Living Room / Kitchen Table Conversations

Illustration of a diverse group of seven people sitting together in a warm, welcoming living room having a genuine conversation. Soft lighting from a lamp, bookshelves and plants visible in background. Text overlay reads "Living Room Conversations" with tagline "Different views. Same table. Real conversations that bridge divides — 90 minutes, your neighbours, your community." Amber and teal design elements connect across the image, symbolizing bridging differences. Part of the Democratic Civic Access Framework (DCAF).

We’re really good at finding people who think like us. There’s an app for meeting friends, dating, even finding dinner companions. But there’s nothing helping us talk to people we actually disagree with.

And that’s the problem we’re stuck in echo chambers, our politics are more divided than ever, and we’ve forgotten how to have real conversations across difference.

So I’m exploring something different: living room conversations that bring people from opposite sides of the political spectrum together. Not to debate. Not to convince. Just to talk.

The concept: trained citizen facilitators (think citizen scientists, but for democracy) lead small groups of 8-10 people through 90-minute structured conversations in community centres and cafe’s. I’ve sketched out some early pieces a conversation agreement, a run sheet, a training concept but this is all exploratory work.

This isn’t academic. It’s not another think tank project. It’s just real people having real discussions about things that matter, guided by neighbours who care about their communities.

Here’s where I need help: I’m reaching out to organisations like Democracy Co and Community Independents who are doing amazing work in deliberative democracy and civic engagement. If you’re connected to this space or know people who are, I’d love your support, ideas, feedback, and help shaping this.

What am I missing? What’s worked for you? Let’s figure this out together.

#CivicEngagement #Democracy #Community #PoliticalConversation #BridgeBuilding

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Craig Lambie

Craig Lambie is a versatile leader with over 20 years of experience across the IT, finance, and property sectors in Australia and the UK. He specialises in bridging the gap between commercial strategy and technical execution, having led multi-million-pound property developments while simultaneously driving digital transformation and AI-driven automation initiatives. With a deep technical background in software development and systems optimisation, Craig excels at implementing automation and AI tools to streamline operations and deliver measurable cost savings. His expertise spans senior IT project management, property development (GDV £10m+), and business consulting for startups and scale-ups. An advocate for sustainability, Craig integrates renewable energy and ESG principles into his projects, focusing on tech-enabled solutions for the energy transition. He holds a Bachelor of Economics and Finance from RMIT and is known for his ability to engage diverse stakeholders—from C-suite executives to technical teams—to deliver high-impact, commercially focused results. Craig is currently focused on, and passionate about bringing Deliberative Democracy to the world with Deliberative Super and campaigning political players to adopt it.

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