Political Science Commons^™

Cultivating Contact: A Guide To Building Bridges And Meaningful Connections Between Groups, Linda R. Tropp, Trisha A. Dehrone

The Journal of Social Encounters

In this guide, we describe how to set the stage for people from different backgrounds to engage with each other in ways that foster trust and belonging, while also drawing on their similarities and differences to solve community problems. We review a number of strategies that encourage people from different groups to work together as equals, so that they can share ideas and perspectives, and co-create new initiatives in collaboration and across group divides. We also provide materials that can help organizations begin to envision how they might assess the effectiveness of their contact programs.