Change happens in community.
Our central work is in the cultivation of new connections across geographies, sectors, issue areas, and ideological leanings in Europe and the US. Benefits of joining the Democracy & Belonging Forum include:
Private gatherings
Join other Forum members for virtual and in-person gatherings, including smaller issue or region-specific discussion groups. Attend a monthly Community Space for networking and community-building, and regular Practitioner Forums where you can share challenges, successes, and open questions with peers.
Public events
Be the first to know about regular webinars and events with leading researchers and practitioners working in the fields of democracy, social cohesion, inclusion, and belonging, as well as more informal “fly on the wall” conversations between Forum members who are experimenting with strategies to foster bridging and belonging in their work or community.
We are launching the Forum with the new series, Un(Common) Threads: Co-creating Societies of Belonging, a set of virtual conversations exploring issues related to belonging, polarization, marginalization, and democracy in Europe, the US and around the world curated by the Democracy & Belonging Forum. These intimate, in-depth conversations will feature diverse advocates, leading scholars, artists & culturemakers, business leaders, and others who share a commitment to strengthening democratic norms and systems while centering the needs of marginalized groups—even if they may not agree on how to get there. You can register (free) for our launch event, Radical Belonging and Bridging: A Path Forward for Societies in Crisis?, here. In future events, Forum members will have exclusive access to event speakers for small group-discussions after the public portion takes place.
Have the chance to help program our marquee public event in Fall 2023, the Othering & Belonging Conference Europe In-Person Hub. Featuring leaders working in Europe and globally, the Conference will be OBI’s first outside of the US, and will draw from our experience producing four similar conferences from our “home” at UC Berkeley in the Bay Area, California. Over the years, thousands of advocates, scholars, public sector workers, artists, and others have come together in person and online to these events to deepen their collective understanding of belonging and learn from thought leaders like journalist Naomi Klein, performer and activist ALOK, US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, feminist scholar bell hooks, journalist Masha Gessen, activist Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, journalist Charles Blow, and many other leading thinkers and culturemakers.
Peer-learning and resource exchange
Access digital channels to connect with peers across Europe and the US, including via our closed Slack community and Forum newsletter which features regular news analyses through the lens of the Othering & Belonging frameworks, interviews with leading changemakers in the European region, highlights on new practitioner resources, and other offerings. Members also gain first-access to emerging OBI research on Othering & Belonging in Europe, the US and globally.
What attendees have said about prior Othering & Belonging gatherings
"I learned an immense amount about the work of a Bridger, and the connection with the concepts of power, privilege, agency and oppression. I realized why there is such a need to step into the role of being a Bridger, the humility and patience it takes to do it well, to how one has learn the techniques become a Bridger and do the work. I also realize it not just work, but a way of "being" and how it is a practice and aspiration."
— 2021 Attendee
"I think the philosophical explanations and knowledge shared about love...holistic love, which includes all people, the world and the earth itself was the most profound message shared for me, and what I will share, and how during the reflection the message highlighted the value of every nation and people...Truly transformational work and I look forward to the next conference!”
— 2021 Attendee
"I wish I could carry the spirit of this event back into my workplace and my life, and engage all whom I encounter in this level of authentic discourse. I will make an effort to do exactly that."