In view of the challenges of our time, the ability to engage in dialogue is becoming increasingly important. These challenges include the threat of overpopulation, consumption of natural resources and climate change, legitimacy crises of democratically organised states and organisations, management of global goods and financial markets as well as the rapid digitalisation of economic processes and social communication.
These challenges harbour a high potential for conflict and show the danger of increasing polarisation. For a forward-looking, humanitarian society, the ability to engage in dialogue seems to be crucial. By the ability to engage in dialogue we mean the struggle for mutual respect, the ability to put aside one's own assumptions and evaluations, to focus on the unifying factor, and to develop a peaceful attitude towards the challenges of the present.
In order to develop the capacity for dialogue, we need lively exchanges in order to to share knowledge and views and to live common experiences.
However, not only on a personal level, but also on a political and societal level, the ability for dialogue is becoming a crucial competence in the globalised world of the 21st century. Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda, the UN formulated the following principles and commitments in this regard:
"We commit ourselves to promoting intercultural understanding, tolerance, mutual respect and an ethos of global citizenship and shared responsibility. We recognise the natural and cultural diversity of the world and acknowledge that all cultures and civilisations can contribute to and play a critical role in advancing sustainable development".The Munich Forum for Dialogue (MfD) contributes to this by organising conferences, lectures, dialogue formats, exhibitions, and bilateral educational projects in development cooperation.
We promote social dialogue projects according to our motto "When empathy, knowledge and communication come together, dialogue emerges".
Our projects focus particularly on the following areas: