Issue#1, April 2007

Dresden Opens its Heart to the World Café

Join a historic three day European gathering that's attracting World Café and other dialogue practitioners from around the globe

by Thomas Hurley

What might be possible if, just for one day, people throughout a city engaged in conversations about the questions that matter most to them?

And what if they were joined by others from nearby cities and countries—indeed, by people from around the world—who would take the possibilities that emerged in those conversations back to their own communities?

That’s precisely what is happening in Dresden, Germany on May 3, the first day of a three-day gathering that truly models the “World as Café” at a local and regional level. Twenty-five World Café hosts from across Europe are working with leaders throughout Dresden to co-create nine different World Cafés that will engage over a thousand people in exploring new ways of living and working together—and in experiencing the transformative power of conversation as a co-evolutionary force.   

Each of the World Cafés on May 3 is being sponsored by a local or regional organization and hosted by experienced World Café practitioners. Topics include:

• Opportunities for youth…/ sponsored by the major daily newspaper in Dresden

• Education for sustainable development…/ sponsored by Agenda 21 and the International School of Dresden

• Partnerships between business, universities, and alumni .../ sponsored by the Technical University of Dresden

• World peace…/ sponsored by the Foundation of the Frauenkirche

• And more…/ see www.theworldcafe-europe.net/worldcafes for a full list

There’s an incredible story behind each of these conversations. The World Peace Café is taking place in the crypt of the famed Frauenkirche, a landmark cathedral that was destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden and later reconstructed as a symbol of reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness. Designing the World Café on opportunities for youth has already engaged city leaders, major media, and youth throughout the area in pilot cafés to discover the “questions that matter” for the gathering in May. A “Choreography of Communication” Café will integrate the creative power of music, movement, and conversation, drawing on an innovative art form developed in Dresden a century ago.

For Pat Munro and Jeff Beeson, co-founders of World Café Europe, planning for these and other conversations has planted seeds that will bear fruit for years to come. The World Cafés themselves may spark a creative outpouring of energy and inspiration that will touch every sector of the community in Dresden and ripple out through Europe.

And that’s just the beginning. The second day of the gathering features a large-scale World Café on “Inviting Innovation.” Meeting in an historic 125-year-old ballroom—hospitable space indeed!—participants will explore both the inner and outer conditions that foster innovation by individuals, teams, and organizations. The third day is dedicated to workshops on cutting-edge topics of interest to World Café practitioners and others interested in new approaches to dialogue, collective intelligence, and organizational or community development.

How this three-day gathering has been organized is a compelling story in itself. Open design meetings held in different cities throughout Europe allowed friends of the World Café from many different countries to participate. Both intergenerational collaboration and mentoring have been integral to the process, and multiple opportunities have been offered for those less experienced with the World Café to understand its principles and experience the essence of it as a process. Each step has been documented so the story can be shared and those who take on the task of developing future gatherings have the collective wisdom of this year’s conveners to draw on.

“The birth of World Café Europe has been extraordinary,” said Pat Munro, who with her husband Jeff Beeson has guided the process. “Together we have been listening to what the network wants to become, observing carefully, learning about is ready to emerge.”

“If one sees the whole conference as a breathing,” said World Café host Ulric Rudebeck, “one can say that the preparation is the inhale and the first day’s cafés are exhales….Each café is also a breath, and in that sense the whole meeting is a living thing that can have a will of its own. Our job is to let it be born.”

We can all support and participate in the May 3-5 gathering in Dresden. Join us in person if you can; otherwise look for reports on the web. Hold those who are gathering in your heart, so the conversations that take place on those days will be nourishing and productive. And think about the conversations you might host in your own community. 

You can find more information on the conference, information on how to register, and an invitation to contribute at www.theworldcafe-europe.net.