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News & Events Event Reports

Global Crises, Local Impacts: Restarting Dialogue

Publication Date:
12/03/2025
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Global Crises Local ImpactsIsrael-GazaRestarting DialogueSocial Cohesion

— 5 minutes reading time

This report provides a summary of discussions during the webinar and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Summary

On 12 March, the Strong Cities Network continued its series of webinars on Global Crises, Local Impacts: Threats to Social Cohesion and How Cities Can Respond with a session on Restarting Dialogue. Featuring the founders of InterAct International, Maoz Inon, an Israeli social entrepreneur and peace activist and Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian peacebuilder, this session explored how the pair have seen individual relationships transform divided societies. Maoz and Aziz shared their deeply personal story of building trust across the Israeli-Palestinian divide and outlined actionable insights for how cities and mayors can foster peace. Together with Eric Rosand, Executive Director of the Strong Cities Network, the conversation offered practical strategies and inspiration for local leaders seeking to create meaningful dialogue and social cohesion.

Key Themes

  1. Personal relationships and shared dreams can bridge even the deepest divides. Finding ways to humanise others and connect on a personal level disrupts division and othering.
  2. Individual actions can spark movements that influence broader systems. What started as one person reaching out to another has sparked an international initiative that city leaders and community members can learn from.  
  3. Local government is crucial in creating room for dialogue and disseminating trusted information. Governments can focus on acting as a vehicle for truthful and timely communication, stopping lies and confusion from spreading and creating connected communities.   
  4. Cities must engage community influencers to amplify peace. Relying on trusted leaders and voices within community groups both spreads the message further and lends an air of authenticity to communications.   
  5. A simple roadmap is useful in moving from dialogue to action: The following model can work for cities: dream, define, build, create and execute.

Personal relationships and shared experiences can bridge even the deepest divides

Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian peacebuilder, and Maoz Inon, an Israeli social entrepreneur and peace activist, come from opposite sides of a long-standing conflict – Israeli and Palestinian – but found common ground through personal connection and shared hopes. Their story underscored that even amid systemic violence and political division, individuals can choose to humanise ‘the other’ by validating each other’s trauma and history without diminishing their own. Recognising one another’s suffering allowed them to build trust and form a partnership grounded in honesty and mutual respect. This acknowledgement of pain and discussion are foundational steps to overcoming entrenched narratives of victimhood and blame in global crises.

Individual actions can spark movements that influence broader systems

Maoz and Aziz’s partnership evolved into an organised effort to foster dialogue beyond their personal story. Their experience illustrates that peace begins at a personal level but must scale into community-level and institutional-level action to achieve broader impact. Through their story, they asked participants to consider how individual choices can lead to structural shifts in divided societies. Maoz and Aziz also touted dialogue at the individual level as a key first step in social cohesion efforts. Maoz explained, “Dialogue is not a luxury, it’s a necessity when we have no choice but to live side by side.”

Local government is crucial in creating room for dialogue and disseminating trusted information

Mayors and city officials often have the ability to give credibility to safe spaces for dialogue and to share verified, unbiased information with their communities. In times of heightened division or conflict, local leaders can step in where national leadership may fail to. Local governments that take on this role can help counter false information and foster environments where dialogue can flourish. It is important to understand that dialogue may not always lead to agreements. And yet, according to Aziz, “You can’t wait for the perfect political climate to start talking. You start talking, and that’s how you change the climate”.

Local governments should engage community influencers to amplify peace

Working with influential community members such as faith leaders, educators and civic organisations is crucial when attempting to create peace from the ground up. By engaging these trusted voices, city leaders can amplify messages of peace, tolerance and understanding to wider audiences. Many local leaders already have the networks in place but need to both support these pre-existing relationships and invite others to join.

A simple roadmap is useful in moving from dialogue to action

Local governments can make a tangible difference by implementing a step-by-step action plan. The plan, as outlined by Maoz, start with a dream, define shared values, build coalitions, create a roadmap and execute. Local leaders need to move beyond statements of solidarity and into action-oriented partnerships and programming. Rather, success comes from embedding peacebuilding into city-level strategies and following through with measurable initiatives.

Conclusion

Maoz and Aziz’s experiences and insights demonstrate that both individual relationships and city leadership are crucial to repairing divisions and fostering peace. Their story serves as a testament to the power of empathy and local action, while their guidance to local governments offers a blueprint for moving from dialogue to sustained change. As cities face the ripple effects of global conflicts, it is clear that mayors and other municipal leaders play a vital role in shaping resilient, united communities.

Next Steps

This webinar was the second Global Crises, Local Impacts webinar for 2025. The next webinar in this series will focus on the role of women local leaders in mitigating the impacts of global crises on the communities they serve. Please sign up for Strong Cities Network’s mailing list to receive invitations for upcoming webinars and other events.

Additional Resources

Contact Information 

For more information on this event, the webinar series, or the Strong Cities Global Crises, Local Impacts Initiatives, please contact Allison Curtis, Deputy Executive Director, at [email protected]. 

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