The \u00c0gora project launches its seventh edition this Saturday, 19 September, bringing together around twenty participants committed to listening, dialogue and coexistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initiated by the ICIP in collaboration with the Centre for Contemporary Studies and the Llu\u00eds Coromina Foundation, \u00c0gora uses reading as a gateway to deep conversation among people with diverse backgrounds and ideological perspectives. This year, the sessions will be facilitated by FundiPau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The programme takes place over three Saturdays. The first session, on 19 September, will feature an opening presentation by writer and translator Ra\u00fcl Garrigasait, who will draw on Seneca\u2019s On Anger<\/em> to initiate a discussion on how this classical text speaks to the present moment. On 17 October, philosopher Bego\u00f1a Rom\u00e1n, a specialist in ethics, will lead a session based on Cicero\u2019s On Friendship<\/em>. The final session, on 7 November, will be led by political scientist Ferran Requejo, an expert in democratic theory, and will focus on Thucydides\u2019 History of the Peloponnesian War<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year\u2019s group brings together people from a wide range of professional and personal backgrounds, with equal representation of women and men. Participants include academics such as Manel Garc\u00eda S\u00e1nchez, Professor of Ancient History at the University of Barcelona, and Sergi Ferrer, Lecturer in Political Science at the Open University of Catalonia; professionals from the health sector, including doctor Mariona V\u00e0zquez and psychiatrist and former MP Blanca Navarro; and legal professionals such as Carles Grima.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The group also includes voices from the third sector and public administration: Ariadna Manent, Deputy Director of Fundaci\u00f3 Maresme; Mart\u00ed Zamora, sociologist and Head of Projects at CATESCO; Toni Borrell, political scientist and social worker at the Catalan Development Cooperation Fund; and Rosa Suri\u00f1ach, Councillor at Barcelona City Council and an expert in urban mobility. Other participants come from the business sector, scientific research, journalism and sport as a tool for social transformation, including people linked to organisations such as the Ateneu Barcelon\u00e8s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dialogue through disagreement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00c0gora is deliberately designed to be a demanding experience. Participants devote three full days to reading, discussion and listening alongside people with diverse ideological perspectives, in closed-door sessions that create a climate of trust. The aim is not to bring positions closer together or reach agreements, but to engage in dialogue through a thoughtful and unhurried conversation, even when there may be disagreement on the issues being discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u00c0gora project is part of the ICIP\u2019s \u00abSocial and Political Dialogue<\/a>\u00bb area of work, which understands dialogue as a necessary exercise in depolarisation in a context of declining standards in public debate and difficulties in listening to positions different from our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDiverse and committed perspectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n