Dare to dialog? Conditions for constructive stakeholder relations

International symposium  5 December 2008 Basel, Switzerland

For media material please click here.
 

Background 

This year we want the theme of our symposium to be "Dare to dialog?". The reason for choosing this theme is that many companies, institutions or social groups have the tendency to be too self-absorbed in their own activities. Thus it is important for them to get out and engage in dialog with other groups. But this dialog can often be unfruitful if ideological thinking gets in the way of facts, as companies, institutions or groups sometimes look for reasons why their own ideas must be true. When that happens, the effort to prove that their ideas are correct turns into an ideological spiral, with the effort itself becoming the reason for their reasons. We want to present experiences from various sections of society at the symposium, including politics, economics and research. In addition, we also plan to make an attempt at formulating the conditions and limits of a fruitful public dialog.

"Societal pluralism of interests gives rise not only to unpleasant conflicts but also to undreamt-of opportunities. If solutions to problems are to gain social acceptance, they cannot only reflect the narrow horizon of an individual stakeholder group but must also take account of different life experiences and constellations of interests."
Klaus M. Leisinger