Claire Adams

She holds a Master of Urban Studies from Simon Fraser University, an undergraduate degree in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Glasgow, and has experience using a wide range of research, and engagement methods and tools. At the Centre, Claire supports the Office of Knowledge and Practice in building capacity and creating systemic change in the fields of dialogue and participatory democracy. Claire extensively contributed her knowledge of housing policy and urban planning to advance the CMHC-funded Renovate the Public Hearing Initiative and has supported numerous other projects at the Centre. Prior to pursuing her Master's, she had six years of strategic communications experience in various public sector organizations in Vancouver and in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is grateful to be living  as an immigrant settler on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

What is your role at the Centre for Dialogue?

As part of the Office of Knowledge and Practice, I support Centre for Dialogue initiatives with in a variety of ways including process design, initial research, data analysis, facilitation and reporting and evaluation. I also help to build internal capacity through developing and supporting internal training and opportunities for knowledge exchange, such as our monthly Dialogue Stories sessions.

What does dialogue mean to you?

Dialogue is a relational activity that enables important conversations to happen. Dialogue is not debate, and does not have a winner or loser. Dialogue can be tender, vulnerable, and challenging – but is worthwhile.

What is a common assumption you'd like to de-mistify?

That quantitative data, e.g. “the numbers don’t lie”, inherently holds more meaning or value than qualitative data. Both are important, and hold different meanings and tell different stories.