Moving the middle: How do we engage people in polarised times?

What does it take to stay connected when conversations around migration and society become increasingly polarised? Drawing from her years of experience with Médecins Sans Frontières and her work with OnMigration, Mariken Gaanderse shares insights, frameworks, and lessons on how we can create conversations that bring people together rather than push them further apart.

In this interactive session, we explore the space between opposing viewpoints—the many people who hold complex and sometimes contradictory feelings about migration, belonging, identity, and the society we want to build together. Through reflection and exchange, we will look at how we communicate across differences, how we can listen beyond our own perspectives, and what it takes to create more inclusive conversations.

Mariken brings together more than 25 years of experience in humanitarian aid, international development, and social innovation. As a social entrepreneur, facilitator, strategist, co-founder of On Purpose, and one of the initiators of OnMigration, she works to connect people from different worlds and support meaningful social change.