Fostering critical debate and dialogue on key development issues
CDI facilitates interactive exploration of emerging and cutting-edge issues. We bring together leading practitioners and thinkers to stimulate exchange and networking with critical audiences around innovative themes, thus creating settings in which diverse opinions evolve. CDI sets up platforms for dialogue and debate, where state-of-the-art thinking is introduced and current methods and practice are shared, helping to deepen understanding on hot topics.
We use a variety of exchange processes, such as seminars, innovation dialogues, conferences, website portals and e-groups, and different methods such as open space, world café and critical dissent.
Dialogues and debates can be used as stand alone events (see the examples below) for different audiences. However, they also play an important role in long-term change processes where the parties involved have different interests (see Process Design & Facilitation).
Dialogue and Debate in Practice Examples
Course seminars
As part of its international courses, CDI organises seminars in which both course participants and interested attendees can exchange ideas on current issues. Recent seminars have been held on topics including:
- entrepreneurship & food security through market access
- multi-stakeholder processes and interactive policy making
- governance and accountability
- local economic development
- financial accountability in managing for impact
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Innovation dialogues
In 2008 and 2009 CDI hosted two innovation dialogues on the issue of ‘Complexity'. The first dialogue introduced core ideas of complexity thinking and their implications for international development. The second focused on the quest for being strategic in the face of complexity. In both cases, a range of international participants provided ample opportunities for comparative exploration and networking. |
