Page 37 - Mike Ratner CC - WISR Complete Dissertation - v6

conversation) are run by the New Road Map Foundation which seeks to foster a ‘cooperative

human community in a diverse yet interconnected world by creating and disseminating practical

tools and innovative approaches to personal and cultural change. Transcend.org is based on the

work of peace scholar and international mediator Johan Galtung. Transcend offers an approach to

the resolution of conflict by peaceful means using extensive dialogues with all parties, one at a

time, to stimulate their creativity about possible outcomes. Rather than focus on any one issue,

the Co-Intelligence Institute believes that enhancing co-intelligence will support our collective

ability, at all levels, to address societal, economic and environmental problems. The National

Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) contains a variety of membership

organizations and individuals who are committed to strengthening and uniting the growing

dialogue and deliberation field. Many other groups exist around the world that I found do

experiment with group dialogue. Mainstream religious organizations are even cooperating with

each other by offering interfaith dialogues which search for similar themes such as peace, fairness

and collaboration among different beliefs.

While I have examined those efforts named and explored their work which I do find very

interesting, my study is more about the organic nature of “Community Conversation” in general

as these CC groups have no centralized structure, no national leadership leading the cause of

Community Conversations, no associations or group organizing authority, they differ in size and

how frequently they meet. Membership does not exist, you just show up and participate in the

dialogue. While these gatherings are usually scheduled and well planned in advance, meeting

places vary from coffee shops, libraries, schools to somebody’s home. Size ranges from a few

people gathering in a park for informal sharing to throngs of individuals who are passionate about

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