![]() The Listen First Project invites local groups across the country to participate in the 2nd Annual Better Together Film Festival during the 8th Annual National Week of Conversation, April 21-27, 2025. This festival leverages the power of storytelling to inspire dialogue and foster unity. Featuring nonpartisan films that highlight stories of bridging divides, screenings will be followed by facilitated discussions to encourage meaningful conversations among diverse audiences. Join a screening or host your own! Learn more about how you can get involved below. Bridging Communities Together Through StorytellingIn an era of increasing polarization, the power of storytelling can inspire empathy, foster understanding, and bring communities together. The 2025 Better Together Film Festival provides an opportunity for local organizations to engage their communities in meaningful dialogue through film. The festival, spearheaded by the Listen First Project, encourages audiences to experience stories of individuals coming together across their differences to solve problems, build relationships, and strengthen communities. From April 21-27, 2025, venues across the country—including libraries, museums, community centers, and universities—will screen films selected for their ability to model bridge-building best practices. Each screening will be followed by facilitated discussions or interactive experiences designed to deepen engagement and encourage conversations across lines of difference. The 2025 festival will feature 6-10 films, with hosting partners able to choose which films they wish to screen. Organizations interested in hosting a screening are invited to sign up as Hosting Partners. Participating hosts will receive a comprehensive toolkit, including conversation guides, audience engagement materials, and marketing resources to ensure a successful event. Ideal hosting partners include nonprofits, educational institutions, and community organizations with access to a screening space and the ability to bring together diverse audiences. Sign up to host a screening! If you are a filmmaker interested in submitting your work to be featured in the festival, the Listen First Project welcomes film submissions that align with the festival’s mission of fostering unity and understanding. Films should model bridge-building best practices and promote meaningful dialogue. The deadline for film submissions is February 12, 2025. Click here to learn more about file submissions. Filmmakers selected for the festival will benefit from increased audience reach, free promotional support, and access to audience engagement data collected during the screenings. Additionally, filmmakers must provide a Conversation Guide for hosting venues to facilitate meaningful discussions. They will also be required to participate in standardized pre/post audience surveys to measure the impact of their film on viewers. More About the FestivalThe Better Together Film Festival is an initiative designed to bring communities together through powerful storytelling. Launched in 2024, the festival aims to provide a platform for films that highlight efforts to bridge divides and promote unity in an increasingly polarized world. Each screening is followed by an opportunity for meaningful discussion, helping audiences reflect on key themes and build connections within their communities. By showcasing diverse perspectives and real-life stories, the festival encourages people to listen first and engage in productive conversations that foster understanding and empathy. Bring the Film Festival to Your Community!By participating in the Better Together Film Festival, local organizations will have the opportunity to grow their networks, raise awareness of their initiatives, and contribute to a broader movement of bridging divides. The festival is an accessible and impactful way for communities to come together, share stories, and promote dialogue in an increasingly fragmented world.
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![]() The National Civic League and the Bridge Alliance have launched the Healthy Democracy Project, aiming to strengthen civic health and governance systems in two pilot communities. Over the course of a year, local civic leaders will receive training, tools, and support to foster inclusive engagement and address significant community challenges. The project focuses on building diverse leadership cohorts, conducting civic infrastructure scans, and implementing large-scale civic engagement processes to tackle major issues and enhance equity. By empowering leaders and residents, the initiative seeks to create sustainable civic infrastructure and inspire broader community participation in governance. Read more in the blog post below! Democracy in the Digital Age Summer Institute June 22–27, 2025 | Stanford University | Palo Alto, CA How does technology impact our society and politics? What policies do we need to ensure that technology plays a productive role in our future? During this weeklong institute, hosted in partnership by Close Up and the Deliberative Democracy Lab at Stanford University (DDL), students will explore how rapid changes in technology impact our democracy and elections, the global environment, education and learning, and labor and the workforce. You’ll hear from tech innovators, policymakers, academics, and advocates to evaluate a variety of policy options at the intersection of technology and society, and produce a youth report with recommendations on how to make social media more democratic. All attendees will be eligible for a Certification in Civil Discourse through Close Up and DDL. Complete the interest form here. Join an info session on January 30th, 2025 at 12pm EST, 10am MST! Register here. Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document. ![]() Learn Sustained Dialogue, a process that helps diverse groups build relationships & work together. The Sustained Dialogue Institute offers a comprehensive training program to help participants build unified communities and address divides through dialogue. This 10-week workshop series, starting February 13, 2025, provides tools for facilitation, active listening, conflict resolution, and equitable engagement. Participants will learn the five-stage Sustained Dialogue® process, a method rooted in fostering relationships and actionable solutions in divided communities. This virtual program is ideal for individuals and co-facilitators seeking to create productive spaces in workplaces, campuses, and communities. Read more in the blog post below and register here! ![]() Listening is a skill that shapes how we connect, understand, and build relationships. But how often do we pause to consider how we listen? Inspired by Elizabeth Rosner’s Third Ear: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening, Living Room Conversations has crafted a guide to help us reflect on and improve our listening habits. This guide invites participants to explore the spectrum of listening—whether we’re listening to respond, listening for deeper meaning, or listening to help someone feel truly heard. Through thoughtful questions like, “Can you think of a time you experienced being fully listened to?” the conversation encourages reflection on personal experiences while creating space to explore how listening can foster stronger connections. The guide is part of Living Room Conversations’ broader mission: to help people engage in meaningful dialogue that builds understanding and bridges divides. By offering a structure for exploring the nuances of listening, this conversation is an opportunity to cultivate a deeper awareness of how we listen and the impact it has on our relationships. How might your perspective shift if you explored your own listening habits? Join the conversation and discover the transformative power of truly hearing one another. Download the guide here and consider donating $5 to help them continue offering free resources. ![]() Emotions play a critical role in deep learning and effective policymaking, and the It’s Your America workshop harnesses this principle to foster community engagement and civic skills. Designed for lasting emotional and psychological impact, it brings together elected officials, community leaders, and constituents on a level playing field to explore public policy issues and develop solutions. By inspiring connection and “aha!” moments, It’s Your America aims to transform public engagement and rebuild trust in one another and in government. Read more in the blog post below! ![]() Date: January 15th, 2025 Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST, 9:00 am - 10:00 am PST Series: Introduction to the Collaborative Discussion Program Toolkit Webinar Register Now! How can we promote Collaborative Intelligence in our classrooms, workplaces, and communities? What resources exist that can teach us the collaborative discussion skills necessary to succeed in today’s world? This free webinar will take place online on January 15, 2025 from 12 pm to 1 pm (EST). It is designed to provide participants with an overview of the Collaborative Discussion Program’s (CDP) Toolkit. This free resource contains numerous activities and supplemental materials to help educators, civic professionals, facilitators, nonprofit leaders, and corporate managers build and support collaborative discussion skills and mindsets in their classrooms, workplaces, and communities. By the end of this webinar, participants will have…
Good news! If you can't attend this one, there are two more dates available: January 23rd and March 6th, both at 12:00 pm EST. Article URL: www.interactivityfoundation.org/event/introduction-to-the-collaborative-discussion-program-toolkit-webinar/ ![]() The University of Chicago’s Parrhesia Program for Public Discourse hosted its inaugural High School Educator Seminar on Freedom of Expression and Campus Discourse from July 21-25, 2024, featuring a workshop on the Collaborative Discussion Toolkit by the Interactivity Foundation (IF). This toolkit equips educators with practical methods to foster inclusive dialogue and help students engage constructively across differences. Seminar participants explored activities focused on managing group dynamics, navigating challenging conversations, and fostering community, leaving with actionable strategies to implement in their classrooms. By providing free, accessible resources like the toolkit, the seminar aimed to create meaningful impact, preparing students for diverse, complex interactions in academic and personal settings. Read more in the blog post below. ![]() Watch a recent discussion, Managing Emotions and Relationships After the Election, where Braver Angels co-founder Dr. Bill Doherty provides invaluable guidance for navigating the intense emotions that often follow an election. Whether you are experiencing the elation of victory or the despair of defeat, Dr. Doherty offers thoughtful insights on coping with these powerful feelings while staying true to your core values. His approach emphasizes the importance of preserving relationships, even amid deep political divides, and finding ways to build bridges with those who hold different perspectives. In these challenging times, his wisdom serves as a crucial reminder of the shared humanity that binds us all, fostering mutual understanding and resilience in our communities. Check out the video below! ![]() Nick Coccoma recounts his experience observing Healthy Democracy’s Deschutes Civic Assembly in Bend, Oregon, where a diverse group of citizens deliberated on youth homelessness. Unlike traditional adversarial politics, the assembly fostered collaboration, empathy, and civic duty, with participants working toward shared solutions without partisan conflict. Coccoma contrasts this approach with the divisiveness of electoral politics, arguing that citizens’ assemblies transform conflict into productive dialogue, uniting people to seek the common good. Reflecting on the assembly’s success, he advocates for expanding this “trickle-up democracy” as a healthier model for addressing societal challenges. Read the blog post below to learn more! |
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