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Connected Conversations: Tackling big issues by linking small conversations

By / 15 February 2011

The New Economic Foundation (nef) has recently released a pamphlet called Connected Conversations.

It argues that tackling the biggest issues, from climate change to social inequality, needs to start with small conversations between friends and neighbours. By linking these small groups together we can sow the seeds for new social movements.

The pamphlet draws from nef’s experience of engaging with the public over the last decade. In addition to a thought provoking argument, it offers practical advice on how to create connected conversations.

From the executive summary:

“…transition cannot be achieved from the top down. It will require central and local government, businesses, communities and individuals
to develop their own understandings of sustainability and social justice and to debate and negotiate with each other about the way
forward. At the moment, however, there is no easy way to get this kind of debate to happen. Our social fabric is fragmented, and opportunities for debate are few and far between. There is little space for groups to deliberate about complex, pressing issues and even less space for them to share their views with each other. The internet is at best a partial solution: there is no substitute for face to face discussion.

…Unlike many forms of public engagement, connected conversations are not about settling issues or reaching consensus. They simply let citizens engage in public discussion with friends, family or colleagues in their existing networks and then link these discussions together. Rather than seeking to generate a collective decision, they reflect that tackling the biggest issues means making many small decisions and then finding the links between them. They are, in effect, talking shops – and we are proud to describe them as such.”

Download the pamphlet or get more information here

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About us

This site is run by the Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Church.

We seek to nurture justice spirituality and imagination, and engage in advocacy in all areas of life, overcoming poverty and transforming violence.

We encourage people to think and live “justly”, and emphasise debate and action on local, national and global issues.

Although we are Anglican, our vision isn’t so much about being Anglican. It’s about living justly. Justice is about how you live your life, and being just where we are. Working together, we can all flourish.

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