Last week we had an international gathering in Dalgan with the heads of nine international organisations coming together from India, Africa, Mexico, Australia, the US and Europe to discuss the social, cultural and religious challenges they were facing.
There were also forty other participants listening to them, putting questions to them and sharing they own experiences.
As might be expected at such a gathering, there was a lot of discussion on the value of listening to people from completely different background but with the same human hopes and needs. With social media narrowing our view to our own immediate concerns and world, social progress depends on getting a broader idea of what is happening and seeing the implication of sharing the one planet with millions of enthusiastic people out there with loads of different ideas and practical wisdom.
Many of the topics were familiar – the environment, the status of women, listening with young people, taking a new look at religion — but the reason they created excitement was because of the fresh and personal way they were expressed.
People were asked to send back their reflections on what impressed them and we look forward to build on that.
