The Table Talks Project

The Table Talks Project offers people an opportunity to learn about major issues of public concern in a way that is informative, empowering, and widely accessible.

The Table Talks Project has been designed to offer the public an opportunity to learn about major issues of public concern in a way that is informative, empowering, and widely accessible. By bringing together people from many different backgrounds, the process also is meant to provide a way to learn directly with and from others with different perspectives and experiences (as opposed to hearing indirectly what they might think through social media and other sources that can create misunderstanding and distrust). 

The format and material for these events draws upon the America in One Room: Climate and Energy Deliberative Poll (Sept. 2021), which brought together 962 Americans from across the country to learn what Americans think about greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere and options for reducing them, when they have access to factually verifiable information and a chance to consider the topic with others, in a respectful atmosphere.

This project is currently a pilot of Stanford’s Center for Deliberative Democracy.It is  intended to test this method of sharing information with people for the purpose of empowering them to come to their own conclusions regarding specific policy proposals based on independently verifiable information. If participants in events planned for this July (2022) and addressing the topic of Climate and Energy enjoy and value the experience, The Table Talks Project hopes to offer more events to many more people in the future, on this and other issues.