The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Constructive Conversations About Challenging Times: A Guide to Family Dialogue

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Author

  • Public Conversations Project (PCP)
This Guide is for people who want to host and facilitate constructive conversations with family members, other loved ones and friends about what's going on in our unsettled world.

The Guide focuses on family groups and family settings and includes instructions for a two-hour structured dialogue about the September 11, 2001 attacks and all that has occurred in their wake. The framework can be updated or adapted to address other challenging or divisive issues simply by substituting other questions for your group to address.

The mission of PCP is to foster a more inclusive, empathic and collaborative society by promoting constructive conversations and relationships among those who have differing values, world views, and positions about divisive public issues.

Table of Contents

Introduction
  • Why We Developed This Guide
  • What We Mean by “Dialogue”
  • Different Ways to Use This Guide
Planning the Dialogue: Questions and Answers
  • Inviting Family Members
  • Design and Preparation
  • Facilitation Tips
The Plan
  • The Flow of the Plan
  • The Plan: Step by Step
  • Welcome and Orientation
  • Agreements
  • Hopes
  • First Question
  • Second Question
  • Facilitated Discussion
  • Parting Words
Feedback Forms

Appendices
  • Distinguishing Debate from Dialogue
  • Self-Help Tools for Participants
  • Two Sample Invitations
  • Facilitator Worksheet
  • A Tale of Two Grandmothers
Click here for the Guide to Family Dialogue in PDF format [136k].

Click here to read about the Guide to Community Dialogue.

Publishers

Number of Pages
40