Sustained Dialogue Institute Invites Practitioners to Explore Its Structured Approach to Conflict Transformation

​The Sustained Dialogue Institute offers monthly information sessions introducing its five-stage dialogue-to-action model, developed by Dr. Harold Saunders based on international peace negotiations and adapted for college campuses in 1999. The model transforms group relationships to unlock collective problem-solving through proven peace processes applied in workplaces, communities, and schools. It provides structured pathways from dialogue to action through relationship-building and distinct stages, preparing groups for collaborative solutions. The model recognizes that addressing deep-seated conflicts requires ongoing commitment and transformed relationships among stakeholders, not just agreement on issues, demonstrating effectiveness across diverse settings where traditional methods have failed. This offering advances NCDD’s mission by providing practitioners with a structured, tested approach grounded in international peace negotiation expertise, offering monthly opportunities to explore how sustained dialogue’s emphasis on relationship-building can address specific workplace, school, or community challenges.

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The Sustained Dialogue Institute is offering monthly information sessions that introduce its five-stage dialogue-to-action model, used over the last 25 years to tackle prolonged, entrenched conflict in workplaces, communities, and schools. The virtual session provides an introduction to the Sustained Dialogue process, which builds relationships and creates community change through a structured approach first developed by Dr. Harold (Hal) Saunders based on his work in international peace negotiations. In 1999, students on college campuses began working with Saunders to adapt the Sustained Dialogue process to address identity-related conflicts, demonstrating the model's flexibility across contexts from international diplomacy to campus life. The Institute transforms how groups relate to unlock collective problem-solving through proven peace processes, offering tools to address conflicts and improve organizational and community culture.

The Sustained Dialogue model provides a structured pathway from dialogue to action, moving participants through five stages that build trust, deepen understanding of complex issues, and develop collaborative solutions to entrenched problems. Unlike one-time conversations or short-term interventions, sustained dialogue recognizes that addressing deep-seated conflicts requires ongoing commitment, relationship-building over time, and progression through distinct stages that prepare groups for collective problem-solving. The approach has demonstrated effectiveness across diverse settings, including college campuses navigating identity conflicts, workplaces addressing culture challenges, and communities working through prolonged disputes where traditional conflict resolution methods have fallen short.

For dialogue and deliberation practitioners, the Sustained Dialogue Institute offers a model grounded in decades of international peace negotiation experience and adapted for domestic contexts, with the monthly information sessions providing opportunities to explore how the five-stage process might apply to specific workplace, school, or community challenges. The model's emphasis on relationship-building as a foundation for community change aligns with growing recognition that sustainable solutions to complex problems require not just agreement on issues but transformed relationships among stakeholders. By offering regular information sessions, the Institute makes its expertise accessible to organizations and communities seeking structured approaches to dialogue that move beyond talk toward tangible action.

To register for the monthly Sustained Dialogue information session, visit https://luma.com/oo47l6k6?lm_source=embed