Practice note: Responding to civic conflict: Developing intergroup dialogue co‐facilitators

Abstract

A large U.S. city (called here, Coastal City), with a liberal milieu and a history of racial and ethnic conflict, was elected several years ago to increase its ability to deal with racial conflict. The city chose the intergroup dialogue (IGD) method. Here we examine IGD and how it differs from some other conflict response approaches—including the program's purpose, design, initial implementation, and lessons learned in this enterprise. This article describes a program to train intergroup dialogue co‐facilitators, engaging a civic process to improve race relations in a large urban setting.