The Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia has signed a contract with the DOTS Foundation of Open Society on implementing an international two-year project “Fragile Identities in Fragile Environments: Building Understanding and Trust through Dialogue”. Timeframe of the project spans from April 2025 until April 2027.
Inspired by Nordic dialogue culture, this project aims to strengthen democratic resilience and build a culture of dialogue in society in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania by adapting Finland’s Timeout method. Over two years, partners will cultivate a shared dialogue practice intended to support social cohesion, reduce polarisation and empower citizens to engage constructively with sensitive issues.
Key activities include facilitator training, organising national and regional dialogue circles, co-designed learning materials and a digital repository of methods. Building on the previous work in the field of dialogue and the two national dialogue circles already implemented in Latvia in cooperation with the State Chancellery, Latvian counterpart – DOTS Foundation – has envisaged to develop a nationwide dialogue movement. Meanwhile Estonian partners will expand the current pool of facilitators and organize first national or regional dialogue circles, and Lithuanian party will pilot and start building facilitator communities.
The project brings together Aretai (Finland), the DOTS Foundation (Latvia), and the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Offices in all three Baltic countries, supported by Transparency International Lithuania, Lithuanian government think-tank STRATA, the Estonian Cooperation Assembly, and the University of Tartu. Expected outcomes include enhanced dialogue literacy, stronger Nordic-Baltic cooperation, as well as closer cooperation among the three Baltic countries and more inclusive civic engagement across the region.
