VMU Academia cum laude, Nordic Council of Ministers in Lithuania and Valdas Adamkus Presidential Library invite you to a public lecture by Dr. Kai Alhanen, a researcher from the University of Helsinki, titled „Dialogue and Democracy“. The lecture will take place at Valdas Adamkus Presidential Library (S. Daukanto str. 25, Kaunas) on Thursday, March 26, at 6:00 PM.
Dialogue is a survival skill for the human race. We have been given the natural desire and ability to come together and share experiences of the world around us, of others and of ourselves. Dialogue is a skill that can be continuously improved. This fundamental skill is needed now perhaps more than ever. When citizens become distanced from one another, trust diminishes and misunderstandings increase. This makes it difficult to uphold democratic values and solve societal issues efficiently. Furthermore, the current global crises are so broad, complex and unpredictable that they cannot be solved without broad civic action that would reshape politics entirely. Therefore, dialogue is needed at all levels of democratic society, from local communities to global political decision-making.
Kai Alhanen (ThD) is the Director of the Dialogue Academy and a university researcher at the University of Helsinki. He is one of Finland’s leading experts on dialogue and a respected trainer also in other parts of the world. Alhanen has previously published books on the philosophy of Michel Foucault and John Dewey, dialogue in Democracy, and The Dialogue Book. Additionally, he has introduced innovative dialogue concepts like Timeout and National Dialogues, which have gained widespread recognition.
The lecture is free of charge.