Transformative conferencing, dialogue and sustainable community

From the 1980s, research and experimentation has focused on three concerns which overlap in a number of ways:

• transformative conferencing
• dialogue
• community 

The idea of sustainable communities is a sub-theme of our research on international organizations. For instance, many of the international organizations and networks we document in the Yearbook of International Organizations can be understood as communities, and in many cases understand themselves to be communities (especially when they become on-line electronic communities of discourse). Similarly, the international conferences we document in the International Congress Calendar can also be understood as "instant communities", and may see themselves as such (especially when they form part of a regular series).

Dialogue has also emerged as a key concern amongst international organizations, in relation to the question of sustainable community. It has been the subject of a number of studies by the UIA, whether linked to or separate from the question of conferencing. With the increasing interest in "sustainability", the psycho-social dimensions of "sustainable community" are seen to be associated with those of "sustainable dialogue".

The assumption is made that key insights into sustainable community can be achieved through explorations of the possibilities and constraints on transformative conferencing. Profiles of processes, conditions and criteria facilitative of transformative approaches to conferencing have been made available in the 1986 edition of the Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential. See also Transformative Conferencing Approaches for these profiles online.  Documents on this theme have also been written by UIA staff or associates, such as Anthony Judge, are viewable on the UIA site at Research on Transformative Conferences and Dialogue (1971-1995) or at the external link Documents relating to Dialogue and Transformative Conferencing (1971-2008).

Community is treated as an exemplification of dialogue and conferencing processes, and documents on this topic are available at the link selected reports, papers and studies on conferences, dialogue and community. Some relate to electronic conferencing and some relate to alternative intentional communities. Resources including Selected Websites on Dialogue, Documents Relating to Community, Lifestyle and Occupation and a Discussion on Critical Thinking vs Specious Arguments, also written by Anthony Judge, are again available on his personal site.