Fika wants to break criminal mindsets – with a game
Serious criminals rarely change course and become law-abiding. So-called defector programs, criminal and probation systems do not succeed...
top of page
Insights and personal blogs
Follow what we do
and what we like
matspaulsen
- Sep 19, 2022
Let’s play; I walk in your shoes, you walk in mine
In a course at Georgetown University, conservative Christian and liberal students play each other. The theme is the storming of the...
Emma Stenström
- Jul 8, 2022
Train Your Xenophilia Muscle
Warm weather and vacation (and sometimes beer and wine) open us up. Perhaps you are in a new setting, where you can be just you, without...
Mats Paulsen
- Jul 8, 2022
Political Language Gurus Remorseful – Between The Lines
Rage and blame over new abortion law in the US. The far right and left slide apart in the recent French election. In Sweden a loud and...
Mats Paulsen
- Apr 27, 2022
How Mediation and Talks Fail
A couple of hours after the outbreak of war on February 24, Pope Francis went to the Russian Embassy in Rome to propose mediation. A...
Mats Paulsen
- Apr 27, 2022
A Closed Russia Not the Road to Peace
Russian artist Pavel Otdelnov wants to open for Russians to interact with others in arts and culture, academia, sports and business....
Mats Paulsen
- Mar 10, 2022
To Soldiers in World War Wired
War is the ultimate divide. The gap between people does not get deeper than that. Many are now involved in a digital war between Russia,...
Emma Stenström
- Mar 10, 2022
What We Talk About When We Talk About War
Emma Stenström, Stockholm We should talk more about the war in workplaces, universities, and schools. Here are some of my experiences of...
Jennifer Hansen
- Jan 30, 2022
Systems thinking could make Facebook good again
"When our environment is made up of information that polarises, that enrages, it leads to a loss of trust in each other. This version of...
Fika
- Dec 29, 2021
Passion pays off
Fika co-founder Emma Stenström is awarded Pedagogical Award 2021 at Stockholm School of Economics. “For her long-standing passion for...
Hansen, Moulin-Fournier & Paulsen
- Dec 29, 2021
To jab or not to jab
...can be really difficult to talk about for authorities, you and me. Below are three observations of the lay of the land in Germany,...
Jennifer Hansen
- Oct 19, 2021
Out cynical debate, in playfulness
I was very excited when I heard about “The Room“, a new TV format by and with journalist Eva Schulz. “The Room” is a sort of journalism...
Mats Paulsen
- Oct 19, 2021
He explores new formats and platforms for dialogue
Swedish media entrepreneur Petter Beckman has engaged five Swedish media companies, a university, and the Research Institute of Sweden to...
Jennifer Hansen & Emma Stenström
- Sep 13, 2021
Here is why Fika explores imagination
Is it “easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism?” This is asked by our favorite cli-fi-author, Kim Stanley...
Jennifer Hansen
- Aug 10, 2021
All Political Sides Fear Climate – Time is Ripe to Talk it Out
Climate protection may split politicians in an ongoing election campaign. A new study shows potential that the climate challenge can...
Jennifer Hansen
- Aug 10, 2021
Fika Will Explore Methods for Better Futures
There is no right or wrong about the future since it does not exist. It makes the future a good place to bring people together who are...
Emma Stenström
- Jun 23, 2021
Summertime is conflict time - here is how to handle it
Summer is a time of conflicts. Riots start. Governments break. Conflicts around screen time amplify. Marriages end. The most common time...
Emma Stenström
- Jun 22, 2021
What we read this summer
If you – like us – want to become better at having productive conflicts, here are four books we think you should read at the beach (or...
Mats Paulsen
- May 2, 2021
Get a taste of Bubble-hopping
Join us at the Mindshift conference on May 12 2021. Fika will be hosting a mini-workshop on bubble-hopping, 9.50-11 am. You will learn...
Emma Stenström
- Apr 1, 2021
We need to understand the know-it-alls
Bubble-hoppers are creative explorers, critical thinkers, worriers, and know-it-alls. When more than 800 people have tried bubble-hopping...
Emma Stenström
- Mar 8, 2021
65 students to hop into the unknown
Right now, 65 international master students are bubble-hopping. They are meeting with someone from another bubble. They use the skills...
Mats Paulsen
- Mar 8, 2021
He “saved” the media by not asking questions
The most successful host of a radio talk-show in the US rarely asked questions. If he asked, he would answer himself. Rush Limbaugh is...
Emma Stenström
- Feb 10, 2021
Set an intention - a soundtrack of your bubble-hop
When you set the intention to understand instead of convince another person, it will change the outcome of the conversation, a meeting,...
Mats Paulsen
- Feb 9, 2021
Mats Paulsen
- Jan 19, 2021
The power of polarizing media (and presidents)
Trump wrote more than 19,000 tweets during his time as president. Many with false claims, according to the New York Times (NYT). On...
Mats Paulsen
- Nov 16, 2020
Needed: The Society Therapist
The fact that President Trump has lost the election does not mean that a growing mistrust between people disappears. Within the field of...
Emma Stenström
- Nov 16, 2020
Ten ways to become a conversation activist
Some shy away from people they think are very different or have strongly opposing views. To meet and talk with an open mind is another...
matspaulsen
- Oct 25, 2020
Fika starts a new initiative: A Societal Draft
Instead of doing mandatory military service young people could help making society sustainable. Fika has started to explore a “societal...
Emma Stenström
- Sep 20, 2020
Meet Mr. Bubble-hopping
Max Hawkins has worked for Google, YouTube and Apple. Now he is finding ways to break out of the bubbles that digital life reinforces....
matspaulsen
- Jun 23, 2020
They want to fix the broken conversation in media
Why do men buy sex? That’s being discussed in a Swedish TV show. The aim is to nuance the debate. The result is the opposite. Divides...
Emma Stenström
- Jun 14, 2020
How bubble-hopping can close divides in times of crisis
Stockholm School of Economics publishes a series or articles about “Sweden through the Crisis” – and one of them is about bubble-hopping....
matspaulsen
- Mar 30, 2020
International conflict expert writes a masterplan for stopping polarization
The reasons behind polarization are so complex that a strategic masterplan is needed. Here is what must be done, according to professor...
matspaulsen
- Feb 27, 2020
“Our talks in the museum made hatred disappear. Cultural experiences can make difference."
The Albertinum art museum in Dresden has arranged a series of public talks on themes like nationalism and extremism. The meetings have...
matspaulsen
- Feb 25, 2020
“What you call polarization, I call conflict. The conflict must be fought.”
“I don't want us to depolarize. I want us to stick to the constitution of all people's equal value. It is a major conflict because some...
bottom of page