Resources
Tools Created by Paula Green
Paula Green, the dialogue facilitator and coordinator of HATH, founded the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding in 1994. Over the decades, she has led dialogues across divides in some of the world’s most intractable conflicts. These tools for practicing dialogue were developed for many different international contexts. They have been used successfully to bring concerned members of society together after mass violence has shattered their communities and destroyed their trust. Together, they rebuild what has been lost and find new meaning in building partnerships that offer hope for a better tomorrow.
tools from Other Organizations
10 Lessons from the Lab: How to Have Constructive Conversations on Divisive Topics
From the lab of Dr. Peter T. Coleman and his team at the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution
Race in America: A Dialogue Guide
From Essential Partners (see Groups & Organizations below)
From the One American Movement (see Groups & Organizations below)
EXAMPLE OF A DIALOGUE Facilitated by Dr. Paula Green
Hands Across the Hills members from Letcher County KY and Leverett MA, participated in an hour-long dialogue on Zoom in early February 2021.
This is the first time a Hands Across the Hills dialogue has been available for viewing. It features six participants rather than the usual 20-25 members who participate in person. Its recording on Zoom was due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The dialogue process used by Hands Across the Hills is highly structured. It begins with a carefully crafted question to begin discussion. This session’s question was: "How do polarizations impact you personally, your community, and our country? And how does three years with Hands Across the Hills shape your views and responses?"
While dialogues are confidential, the six participants agreed to make this dialogue public as an educational tool.
Additional Resources
Paula Green's Acceptance Speech for the Alliance for Peacebuilding's Melanie Greenberg Award for Domestic Peacebuilding
Read it here.
Our Song: "Hands Across the Hills"
Famed singer and songwriter Sarah Pirtle, longtime Pioneer Valley resident, sings the song “Hands Across the Hills," which she expressly composed for the Leverett MA-Letcher County KY project.
Groups & Organizations
Braver Angels (formerly Better Angels)
Braver Angels is a citizens' organization uniting red and blue Americans in a working alliance to depolarize America.
Bridge4Unity is an interracial dialogue and cultural exchange project that brings together three distinct communities with diverse cultural, social, historical, and political profiles. The project features two exchange weekends. For the weekend of January 25-27, 2019, Beaufort SC and surrounding areas hosted participants from Western Massachusetts and Letcher County KY. On the weekend of June 28-30, Western MA hosted participants from SC and KY.
Essential Partners: Bold Explorations in Community
Essential Partners offers workshops, custom training, and dialogue facilitation, as well as consultation to foster constructive dialogue where conflicts are driven by difference in identity, beliefs, and values.
Karuna Center for Peacebuilding (Paula Green, Founder)
The Karuna Center works across deep divides to develop mutual understanding, interrupt cycles of violence, and foster reconciliation.
Narrative 4 harnesses the power of the story exchange to equip and embolden young adults to improve their lives, their communities, and the world.
The One America Movement is a national nonprofit confronting toxic polarization in our society. We equip faith communities to confront division and work together across political, racial, and religious divides to solve problems that matter.