Ahead of the NECE Lab “Working with Polarised Groups in Civic Education” organised in cooperation with the New Community Foundation and taking place in Warsaw on 12-14 July, participants joined an online Good Conversation Training led by facilitator and mediator Marta Szycman. The session introduced the Foundation’s wider dialogue practice, which includes national online dialogues, one-to-one conversations, local community dialogues and practical training formats.

Marta invited campus participants to approach disagreement through curiosity, attentive listening and a genuine effort to understand how another person’s views have been formed. The session examined the habits that often shape discussion – defending positions, presenting evidence, preparing counterarguments and seeking to prevail – and compared them with a dialogic approach centred on checking understanding, sharing personal experiences and remaining open to perspectives that may complicate one’s own.

Participants then worked in small breakout groups through a series of structured exercises, using different polarising topics. The exercises offered direct practice in listening, asking questions and expressing a position while preserving trust and respect. The session gave participants a shared vocabulary and practical experience to carry into the Warsaw Lab, where they will explore how meaningful civic dialogue can be organised, communicated and delivered at a broader scale.