Citizen Diplomacy for a More Caring World

Paul Lachelier, the founding director of Learning Life, writes that "diplomacy is a social art or ethic especially needed in our divided world." Believing that diplomacy can be practiced by families as well as professionals, Learning Life has launched the Family Diplomacy Initiative - a way to make the most of social media and our increasing hours online. 

​Learning Life, a USA-based educational nonprofit, is now welcoming families worldwide to participate in an international food culture project via Facebook.  This project is the next phase in the development of Learning Life's Family Diplomacy Initiative.  
Founded in 2012, Learning Life aims to spread learning and citizen engagement beyond school walls in innovative ways.  Launched in 2016, FDI is now Learning Life flagship program, and works to connect families worldwide with an eye to developing a family form of citizen diplomacy for a more caring world.  Families are widely valued across cultures, and deeply impacted by world events, from climate change to immigration to virus transmission, yet have little voice, as families, in international affairs.  (Click here for five reasons why families should be involved in diplomacy.)  We believe greater focus in international affairs on the needs, challenges, joys and hopes of families worldwide can help build a more peaceful, caring world. 

​FDI began in summer 2016 with test live internet dialogues between lower-income families in Washington DC, Dakar, Senegal, and Porto de la Libertad, El Salvador.  From 2017 to 2019, we completed a community photo project then a food culture and nutrition project engaging small numbers of lower-income families in the USA, El Salvador, Senegal and Jordan.  In so doing, we leveraged volunteers and the internet to engage families that don't have the luxury to travel abroad.  Since summer 2019, we have more than tripled the number of families worldwide connected to FDI on Facebook as we scale up for our next phase. 

​In this new phase, hundreds of families worldwide have the opportunity to share and learn from each other about their respective food cultures through six questions we will pose from April to October.  The questions, and the months they will be posed, are:

1. April: What does a typical breakfast look like in your family?
2. May: What does a typical dinner look like in your family?
3. July: What is a holiday your family celebrates, and what is a dish your family likes to make or buy for that holiday?
4. August: What is a "comfort food" (food that your family finds comforting to eat) that your family often eats?
5. September: What is a food people eat in your country that you think foreigners may consider odd or unusual?
6. October: What is a food trend happening in your country?  A food trend is any new and popular food, restaurant, or way of eating.​

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We ask families in the Facebook group to answer the questions with one or more photos plus a brief explanation of the photo(s) in English or their own language.  A panel of families living in different countries across the world has been selected to answer all six questions to ensure we get a variety of answers reflecting some of the world's diversity of food cultures.  In future years, we plan to pose new questions on new themes that invite families to share and learn more about family life, country cultures, world trends, and international issues.

In addition, Learning Life is posting other content of interest to families to the FDI Facebook Group:

1. Monthly "Eye on the World" posts with cultural content of interest to families
2. Monthly "Internet Resources" sharing free or low-cost online information, education, and work opportunities
3. Bi-weekly profiles of some of our FDI Facebook families participating in the food culture project

Any interested family worldwide with internet access and on Facebook can join FDI and participate in the food culture project.  The project requires one person in the family -- an older child or parent -- to volunteer to represent the family and answer the six questions.  The family representative answers (1) a short survey before and after the project, (2) a question-answer profile + photo of your family to share to our Family Diplomacy Initiative Facebook group, (3) the six food culture questions noted above.  In total, we estimate no more than six hours of your time for the project spread between March and October - or whenever you decide to join. 
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Families must understand and be comfortable with the fact that what they share will be public, on Facebook, and will be publicized via Learning Life's website and social media pages (primarily Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin).
To join FDI on Facebook click here. 

If you would like to participate in the food culture project, please let me know by connecting with me on Facebook, and messaging me to let me know you are interested, as well as the city and country your family where your family currently lives.

Questions?  Contact me at [email protected].  

Thank you for your interest!

Paul Lachelier, Ph.D.
Founder & Director, Learning Life

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