About the Simon Fraser University Centre for Dialogue

3300-515 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 5K3

In an increasingly polarized world, Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue creates opportunities for constructive engagement and solutions-oriented outcomes.

The SFU Centre for Dialogue is Canada’s go-to convenor for public engagement practice and theory. We actively work with clients and partners to create space for respectful and productive dialogue between citizens and stakeholders, moving beyond yes versus no to allow for co-created solutions, informed decision-making and collective action.

Since 2006, the SFU Centre for Dialogue has designed and facilitated more than 400 events from the local to international scale, reaching hundreds of thousands of citizens. We add value through our status as a trusted facilitator and our reputation as a values-based social enterprise motivated by the public good.

We design our events to adhere to best practices set out by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and the Centre for Dialogue’s values statement. This means including the full range of interests, framing discussion materials to reflect the best available information and perspectives, presenting public input using transparent methods and publishing results to participants in a timely manner.

Past partners and clients include:

Global Affairs Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), German Federal Environment Agency (UBA), Vancouver Board of Trade, Urban Development Institute, Vancouver Economic Commission, Canadian Hydropower Association, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Reconciliation Canada and the Cities of Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.

Project team

Robin Prest, Program Director, Civic Engage, SFU Centre for Dialogue

Julie Bezard, Dialogue and Public Engagement Coordinator (Bilingual), SFU Centre for Dialogue

Julie Caron-Malenfant, French Language Facilitation Lead

Keane Gruending, Communications Manager, SFU Centre for Dialogue

Elodie Jacquet, Dialogue and Engagement Consultant

Sebastian Merz, Project Manager, SFU Centre for Dialogue

Zakir Suleman, Dialogue and Public Engagement Coordinator, SFU Centre for Dialogue

Shauna Sylvester, Lead Facilitator and Director, SFU Centre for Dialogue