Forums of Intellectual Dialogue and Their Role in Development .. Asbar Council as a Model

 The main paper was presented by Dr. Ibrahim Al-Bayez, commented on by Dr. Mansour Al-Mutairi, Ms. Amaal Al-Moallimi and Dr. Abdullah Al-Assaf, and the debate was moderated by Dr. Abdullah Ibn Saleh Al-Hamoud. The paper shed light on Asbar Council as a model where the dialogue is adopted as a human feature and an important need of modern man. There is no doubt that the seminal dialogue experience at Asbar Council contributed to the formation of a civilized national view on how to realize the present and the future so that this national view would play a critical role in the Saudi Vision 2030.

The paper examined the model of Asbar Council that started in 2015 with the idea of a discussion group, and as a pioneering experience in investing in WhatsApp to create a forum for intellectual dialogue on public affairs. That idea evolved and was organized, to transform from a traditional group into a project characterized by an institutionalized work based on organization, and continued administrative follow-up. The paper posed a key question about the developmental role of this project and reviewed what was achieved during the three years of the forum’s life (April 2015 – April 2018), in an attempt to answer this question.

The comments made on this paper added more dimension to the paper, as they dealt with an important aspect; the State’s pursuit of having more societal participation in the dialogue on national issues, as well as talking about individual literary salons and entities, then moving on to global experiences, indicating that such experiences unanimously agree on the importance of community dialogue and its impact on handling the economic, cultural and social issues.

Commentators on the issue discussed the importance of dialogue in society, stressing that there is a dialectical relationship between dialogue and development, where they mutually influence each other. There are people who see that dialogue is part of social development; others see that dialogue is a basis for development if there is a mechanism to operationalize the results of dialogue. This entails that dialogue needs to be transparent, equal, purposeful, non-exclusionary, nonprescriptive, or biased. However, there are those who see that dialogue does not create development, but rather establish a suitable ground for development.

The contributors argued that Asbar Council is a harmoniously-woven fabric, combining virtual and real forums. On many occasions, the Council joins the affiliates in a real meeting on a topic often presented by a person from abroad, then it publishes the outcomes in printed and electronic forms. The contributors also agreed on the need for the Council to be a societal partner in presenting juxtaposed opinions in order to have a more fruitful dialogue.

Among the most important recommendations were the following:

• To propose to the King Abdulaziz Center for National Dialogue to develop legislation, drafting supporting dialogue bases for building a culture of dialogue in society.
• Raising the ceiling of the culture of dialogue and spreading it socially, to support the country’s development.
• The contribution of the Ministry of Culture in encouraging the establishment of councils and forums of intellectual and cultural dimensions.
• Providing channels and tools that contribute to the presence of rich information that serves the professionals, and gives them the opportunity to meet, document and publish opinions.
• Asbar Council should take the initiative to pinpoint the most urgent and useful development issues, and host workshops on them after they are discussed at the session of the weekend issue.
• Quoting and converting some statements into infographics and videos, in addition to the presenter and the commentators capture some messages from their papers, and convert them into audio and video messages for two minutes, through social media platforms.