered and shared through publications and other outreach activities.

Project staff:

Christiane Seehausen

Email: christiane@peace.no
Phone: (+47) 977 06 359

Christiane is a senior adviser and responsible for the center's dialogue work. Over many years she has developed and implemented dialogue processes and trainings in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. She previously worked for several years in Nicaragua, and thereafter was the director of the municipal integration center for refugees in Norway. Christiane is a trained nurse with a bachelor's degree in multicultural understanding. She has also studied organizational leadership, pedagogy, coaching and developmental analyses.

Jane Bruslund Jensen

Email: jane@peace.no
Phone: (+47) 907 75 003

Jane is a trained anthropologist, she comes from a position as program manager in the organization International Children's Solidarity. Jane has worked with Latin America for two decades, focusing on Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia. She has worked on social change, democracy, and participation. The focus has been on the rights of indigenous peoples, women's rights, and children's rights to participation and involvement. Jane has worked with peace education, conflict understanding, and conflict transformation.

Agata Urbanik

Email: agata@facylitacje.pl

Agata is NCPD's associate in Poland. She is an experienced facilitator, trainer, and supervisor with a background in social sciences and social research. She runs Facilitation Support (Pogotowie Facylitacyjne), a facilitation practice working across various sectors, and co-founded Pole Dialogu Foundation, which focuses on civic participation and democratic dialogue. For over a decade, Agata has been collaborating with civil society organizations, public institutions, and grassroots initiatives in Poland and across Europe. She specializes in designing and conducting participatory processes and creating spaces for meaningful conversations that help achieve shared goals. She has facilitated numerous public dialogues and trained hundreds of participants in dialogue and facilitation skills.

Space for Conversation | Polen

Creating space for dialogue in a polarized society