A GLOBAL expert on conflict resolution will this week urge MSPs and the communities they represent to sign up to a Commitment to Respectful Dialogue.
Ken Cloke, founder of the US-based Centre for Dispute Resolution and the internationally recognised organisation Mediators Beyond Borders, will meet MSPs and share his perspective on reducing political and other forms of hostility.
He will cover decision-making in Scotland’s communities, business and public life.
Cloke has written ten books on conflict resolution and mediation and is recognised as a pioneer and leader in the field, as well as one of its deepest thinkers.
“Whatever our justifications for treating each other as enemies or remaining silent when political ideas are discussed, our need to address openly the highly complex, increasingly challenging issues that characterise modern political life is greater than ever,” he said.
“As our world shrinks, these issues impact upon us in increasingly significant ways, so that distant social, economic and political decisions, environmental choices and technological changes now acutely affect our lives at home. We need to find really constructive ways to engage with each other.”
The Commitment to Respectful Dialogue has been devised by Collaborative Scotland, an independent not-for-profit initiative aimed at promoting better dialogue in political and other decision-making.
It was founded by John Sturrock QC, who added: “The Commitment to Respectful Dialogue is one useful tool to help people grapple with those challenges in ways that help reduce political and other forms of hostility that so often serve to distract people from achieving positive change in everyone’s best interest.”
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