The Power of Dialogue: Learn from the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates
The Nobel Peace Prize laureates methods can also be used to resolve - or avoid - conflicts in everyday life. And today, good dialogue is needed more than ever.
More than half of respondants in our survey report having lost contact with friends or family as a result of poor communication and misunderstandings.
Communicating together has never been easy. But there is a proven and effective methodology for creating understanding and reconciliation. This is at the very heart of the peace prize winners' work: dialogue.
On this website we have gathered a variety of engaging resources and activities surrounding dialogue:
For example, you can explore the eighth dialogue principles inspired by the work of the Peace Prize Laureates, read inspiring tips from those who use dialogue for positive change, check out our past and upcoming events on dialogue and – not least – put your own dialogue skills to the test in our interactive short film.
TOOLBOX FOR A GOOD DIALOGUE
Interactive Drama:
Test your dialogue-skills in our interactive short film
Dialogue inspiration:
Read inspiring tips from those who use dialogue for positive change
Events:
Overview of our events on dialogue
Those Who Listen, Change the World:
Our book on dialogue, inspired by the Peace Prize Laureates, presenting 8 basic principles for improving dialogue in daily life
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Swipe to see all the tools ➝
WHY IS GOOD DIALOGUE SO IMPORTANT?
Good dialogue can resolve conflicts; poor dialogue can create them.
The Nobel Peace Center wants to put dialogue on the agenda. We want to contribute to a culture where the public dialogue includes different points of views and allows for a diversity of expressions. In today’s world of polarization, echo chambers and entrenched views, we believe that the work of the Peace Prize laureates can play a role in inspiring better dialogue.
We need to start creating safe spaces, listening to each other and sharing experiences. It is about asking questions, daring to talk about the difficult and challenging issues, and contributing to forgiveness and reconciliation. These are the methods of the peace prize winners. And we all have something to learn from these.
Dialogue Inspiration
There are many great people who use their voices and platforms to promote good dialogue. We spoke to four of them and asked them to give us their best tips.
Hedvig Montgomery
Hedvig Montgomery believes that our ability to communicate improves with each new generation. However, there's one modern phrase that particularly irks the psychologist.
Deeyah Khan
The filmmaker Deeyah Khan has portrayed right-wing extremists, violent spouses, abortion opponents and jihadists. According to herself, the key to her work is curiosity.
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen
Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, the founder of Snøhetta, spent nearly a year sipping lemon cordial in an Egyptian waiting room, an experience that imparted a valuable lesson about the art of dialogue.
Gina Gylver
Gina Gylver serves as the leader of Nature and Youth – Young Friends of the Earth (NU). In her activism, dialogue stands out as one of her most fundamental and frequently employed tools.
TEST YOURSELF: WHICH STYLE OF DIALOGUE DO YOU HAVE?
What you say, means a lot. In our interactive dialogue film, you have the power to steer the mother's responses during a challenging conversation between a mother and daughter at the dinner table. The choices you make will determine whether the conversation leads to conflict or strengthens their relationship.
Try our interactive dialogue film!
You'll step into the role of the mother, navigating the complexities of this conversation, and controlling the mother's response. The choices you make will determine whether the conversation leads to conflict or strengthens their relationship.
THE BEST WEAPON
The Nobel Peace Prize laureates have achieved the near impossible in their struggles for peace, fundamental human rights, freedom of expression and disarmament – and they would not have been able to do so without dialogue.
Nelson Mandela has inspired our work with dialogue. With him as an example, the Nobel Peace Center has had a peace bench designed and placed outside our building. The bench is called “The Best Weapon” to reflect the historic Mandela quote, “The best weapon is to sit down and talk”. The shape is designed in such a way that it gently leads those sitting on it closer to together - a good starting point for a good dialogue.
The bench is intended to pay tribute to the Peace Prize winners and their work to find effective solutions for peace, and to bring us all closer together.
THE LITTLE BOOK ON DIALOGUE
The book "Those Who Listen, Change the World" is made especially for those of you who want to get better at using dialogue in your everyday life - or maybe you know someone who needs a bit of practice?
The book provides concrete tips and examples for how to use dialogue, and presents eighth basic principles for dialogue, based on the work of some the Nobel Peace Prize laureates, who are known for their dialogue skills, such as Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi and Tawakkol Karman.
The book is written by our dialogue expert Chro Borhan.
If you want a hardcopy of the book for your bookshelf, or as a gift, it can be bought for NOK 98 in our shop.
Receive a digital copy of the book for free, if you register at the link below.
Events about dialogue
Here you will find earlier and upcoming events about and with dialogue by the Nobel Peace Center. Click the events to find more information.
Thank you to our partners Hydro and Reitan Retail, to Stiftelsen Flux, Strawberry, Microsoft Norge and Sparebankstiftelsen for supporting our work about dialogue.