The international network of democratic therapeutic communities INDTC, which proposes the conference, is a network that welcomes individuals, therapeutic communities, mental health services, associations and groups from different countries, who share the values of democracy, dialogue in mental health, in therapeutic communities and in the local community.

The proposed event “Dialogue, conflict, Green care. How to practice democracy in therapeutic communities and in society” is the result of on-going reflections of the international collective INDTC and the Italian board of directors on these issues. Such reflections have led to the organisation of several events in recent years, which have further developed the themes in question. In particular, the “International Meeting of Babel: The Democratic Therapeutic Community in the World, Today” which was held in May 2021. On that occasion, from the dialogue between participants from different corners of the world, the ‘difficulty of creating and maintaining democracy in non-democratic systems and places’ emerged as a theme of
common interest, which also became the theme of the March 2022 conference “How to practice democracy in non-democratic places and systems”.
In a historical period of great changes, also amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, democracy is a value that we cannot take for granted not only in mental health services but in society in general.

Many questions come to mind: what is the direction democracy is moving towards? What are the values that define and motivate life within society and local therapeutic communities? Today more than ever, within a global context where institutions appear to have become more rigid and often regressed/old fashioned; and where democracy is at risk, therapeutic community culture and values, together with democratic participative practices can represent an opportunity, not only for therapeutic communities, mental health and psychosocial services but also for global and local communities. Today, more than ever, it is possible to revive the importance of terms such as democracy, dialogue, group, participation, responsibility and conflict management.

Hence the themes of today’s event: dialogue, conflict and green care. In particular, the theme of ‘dialogue’ arises from the importance that INDTC places on dialogical approaches such as Open Dialogue, Psychoanalysis Multifamiliare, democratic therapeutic community, in mental health and in the promotion of community well-being. The theme of ‘conflict’ is of crucial importance especially in light of the current war events that are unsettling the global stage. And, the theme of ‘green care’ dedicated to the acknowledgment and recognition of the crucial importance of the relationship between human beings and environment, as it has been explored in the recently published book edited by INDTC “Green Care. A contribution from therapeutic communities”.