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Join us for an immersive 3-day training as we explore how to effectively build relationships across division and difference using our 5 step depolarisation framework.
How do we engage with family, friends, and colleagues that hold different views? How can we best respond in this moment of social polarisation?
As social and political divisions intensify across communities, many of us are asking how to stay grounded, connected, and effective when our communities or workplaces are divided. This three day training invites you to explore the practice of what we call the Radical Centre; not a political middle ground, but a place of moral courage and curiosity. It is “radical” because choosing to listen, to build trust, and to stay in dialogue is countercultural in a climate of outrage and certainty. Drawing from our long-standing peacebuilding practices, this training offers a structured yet reflective pathway for those who wish to build social cohesion, nurture trust, and model a new kind of leadership for divided times.
What you can expect
This highly interactive and experiential 3 day training will weave together input, discussion, research, and small-group dialogue. You will experience practical tools that help individuals and groups move beyond polarisation and find shared ground, while also engaging with the deeper systemic dynamics that shape division in society. Our educational input will offer grounding by exploring David Goodhart’s theory of the ‘anywheres’ and ‘somewheres’, More In Common’s groundbreaking research on political tribes, echo chambers and epistemic bubbles, our LEAP-IN dialogue framework, research tools and profiles of reconciling leaders. Our interactive group exercises will provide the space to apply these ideas in real time in your own personal conflicts. The 3 days will allow us to cultivate relationships with fellow participants and provide opportunities for an ongoing community of practice.
You will learn to:
- Hold a Radical Centre in an age of increased polarisation
- Create spaces that encourage honesty, empathy, and participation.
- Work with disagreement in a way that strengthens rather than fractures relationships.
- Develop reflective tools to manage your own reactions in moments of tension.
- Recognise how dialogue, activism, and reconciliation each have their place.
- Apply frameworks for analysing polarised situations and identifying shared values.
- Nurture a culture of listening and mutual respect in teams, communities, or networks.
Themes we’ll explore together:
- The Radical Centre
- The social and emotional forces that drive polarisation.
- Common leadership pitfalls and how to transform tension into insight.
- Echo chambers and epistemic bubbles: understanding closed information loops.
- Power, identity, and the dynamics of belonging.
- The art of listening and dialogue.
- Reconciliation as a civic skill.
Why attend
This workshop is both practical and visionary. You will leave not only with new skills, but with a renewed sense of hope in the possibility of dialogue. The Radical Centre invites us to resist binary thinking and to inhabit a deeper moral landscape — one where empathy and truth can coexist. For professionals working in communities, institutions, or movements, these capacities are no longer optional: they are essential for building trust, cohesion, and resilience in an age of fragmentation. You will also have the option to join our Alumni Community of Practice upon completion which includes bi-annual gatherings, discounts for future events, and opportunities for networking beyond the training. This training is also CPD certified.
This is for
This training is designed for facilitators, mediators, educators, faith leaders, organisational coaches, and anyone seeking to foster constructive dialogue across difference. It is suitable for both emerging and experienced practitioners who wish to deepen their practice with tools for depolarisation, group process, and conflict transformation.
Our Approach
Drawing on St Ethelburga’s 30 years of peace-making experience, this day offers practical tools and reflective frameworks for holding conversations that cross divides. It combines inner work with interpersonal skill-building, helping you strengthen both your capacity and confidence to engage across difference. At St Ethelburga’s, we combine peacebuilding, spirituality, and systems thinking to cultivate leadership fit for turbulent times. Our learning model balances inner development with outer practice — nurturing the presence, curiosity, and humility that enable authentic dialogue. This training is facilitated by two of our staff team who you can read more about here.
The environment and group dynamics felt very safe and supportive, and the overall facilitation was modelled in a very helpful way. I cannot wait to put into practice what I learnt!
It was once again wonderfully restorative to be at St Ethelburgas for a day amongst people I so much respect in this field of working with polarisation and community differences. I appreciated permission to engage at my own comfort level with such complex topics.
I really enjoyed the workshop from start to finish. It was a really thoughtful program organised with good interactive activities breaking up the learning. It was a lovely group of people coming together and excellent facilitation. I was hoping for a greater framework and background of polarisation and practical tools for responding to this - the training delivered both!
Concession Tickets
For discounted tickets, please email rebecca.brierley@stethelburgas.org