In recent decades, the word Forum has been associated with structured group processes for transformation and dialogue.
The EST trainings of the early 1970s, and later Landmark Forum, applied it to large-group seminars for personal growth. Soon after, the ZEGG Forum in Germany became a central community practice of ritualizing the uncovering and sharing deeper parts of themselves into the open. And the Parents Circle-Families Forum in Israel/Palestine carried it into the work of reconciliation, where bereaved families on both sides of the conflict share their stories.
Though these various expressions of Forum may not look the same, they share a common spirit: creating containers for deep sharing, vulnerability, and self-discovery. A Forum invites people to narrow the distance between how they see themselves and how others see them, and to cultivate understanding from multiple perspectives.