TOY - Trainers Online for Youth
This is a reference for Stephen Shashoua
The Dialogue in Action Programme aimed to strengthen the capacity of climate practitioners, faith actors and community leaders to use dialogue as a practical approach to addressing the social dimensions of climate change. Recognising that effective climate action requires collaboration across religious, cultural and worldview differences, the programme equipped participants with the knowledge, skills and confidence to facilitate inclusive dialogue, build trust and foster collective action within their communities and organisations.
The training addressed the growing need for climate actors to complement technical and advocacy expertise with competencies in dialogue facilitation, relationship-building, conflict transformation and participatory leadership. It responded to the reality that climate-related challenges often affect diverse communities with different identities, beliefs and priorities, making interreligious and interworldview engagement essential for building shared understanding, strengthening social cohesion and developing locally owned responses.
Through experiential learning and facilitated practice, participants developed practical skills in dialogue facilitation, active listening, storytelling and collaborative problem-solving. They explored approaches for engaging faith-based and civil society organisations, creating spaces where diverse perspectives could be heard, and designing dialogue processes that support cooperation, resilience and community-led climate action. The programme also fostered peer learning and strengthened a regional network of practitioners committed to advancing both dialogue and climate resilience.
The training directly supported the objectives of the partner organisations by strengthening local leadership, promoting interreligious and interworldview cooperation, and embedding dialogue as a tool for more inclusive and participatory climate action. By enabling participants to build partnerships across sectors and communities, the programme contributed to broader goals of social cohesion, climate resilience and locally led responses to environmental challenges.
The 25 Participants were from across ASEAN - namely Indonesia, Singapore, Brunai, Indonesia, East Timor, Philippines, Thailand.
The facilitation team were from Indonesia, Canada, UK, Thailand, Bosnia,
The programme was grounded in non-formal, experiential learning, with participants learning primarily through practice, reflection and peer exchange rather than lectures. Activities were designed to encourage active participation, critical reflection and immediate application to participants' own work in climate action and interreligious engagement.
Methods included:
-Story Circles to build trust, deepen listening and explore personal and community experiences of climate action across different religious and cultural backgrounds.
-Public Narrative (Story of Self, Us and Now) to help participants communicate their motivation, connect climate challenges to shared values and inspire collective action.
-Image Theatre and Tableau (from Theatre of the Oppressed) to explore power dynamics, stakeholder relationships and opportunities for collaboration in climate and community contexts.
-Fishbowl and World Café dialogues to enable participants to exchange perspectives, examine complex climate issues from multiple viewpoints and co-create practical responses.
-Facilitation practice sessions, where participants designed and facilitated dialogue activities themselves, receiving structured peer and trainer feedback.
-Small-group design labs to develop dialogue initiatives that participants could adapt and implement within their own organisations and communities.
-Structured reflection and peer learning, enabling participants to critically analyse their experiences, learn from one another and translate insights into future practice.
Throughout the programme, emphasis was placed on learning by doing, collaborative problem-solving and creating a safe environment where participants from diverse faiths, worldviews and professional backgrounds could learn with and from one another.
The Dialogue in Action Programme strengthened participants' confidence and competence in designing and facilitating dialogue processes that support climate action across diverse religious, cultural and community contexts. By the end of the training, participants had developed practical skills in dialogue facilitation, active listening, storytelling and participatory methods, and had produced dialogue initiatives tailored to the needs of their own organisations and communities.
The success of the training was evident in several ways. Participants demonstrated a marked increase in confidence through facilitation practice sessions and peer feedback, successfully applying the methodologies during the programme. The quality of the dialogue initiatives developed during the design labs reflected participants' ability to translate learning into practical action. Evaluations and reflective exercises indicated that participants valued the experiential nature of the programme, the opportunity to learn across different faiths and worldviews, and the practical relevance of the tools to their climate work. The programme also strengthened relationships between participants, creating an ongoing network of practitioners committed to supporting one another beyond the training.
The longer-term success of the programme is reflected in participants' continued application of dialogue methodologies within their organisations and communities, adapting the approaches to local climate challenges and fostering collaboration across sectors and religious communities.
The training was documented through participant materials, programme resources and communications produced by the organising partners, including event webpages, social media posts and organisational reports.
https://perrylamanilao.my.canva.site/dialogueinaction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yinD6BfZqc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWrjU5XVreI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SwTogqmRbY
As Co-Designer and Co-Facilitator, I was responsible for the design and delivery of the training as a full-time member of the trainers' team. Working closely with my co-trainer, I co-developed the learning objectives, curriculum, session flow and non-formal learning methodology, ensuring the programme responded to the needs of climate practitioners working across diverse religious, cultural and community contexts.
During the training, I co-facilitated plenary sessions, experiential learning activities and small-group work, guided participant reflection, provided individual coaching and feedback, and supported participants in designing dialogue initiatives for implementation within their own organisations and communities. I also contributed to the ongoing adaptation of the programme throughout the training, responding to participant learning needs and ensuring the objectives were achieved through an engaging, participatory learning process.