The Spirit of Dialogue: Lessons from Faith Traditions in Transforming Water Conflict

Welcome to the eight seminar in the Water Dialogues series, co-hosted by the International Centre for Water Cooperation (ICWC) and SIWI Swedish Water House.

In the West, we are generally trained to base our approach to managing water conflicts on rationality: “People will agree when it’s in their interest to agree.” Tools typically focus on what is measurable and quantifiable. We “separate the people from the problem” and “insist on objective criteria.” If only we could see the tangible benefits of cooperating, we are taught, we simply would.