El Dorado

Communities of Practice create ongoing opportunities for people to connect through conversation and build understanding. They happen in different contexts– from small businesses to city-wide initiatives. Regardless of the scale, adaptation, or funding, gathering for regular Living Room Conversations can have a big impact.

Living Room Conversations are highly adaptable and can be used in a wide variety of settings. Read more below about some of the communities actively using Living Room Conversations!

Charleston County Public Library

Charleston County, SC

Librarian Emilie Hancock embedded Living Room Conversations into her programming after attending a webinar that presented various community dialogue formats. After looking at several options she chose LRC because it seemed to have the greatest potential and was a sustainable, “canned program”. Monthly conversations ranged from Guns to Healthcare and Race. Community members noticed the impact: “The pendulum has been swinging in the hyper-partisan direction and it does a disservice to everyone. Living Room Conversations seemed to be doing its part to swing the pendulum in the other direction and highly value listening.” Read more about libraries.

A Novel Experience bookstore

Zebulon, GA

This small business in a small town with a long-standing commitment to community started holding Living Room Conversations in 2018. The trust and credibility of the owners allowed for deep conversations around challenging topics. In one memorable conversation around guns the store owner asked how many people were carrying and 3 of the 11 participants took out their guns and placed them on the coffee table. There was a chuckle, followed by a meaningful conversation. In a town of 1,200 residents these conversations are making a difference: “We have learned to listen better, listen without anticipating the next thing. The word about Living Room Conversations is getting out: we are giving people a forum to learn about other people.

Mecklenburg Metropolitan Interfaith Network

Charlotte, NC

Each quarter, three different cohorts of 30 people meet for the group’s Open Tables project using the LRC conversation guides. Faith-based organizations represent one of the places where we socialize norms and this group has been working to build trust and understanding across religious, political, and racial differences. In addition to the conversations, they are planning a joint service project for the area and often meet one on one to deepen relationships within the group. Long-time LRC Faith Partner Linda Taylor highlights the value of conversations within congregations: “As a priest, spiritual director, and conflict coach, Living Room Conversations help me support faith communities in our sacred work of increasing understanding and building peace, one conversation at a time.” Read more about faith communities.

Collaboration

Estes Valley, CO

Since August 2020, community leaders from the Estes Valley Restorative Justice Partnership, in partnership with the local library, have organized regular Living Room Conversations with the hope “to build local capacity to engage in difficult issues more collaboratively and productively,” according to organizer Denise Lord. Over the years they have engaged hundreds of residents and created space for community members to explore important topics like police & community relations, guns and responsibility, mental health, and the future of work. Positive response led the Restorative Justice State Council to provide funding making the conversations more accessible with interpretation costs, stipends for participation, childcare and food.

Politics and Personal Relationships

Trust

Story & Skill Share

Join us for networking and collaboration opportunities. The Story & Skill Share is a monthly meeting that gives you a community of organizers and individuals that is passionate about bridging divides in their communities.

Email coordinator Annie to get involved

Host Certification

Those wanting to grow their practice or deep dive into the power of conversation can join our Online Host Certification Training Course. This course will bring you together with others from diverse backgrounds across the country to learn, share experiences, and grow together.

Click Here to Learn More

Talk to Connect: High Conflict to Healthy Conflict

October 25 - Join Living Room Conversations and Amanda Ripley, author of High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out, for a Talk to Connect event! We will finish up with a Living Room Conversation on “High Conflict” with your fellow participants.

Click Here to Register

The fact that it was a library program, and I knew the space would be comfortable and without distractions. It was a trusted place and better than a more public place or a restaurant. So, being at the library was a positive, and in our community, the libraries have a wonderful reputation for having this kind of high-quality program. I figured they knew what they were doing.

Every community, every church should have Living Room Conversations. If we are going to change the norm of negative, faceless communications, we need Living Room Conversations to show a better way to communicate.

We have seen folks who might not normally engage with one another come together to learn with and from each other. There's validation in being able to share your experience and hear about the experiences of others.

There's a difference between making peace and keeping peace. Keeping peace avoids conflict and making peace means moving toward conflict.

This is a moment when all of us are undergoing different types of stress (pandemic, loss of loved ones, disruptions in work/student life, dreams on hold, etc.). For me, it's about cultivating a kind of empathy and engagement. At this moment it's very important we stand up for the 'soul of the nation.'

I think when people are not in 'conversations' or relationships with people of different backgrounds then they have no opportunity to create a learning environment that can be healing-- they are left only with assumptions and biases.

The ability to ask questions around framing, problem solving, etc. helped with feeling more prepared. You all do so much in providing the model and guides. The training took it a step further to expand on the logistics and role that the host plays to help enable open, honest and productive communication.

A means of quiet civic engagement in a safe space that can change the world one conversation at a time.

I have learned a lot about issues. We tend to think that there are two sides to every issue, but we’ve all realized there are about 15 sides to every issue. There is more gray than black and white, more complex than I originally thought. Even though I read a lot about issues, Living Room Conversations help me really understand the subtleties, even if I do not change my mind...Our ability to be civil with each other makes me really hopeful and brings me back to the group. It’s not just about respecting each other, but learning to really listen and give space to others to speak and share.

Sitting together and learning from others through meaningful conversation in a welcoming space makes my heart sing.

Thinking of our local community, I believe local politicians and decision makers should try Living Room Conversations, to get out of their own box, and drill down into issues, to listen and not get defensive. As an alternative to public hearings where the public is given ninety seconds to make a statement. That’s not set up to really listen or go deep.