A Kitchen Table Conversation (KTC) is an informal meeting that is underpinned with an intuitive structure. It can take place in someone's home, a local cafe or in a business setting, in the case of the Charter for Compassion, on line via Zoom calls. The Health Care sector of the Charter has a monthly call on Friday morning, 9 am Pacific time. Check our Events listing to register. KTCs are often used in conjunction with other methods as part of a wider community engagement process.
The aim of kitchen table conversations is to enable dialogue within the community, that is informal and relaxed. Often the discussion is part of a suite of community engagement tools, and participants can receive a guide to the issue at hand, and possible questions they might want to discuss. The conversation can be about something broad like "what is important to you?" to a specific question.
Kitchen table discussions aim to build and deepen a sense of community and explore the range of opinions on an issue. It fosters community organising and can stimulate and nurture public debate:
A main objective is to give interested parties an opportunity to learn from and share with each other, create a sense of community, and discuss options and alternatives.
The kitchen table model has the potential to play a key role in a healthy public sphere, contributing to democratic debate through encouraging dialogue and engagement on important issues.
Source: Participedia
