Pilot inDialogue: Warsaw

The project “Varsovians deliberate” was an initiative of the Institute of Sociology of the University of Warsaw on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the University of Warsaw.

The contractor was the Center for Deliberation. The main goal of the project was to engage Warsaw teenagers in a conversation about urban space and how it can be shaped, while at the same time learning about reasoned discussion. The debate was conducted on the Internet platform “inDialogue”, designed by a consortium led by the Center for Deliberation, and a member of, among others, Warsaw University of Technology. It supports reflective dialogue, enabling, for example, graphic presentation of arguments.

The project lasted from March to May 2016. Five schools in Warsaw accepted the invitation to participate in it: XL LO im. S. Żeromskiego, XXI LO im. H. Kołłątaja, XCIX Secondary School with Bilingual Departments for them. Zbigniew Herbert, XXXIII High School Bilingual them. M. Copernicus, Complex of Printing Schools named after Marshal J. Piłsudski.

During meetings in schools, 100 individual applications for participation in the project were collected. On the “inDialogue” platform, 71 people registered and signed up for the discussion on urban space. The debate lasted from 10 to 15 May. As a contribution to it, students sent a visual material presenting their view of places where they spend their free time. The project ended on May 16 with an educational game on the central campus of the University of Warsaw and a picnic-refreshments in the building of the University Library. The closing event was attended by 60 students from four schools participating in the project.

Further editions of the project are planned.