Two KOFF member organizations, Initiatives of Change International and the Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed Community work worldwide and in Switzerland to build up individuals\u2019 capacity for social cohesion and empower them to act in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Initiatives of Change International\u2019s Trustbuilding Program is a global initiative to address divisions and foster dialogue in communities affected by mistrust, exclusion, and conflict. Implemented in 16 countries, including Switzerland, the program trains local trustbuilders who contribute to bridging divides and healing historical rifts by creating spaces where everyone is heard. The approach is to establish regular, community-led spaces where people listen, acknowledge harm, and co-create solutions for sustainable positive change. The main challenge is to transform mistrust and polarized narratives into safe, inclusive dialogue, taking into account trauma, misinformation, and power dynamics. This initiative leads to concrete joint projects and measurable gains in trust and cooperation. The Initiatives of Change\u2019s Trustbuilding Program and the Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed Training Institute are two personal development initiatives that emphasize long-term engagement rather than short-term fixes. While the Trustbuilding Program focuses on repairing fractured relationships through dialogue and reconciliation, the Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed Training Institute fosters capacities, emphasizing service to others and moral development to help communities resist the patterns of disunity. They remind us that whether we are addressing existing divides or nurturing a vision of unity, fostering social cohesion is a long-term effort and a shared responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup> Paul Hanley, Eleven<\/em> (Victoria, BC: FriesenPress, 2014), p138.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two KOFF member organizations, Initiatives of Change International and the Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed Community work worldwide and in Switzerland to build up individuals\u2019 capacity for social cohesion and empower them to act in their communities. Initiatives of Change International\u2019s Trustbuilding Program is a global initiative to address divisions and foster dialogue in communities affected by mistrust, exclusion, … Trust, Training, and Transformation \u2014 Approaches to Tighten Social Bonds<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"issue":[394],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"\u00e0 propos","author_link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/author\/apropos\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/WBBahai190-600x332.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Reports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Reports<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 11 months ago","modified":"Updated 9 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on October 2, 2025","modified":"Updated on December 12, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on October 2, 2025 3:54 pm","modified":"Updated on December 12, 2025 2:02 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6038"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6038"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6676,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6038\/revisions\/6676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6038"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=6038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
In Ukraine, for example, the core challenge has been social friction between internally displaced people and host communities since the Russian invasion; trustbuilding teams have convened dialogues and story-sharing circles with local authorities, IDPs, and host communities alongside practical integration support, to forge new ties. In Indonesia, rising interreligious intolerance among youth is being addressed through interfaith trust-building camps and \u201cSpeak Up\u201d circles (online and offline) that reduce stigma and deepen mutual understanding. Switzerland\u2019s program started in 2025 with a cohort of people with migration backgrounds and residents familiar with Swiss life. Its objective is to move from individual to collective trust and address historical wounds to strengthen social cohesion. The method combines participatory artistic co-creation and facilitation tools, artwork, a cascade outreach approach, and public sharing events in various Swiss cities.
The Bah\u00e1\u2019\u00ed Training Institute helps individuals strengthen their capacity to contribute to the betterment of society through a process of consistent and deliberate study, consultation, and action. The curriculum available in more than 160 languages covers themes such as the life of the soul, the education of children, the empowerment of youth, and the responsible use of material means. Through study and consultation, participants develop skills for reflection, critical thinking, and purposeful action. They learn how to translate their insights into concrete steps for unity and social cohesion.
In Switzerland, youth in places like Schaffhausen and Nyon gather regularly to reflect on the reality and needs of their neighborhoods. They engage other young people and together, create spaces for consultation on the positive and negative influences affecting them and hold meaningful conversations that lead to action. Out of this process, collective initiatives emerge: artistic expressions, service projects, and neighborhood events designed to foster a spirit of inclusion.
Through these experiences, participants recognize both their abilities and their responsibility to contribute to the well-being of their (social)environment. The Institute process has been described as a \u201clocal, low-cost, low key, non-confrontational, inclusive, self-generating approach needed to bring about cultural transformation at the grassroots level of society.\u201d1<\/sup><\/sub> Participants strengthen capacities and take action to create social cohesion worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n