Academic Diplomacy: How Universities Can Apply International Negotiation Frameworks to Foster Shared Understanding, Tackle Wicked Problems, and Strengthen Democracy

Many societies are polarized and siloed, which impedes progress on wicked problems like climate change, racism, and poverty. This study considers the role universities nurturing trust and shared understanding by adapting international dialogue facilitation strategies to a local university context. We conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with senior policymakers and civil society leaders to explore the potential role of publicly-funded universities in Canada to help government and civil society tackle “wicked” problems. Key barriers to solving wicked problems include disconnection, misaligned incentives, mistrust, issue complexity, and a lack of dialogue forums. Participants welcomed the idea of an enduring university-based entity to facilitate dialogue, understanding, and collaboration on long-term issues. Communities and policymakers expect universities to play a facilitative role in society rather than merely “pushing” research into communities; and welcomed a university-based entity to adapt international dialogue facilitation techniques to broker transcultural, transdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral collaboration on tackling wicked problems.