.
T

o meet the challenges of this polycrisis, we need to take full advantage of the tools we have on offer with the advent of the Intelligent Age. Yet many of those polycrisis challenges are brought about or worsened by the very innovations underlying the Intelligent Age. Solving for how best to use technology in effective and equitable ways requires bona fide collaboration—hence the theme for this year’s WEF, “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.” But to collaborate, we must operate from a position of common ground that all stakeholders recognize and respect, and that’s tricky.

Finding common ground requires we rebuild trust. Following a 2024 that saw an unprecedented number of elections, the results of which resulted in changes of government far more than the norm, it is clear that people want something different. The world is complex and dangerous and scary, and our trustin our governments and in each otheris fraying. Yet our commonalities still far outweigh our differences. Regardless of our political views, background, or other identity, the vast majority of us—at a certain level of abstraction—agree on what is good, what is right, and what we want.  A great first step to rebuilding trust, then, is (re)discovering all those things we agree on, and from there rethink how we talk about ways to get there that reflect the concerns of all stakeholders. 

When we have trust in a sense of shared common ground and thus common goals, you set the stage for uncommon collaboration. With the onset of the Intelligent Age, we have the most powerful tools humanity has ever enjoyed access to. Making sure those tools are used in the most effective and just way to confront the polycrisis and to ensure a future of human-centric thriving means it can’t just be experts in one sector, or from one region, collaborating for the future. Instead, it requires we recognize common ground among stakeholders the world over, cutting across sectoral, ethnic, and other identity factors. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned at Diplomatic Courier, it’s that when you get a group of truly diverse, motivated people together to talk about shared problems, you’ll be surprised at how much you’ll learn about solutions.

Editors’ note: This is the introduction to Diplomatic Courier’s latest annual Davos Dialogues special edition. You can find it here.

About
Shane Szarkowski
:
Dr. Shane C. Szarkowski is Editor–in–Chief of Diplomatic Courier and the Executive Director of World in 2050.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.

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www.diplomaticourier.com

Finding common ground to fuel uncommon collaboration

Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay.

January 20, 2025

If there’s one thing we’ve learned at Diplomatic Courier, it’s that when you get a group of truly diverse, motivated people together to talk about shared problems, you’ll be surprised at how much you’ll learn about solutions, writes Editor-in-Chief Shane Szarkowski.

T

o meet the challenges of this polycrisis, we need to take full advantage of the tools we have on offer with the advent of the Intelligent Age. Yet many of those polycrisis challenges are brought about or worsened by the very innovations underlying the Intelligent Age. Solving for how best to use technology in effective and equitable ways requires bona fide collaboration—hence the theme for this year’s WEF, “Collaboration for the Intelligent Age.” But to collaborate, we must operate from a position of common ground that all stakeholders recognize and respect, and that’s tricky.

Finding common ground requires we rebuild trust. Following a 2024 that saw an unprecedented number of elections, the results of which resulted in changes of government far more than the norm, it is clear that people want something different. The world is complex and dangerous and scary, and our trustin our governments and in each otheris fraying. Yet our commonalities still far outweigh our differences. Regardless of our political views, background, or other identity, the vast majority of us—at a certain level of abstraction—agree on what is good, what is right, and what we want.  A great first step to rebuilding trust, then, is (re)discovering all those things we agree on, and from there rethink how we talk about ways to get there that reflect the concerns of all stakeholders. 

When we have trust in a sense of shared common ground and thus common goals, you set the stage for uncommon collaboration. With the onset of the Intelligent Age, we have the most powerful tools humanity has ever enjoyed access to. Making sure those tools are used in the most effective and just way to confront the polycrisis and to ensure a future of human-centric thriving means it can’t just be experts in one sector, or from one region, collaborating for the future. Instead, it requires we recognize common ground among stakeholders the world over, cutting across sectoral, ethnic, and other identity factors. But if there’s one thing we’ve learned at Diplomatic Courier, it’s that when you get a group of truly diverse, motivated people together to talk about shared problems, you’ll be surprised at how much you’ll learn about solutions.

Editors’ note: This is the introduction to Diplomatic Courier’s latest annual Davos Dialogues special edition. You can find it here.

About
Shane Szarkowski
:
Dr. Shane C. Szarkowski is Editor–in–Chief of Diplomatic Courier and the Executive Director of World in 2050.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.