The Estonian Dialogue Academy is a non-profit organisation working to promote a culture of open communication, discussion and participation.
Our mission is to enable all people in and around Estonia to actively participate in group dialogue and public discussion. We do this by providing training and school programmes, organising and facilitating events, and consulting organisations.
Our vision is a society where people have the confidence and freedom to start and participate in any discussion on any topic they find important.
By working together we can build more open, inclusive and tolerant communities, schools, governments, workplaces and public places. We believe that a culture of dialogue and participation is fundamental to a vibrant and robust democracy.
We help people develop essential discussion skills such as listening to others, sharing your thoughts, responding, giving examples, summarising, arguing, etc. A dialogue is a place to think together, a space to explore questions we often don’t have time for, find difficult or are simply curious about.
The mutual aspect of dialogue is key. There is great value in being able to express your ideas. However, we believe that it is equally important to take responsibility for others so that they can also express their views.
We don’t make dogmatic distinctions between dialogue, debate and other forms of discussion. In every good dialogue there are moments of debate and in every good debate people are in dialogue. The willingness to listen and the ability to respond to each other are both central.
The quality of a dialogue or any other type of group discussion depends on the commitment of the participants and the integrity of the organisers and facilitators. We focus on training and supporting all three groups.
In developing the Estonian Dialogue Academy we are currently focussing on four aspects:
- Building a network of dialogue experts and practitioners in Estonia and the Baltic, Eastern-European and Scandinavian region.
- Organising elective courses in discussion skills and skills for critical thinking for schools and universities.
- Setting up a training program for dialogue teachers, organisers and facilitators.
- Providing consultation for improving public dialogue and dialogue within organisations.
Dialogue skills for young people
We collaborate with schools where we implement courses in dialogue & discussion skills and skills for critical thinking. At the moment work with pupils between 12 and 17 years old, using two methods: Philosophy for Children (P4C) and Thinking Moves. These are very accessible ways to learn basic skills based on questions and observations of youngsters themselves.
In order to expend the impact on and collaboration with schools and universities in Estonia, we aim at setting up and training a flexible pool of dialogue teachers, in collaboration with P4C experts from the Tartu University. And with Finish partners we are preparing a pilot for introducing board gaming in Estonia as a tool for learning discussion skills is a playful way, and to push back against digital stress and overload among young people. Read more
Pool of dialogue facilitators
We are setting up a pool of dialogue facilitators that is able to step in when dialogue is needed in different parts of the Estonian society. As a first step in establishing this group, we joined forces with DD Center for Democracy. They are dedicated to implement dialogue processes trough Citizens’ Assemblies in and around Estonia.
Recently the first assembly of the capital Tallinn took place, around the issue of climate change. In 2024 we are together organising a first training program for dialogue facilitators for future deliberative processes in Estonia. Later on, we want to extend our program to also start training dialogue leaders; people who can help implementing the outcomes of citizens’ assemblies by continuing dialogues with all key stakeholders afterwards.
Improving public dialogue
Many public discussions in Estonia use the panel as the only form of discussion. The problem with most panels is that they are not interactive, don’t give the audience a voice and don’t support collective thinking. In order to improve the culture of public dialogue and public discussion, we will set up an updated training course for moderators and organisers of discussions. We will do this in cooperation with various partners in Estonia.
In line with this, we also want to develop a public training programme for individuals, non-profit organisations and companies. We plan to focus on skills for organising, facilitating and participating in community dialogue. And courses in empathic leadership – leading by listening – for dialogue skills for politicians and business leaders.
Baltic Dialogue Meetup
We are preparing to start organising a yearly Baltic Dialogue Meetup, in collaboration with Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian partners, starting from 2025. The aim is to bring dialogue experts, public servants, democracy advocates, human rights activists, etc. from these countries and the wider region (e.g. Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Sweden) together to learn from each other’s methods and for knowledge exchange.
Regional dialogue network
In order to boost a more permanent exchange, we are setting up a regional network with dialogue advocates and practitioners. At the moment initiating contacts with experts from Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland and Estonia, plus advisors from the Netherlands. As our founder originally comes from the Netherlands, he builds bridges between dialogue practises in Eastern and Western Europe as well.
We are a member of the The Baltic Sea Impact Network.
The Baltic Sea Impact Network is a new unique transnational network for peer learning between 50+ social entrepreneurs from Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Ukraine. The aim is to help the network’s members learn new skills, connect with like-minded peers from neighbouring countries and increase the access of social entrepreneurs to relevant stakeholders.
This network is implemented in partnership between Reach for Change Sweden, Reach for Change Latvia, Social Enterprise Estonia, Social Entrepreneurship Association Latvia and the Lithuanian Social Business Association, supported by the Swedish Institute as part of the Baltic Sea Neighbourhood Programme.
Awards
We won the second price in the Baltic Impact Hackathon 2023 for social initiatives, organised by:
