David Fairman is the director of the Consensus Building Institute in Boston/Cambridge, our American partner. In a recent interview with the New York Times, he shares his vision on several developments in the American public debate. Under the title ‘Restoring the (lost) art of civility,’ David states that in the increasing polarization of public debate, you need to be quite brave to say within your own group that you understand the other party's position.

Group pressure leads more to a broadening than to a bridging of differences. Politicians need a lot of rhetoric to win their election. If that takes too long (as it is now at the national level in the US), the electorate will also focus on that: people are staunchly Republican or Democrat, or they disengage. And that increasingly undermines the democratic legitimacy of what happens in Washington.

David Fairman champions dialogue between representatives of opposing interests. Using several examples, he outlines the importance of delving into each other's backgrounds, often led by an independent third party to ensure the integrity of the process. Don't cling to perceptions of the other person; instead, be eager to understand their backgrounds and interests to comprehend differences in opinion and how they can be bridged. “Formulate a constructive question to the other person,” advises David. So, not “Don't you also think this went wrong?”, but “What do you think we can learn from the way it happened?” And then, instead of immediately stating our own opinion, follow up on the other person's answer by asking: “That's interesting, tell me more about that.” Dig a little deeper and stay curious... With this message, we as environmental managers can achieve a lot in our own tasks.

You can read the entire article (in English) here here.