The UNDP Global Policy Centre for Governance (GPCG) designed a knowledge track to support stakeholders in navigating complex and politically sensitive issues during the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in 2025. Through its Finance, Integrity and Governance (FIG) Initiative, GPCG created a safe space for multistakeholder engagement, bringing together diplomats, technical experts, civil society, academics, philanthropic organizations, and international financial institutions over a series of in-person and virtual dialogues. The aim was to facilitate productive conversations on financial integrity, governance, and other sensitive topics that often lack space in formal negotiations.
Strategic dialogues convened by GPCG prioritize trust, curiosity, and collective sensemaking over formal statements or rehearsed positions. These dialogues recognize the interconnected and polarized nature of global governance challenges, emphasizing the need to bridge technical expertise with political realities. By providing a safe environment, stakeholders could explore difficult issues, exchange perspectives, and generate actionable insights that formal multilateral negotiations often cannot accommodate.
The initiative produced four key lessons for designing effective strategic dialogues. First, building trust and connection is essential. Establishing ground rules, encouraging participants to engage as individuals rather than organizational representatives, sequencing informal formats, and leveraging diversity fostered a safe space for open discussion and mutual learning. Second, dialogues should be designed for creativity rather than consensus, using structured sensemaking tools, mixed formats, and unstructured time to generate fresh ideas and actionable outcomes while avoiding groupthink.
Third, dialogues must adapt to participants’ needs and the maturity of topics. Early dialogues focused on knowledge-building and expert inputs, while later sessions emphasized smaller, informal breakout discussions to address contentious issues and identify potential compromises. Fourth, the physical and surrounding environment plays a critical role in shaping mindset and interaction. Holding dialogues in open, natural surroundings encouraged perspective-taking, creativity, and informal exchanges, though logistical trade-offs sometimes affected participation.
Overall, the FIG Initiative demonstrated that trust, creativity, adaptability, and intentional use of space are crucial for facilitating meaningful strategic dialogues on complex, high-stakes policy issues. Participants reported stronger connections with previously hard-to-reach stakeholders, greater mutual understanding, and consensus on sensitive provisions in the FfD4 agreement. While there is no one-size-fits-all formula, these lessons offer guidance for policymakers, facilitators, and organizations seeking to convene dialogues that can effectively advance solutions to challenging global problems.
