Ger Baron, Marleen Stikker, Diogo Vasconcelos and Simon Willis.

Thank you to Sergio Pinto and Michael Crosland for these lovely photos!

and then straight back to work!

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS РSeptember, 21, 2010 РThe Dialogue Caf̩ Association is excited to announce the launch of its third Dialogue Caf̩ at Waag Society in Amsterdam on 21st September 2010.

Dialogue Café is a non-profit initiative, which uses state of the art video conferencing technology to enable face-to-face conversations between diverse groups of people from around the world so that they can share experiences, learn from each other and work together to make the world a better place.

Waag Society develops creative technology for social innovation. The foundation researches, develops concepts, pilots and prototypes and acts as an intermediate between the arts, science and the media. Waag Society cooperates with cultural, public and private parties. Waag Society is housed in two historic monuments in Amsterdam, de Waag and Pakhuis de Zwijger. Dialogue Café Amsterdam will be based at de Waag.

Dialogue Café Chairman, Diogo Vasconcelos: We are thrilled to open Dialogue Café in the city centre of Amsterdam, with Waag Society, a vibrant forward-looking organization. Amsterdam now has a global platform that embodies the new nature of innovation: open, collaborative, global. The opportunities are unlimited. With Dialogue Café, Amsterdam is, more than ever, a global meeting point.

For the launch, we’ll be connecting the three Dialogue Cafés in Lisbon, Amsterdam and Rio de Janeiro to Cisco offices in Sao Paulo, Warsaw, New York and Oslo for a round-table discussion. For this occasion we will be joined by President Jorge Sampaio, High Representative to the UN Alliance of Civilisations, Marleen Stikker of Waag Society, Barbara Coutinho, Director of MUDE, Katia de Marco, Director ABGC, Prof. Jose Santos from INSEAD, Prof. Miroslaw Miller from the University of Wroclaw, Barbara Stutz from the HUB Sao Paulo, Bente Erichsen from the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, Pedro Veiga, Chairman of the FCCN and others. 

Facts/Highlights:

•    With support from the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, Cisco, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Anna Lindh Foundation and others, the Dialogue Café Association is creating a global network of physical spaces – Dialogue Cafés. Dialogue Cafés will provide access to state of the art video conferencing technology. to enable city-to-city and multi-city conversations and activities. 
•    All of the Dialogue Cafés will be connected through a global technology platform to enable city-to-city and multi-city conversations and activities. Dialogue Cafés will provide a space for informal conversations as well as more structured multi-city activities such as workshops, seminars, conferences, concerts and lectures.
•    Dialogue Café results from the simple idea that people have many things in common and given the opportunity, they will explore their common interests, sparking collaborations and stimulating ideas that address the major issues of today. 
•    Dialogue Café believes that these kinds of conversations and collaborations can lead to new ways of thinking and doing: they can empower individuals and communities, break down prejudice and misconceptions and promote greater understanding and co-operation across cultures.
•    Dialogue Café is created for individuals and organizations with a social, environmental, educational or cultural mission – such as foundations, civil society organizations, community groups, universities, schools, social enterprises, public sector bodies and agencies.
•    There are now three Dialogue Cafés open – in Rio de Janeiro at the Candido Mendes University (UCAM), in Lisbon at the Museum of Fashion and Design (MUDE) and in Amsterdam at the Waag Society. Soon, Dialogue Cafés will be opened in Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Oslo, Wroclaw, London, Florence, Ramallah and Tel Aviv. By the end of 2011, we will have between 10 and 15 Dialogue Cafés open.  
•    Each Dialogue Café is managed by a local partner who oversees the day to day management of the Dialogue Café, including programming of events and activities, outreach to engage a wide variety of users and ensuring the financial sustainability of the Dialogue Café.
•    It is very easy to get involved in Dialogue Café. Users have to book the facility in advance. To do this, people should get in touch with their local Dialogue Café manager who can book a session and link up the Dialogue Cafés. So, all users have to do is turn up to their local Dialogue Café (e.g. Lisbon) and get their friends or colleagues to go their local Dialogue Café (e.g. Amsterdam).
•    Dialogue Cafés are spaces for innovation and creativity – with a particular focus on cross-cultural dialogue, social innovation, civic participation and arts, creativity and culture.  The following examples illustrate the range and variety of activities that will be enabled by Dialogue Café as the network grows and develops around the world:
                 
– Young people in Istanbul, London and Toronto sharing stories about their heritage.
– Women from Cairo, Doha and Amsterdam discussing the role of education and employment in empowering women.
– Multi-city conferences and events on topics such as climate change, creativity and innovation, ageing and social exclusion connecting London, New York, Amsterdam, Florence, Doha and Ramallah.
– Joint projects linking schools in Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro, and Seoul and San Francisco.
– Social entrepreneurs from Cairo, Tel Aviv and Toronto talking about potential commercial collaborations.
– Simultaneous theatre workshops run in Rio de Janeiro, New York and San Francisco.
– Concerts from Rio de Janeiro live to London, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Florence and New York.
– Health practitioners in Ramallah, London and Toronto carrying out joint consultations and training.

Supporting resources:

Marleen Stikker, Director, Waag Society

We are absolutely delighted to be opening Dialogue Café Amsterdam at Waag Society. For Waag Society, this participation marks a continuation of our longstanding tradition of openness and experimentation, of exploring new ways of using technology to tackle today’s most pressing challenges. Through Dialogue Café, we will provide a space for global conversations on global issues that matter.

For more information on Dialogue Café visit www.dialoguecafe.org

•    Waag Society: http://www.waag.org/
•    MUDE: http://www.mude.pt/
•    UCAM: http://www.ucam.edu.br/
•    Cisco: http://www.cisco.com/
•    United Nations’ Alliance of Civilization: http://www.unaoc.org/
•    Anna Lindh Foundation: www.euromedalex.org
•    Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation: http://www.gulbenkian.org.uk/

Contact information
Dialogue Café Association, Julie Caulier-Grice,
 + 44 7825 587 544 |
julie@dialoguecafe.org

210910 Press Release Amsterdam.pdf