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Still Believing
in Dialogue.

DIALOGUE IMPACT REPORT 2025

24

locations

18

countries

488,476

visitors & participants

614+

employees & freelancers

64 %

workforce with disabilities

160,416

students & educators

A REFLECTION BY PEPE MACÍAS

Still Believing
in Dialogue

Sometimes I try to imagine ...

​the world of the late 1980s, when Andreas Heinecke met the blind colleague who helped him find answers to his questions about human prejudice, and inspired the creation of Dialogue in the Dark®.

If I had to describe that time in one word, it would be hope.

 

Many people seemed to believe that humanity was moving towards a more promising future. Nearly four decades later, the world can feel very different: divided, polarised, and increasingly marked by loneliness and disconnection.

That is why Dialogue and
genuine human encounter
matter more than ever.

​Today, the first encounter may be with ourselves, with the people we spend so little time listening to. Darkness and silence invite us to rediscover our own capabilities and resilience. The next encounter is with others. Since the pandemic and the widespread use of screens, social circles have narrowed and isolation has grown. Entering a Dialogue experience now means more than understanding someone who faces social disadvantage. It means recognising ourselves again as social beings who remain capable of building a better future together.

This report presents what an extraordinary community of people who believe in dialogue achieved in 2025 – despite division, polarisation, hatred, pain, and the screens that increasingly stand between us.

It is a tribute to every operator, colleague, partner, and visitor who continues to believe in meeting one another, in listening, and ultimately, in humanity.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR CEO

BUILDING THE FUTURE OF DIALOGUE TOGETHER

If Dialogue matters more than ever, then our responsibility is to make sure the structures behind it are strong enough to carry its mission into the future.

2025 challenged us to do exactly that. It was a year of transformation, organisationally, economically and across our international network. Not everything was easy. But throughout this period of change, one thing remained constant: our shared belief in Dialogue.

For more than three decades, Dialogue has created spaces where people meet beyond assumptions and labels. People with disabilities and older people take visible roles as guides, facilitators and experts through lived experience. Through role reversal, participants are invited to question assumptions, recognise capabilities and experience inclusion rather than only talk about it.

Today, we have the privilege and responsibility of carrying this idea into the next generation.

Svenja Weber

With the establishment of the non-profit organisation Dialogue Impact, the intellectual property and rights behind Dialogue have moved into a non-profit structure. This gives us a new foundation to protect the mission and quality of Dialogue while strengthening the organisations that create impact locally every day.

In 2025, 488,476 people participated in Dialogue experiences and programmes worldwide. At least 614 employees and freelancers contributed to this work, around 64% of them people with disabilities.

Behind these numbers are hundreds of thousands of encounters and local organisations that understand their communities. This local knowledge is one of Dialogue’s greatest strengths.

The role of the international organisation is not to replace that expertise, but to support it: by connecting knowledge across countries, strengthening quality and visibility, opening doors to partnerships and funding, and helping good ideas travel.

For me, a strong international network is not an end in itself. It has value when it makes the people and organisations within it stronger.

Our ambition is not growth for the sake of growth. It is stronger local organisations, meaningful employment, greater access, more encounters and social impact that can last.

The future of Dialogue cannot be built by one organisation alone. It has to be built together with the people who know Dialogue, live Dialogue and make it relevant in their communities.

That is our responsibility for the next generation and the future I hope we will continue to build together.

Svenja Weber
CEO, Dialogue Impact gGmbH

Our vision: A society where everyone belongs.

Our mission: We create experiences that enable social change.

Dialogue brings together people who might otherwise rarely meet, especially people with and without disabilities and people of different generations.

 

In playful, immersive situations, lived experience becomes expertise. By changing familiar roles, Dialogue invites people to question prejudice, recognise capabilities and move from distance towards encounter. Participants discover their ability to relate and act, while guides take visible, responsible roles.

 

Our experiences and inclusive employment foster empathy, empowerment, and inclusion.

OUR PURPOSE

Why We Do
What We Do

Inclusive Employment

Human
Connection

New
Perspectives

Curiosity
& Reflection

OUR APPROACH

Experience. Reflect. Grow.

Dialogue uses experiential learning to challenge familiar thinking and help people carry insights into everyday life. Three stages shape exhibitions, workshops and adapted programmes.

STAGE 1
Experience

 Participants enter an unfamiliar, facilitated and playful situation. Darkness, silence or encounters with ageing create a role reversal in which lived experience becomes expertise. Play removes the pressure to know the right response: everyone participates and discovers through curiosity, trust and communication. 

STAGE 2
Reflect

The experience can open a dialogue with oneself, the group and the guide. Participants question assumptions, stereotypes and familiar patterns of thinking about others and themselves. In workshops, facilitated discussion and structured debriefing can deepen reflection. 

STAGE 3
Grow

Insights can strengthen confidence and agency, influencing relationships, decisions and actions in private life, school, work and community. Wider change also depends on other people, structures and context. 

OUR IMPACT LOGIC

Output. Outcome. Impact.

Our impact logic distinguishes what Dialogue delivers, the changes associated with the experience and the wider change people and partners may support.

01

Output

Exhibitions, workshops, events and accessible services; inclusive employment; trained guides and facilitators; partnerships; and encounters.

02

Outcome

For participants, evaluated outcomes include greater empathy; reduced prejudice, stereotypes and reservations about encounters; awareness of barriers and capabilities; and changed perspectives on disability, ageing and human potential.

 

For guides and employees with disabilities, Dialogue can strengthen empowerment, confidence, professional development and employability by recognising lived experience as expertise and creating visible, responsible roles with ownership.

03

Impact

Impact can emerge when people use changed awareness and agency to act differently. Their actions can challenge stereotypes, reduce barriers and make inclusion tangible.

 

Dialogue also works with NGOs, schools, companies, foundations and public institutions to help turn learning into organisational or systemic change. Lasting social change depends on many actors; Dialogue contributes but does not create it alone.

WHAT WE DO

Core Experiences

Dialogue creates immersive experiences that bring people together across differences. In 2025, the three core formats reached 488,476 visitors and participants worldwide through exhibitions, workshops, dining experiences, and other branded activities.

488,476

VISITORS & PARTICIPANTS IN 2025

5,763 fewer than 2024, a difference of 1.2 %.

Reach remained broadly stable despite changes in network composition and reporting coverage.

Line chart showing Dialogue visitors and participants from 2017 to 2025. After peaking at 784,393 in 2018, attendance fell to 197,356 in 2020, recovered to 612,551 in 2023, and reached 488,476 in 2025.

In 2025, nearly 4 out of 5 participants of Dialogue experiences visited Dialogue in the Dark®

Visitors per Core Experience.png

77.2 %

Dialogue in the Dark®

11.9 %

Dialogue with Time®

10.9 %

Dialogue in Silence®

DiD_label_English.png

Dialogue
in the Dark

Guides with visual disabilities lead participants through complete darkness, where trust, communication, and non-visual perception become essential.

23

Venues

19

Operators

18

Countries & territories

377,247

Total visitors 

120,191

Educational visitors 

DiS_label_English.png

Dialogue
in Silence

Guides with hearing disabilities invite participants to communicate through gesture, facial expression, and body language in a sound-reduced environment.

3

Venues

3

Operators

3

Countries & territories

53,182

Total visitors 

11,591

Educational visitors 

DwT_label_English.png

Dialogue
with Time

Guides aged 70 and above facilitate experiences and conversations about ageing, participation, and intergenerational understanding.
 

3

Venues

3

Operators

3

Countries & territories

58,047

Total visitors 

28,634

Educational visitors 

Among locations reporting visitor mix, 43% of exhibition visitors were school and university groups; those locations represented 79% of exhibition visitors. Thirteen of 24 locations offered dedicated educational activities before or after the experience. An estimated 160,416 students and educators participated, approximately one third of total reach.

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FACTS AND FIGURES

We Create Impact

A global snapshot of Dialogue's reach, workforce, and participation in 2025.

24

Dialogue locations

18

Countries & territories

614+

Employees & freelancers

391

≈ 64 %

Workforce with disabilities

488,476

Visitors & participants

≈12 M.

Cumulative reach since 2000

160,416

≈ 33 %

Students & educators

100 %

67 %

Employment within six months / immediately for colleagues with visual disabilities leaving DiD 

LATIN AMERICA

argentina.png

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Flag of Brazil
Flag of Mexico

OUR LOCATIONS

A Worldwide Network

We created a worldwide community of Dialogue,
bringing immersive experiences to 24 locations
across 18 countries and territories.

INCLUSIVE EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYABILITY

Creating Opportunities. Strengthening Careers.

BREAKDOWN OF WORKFORCE

blind (1).png

308

with visual disabilities

deafness (2).png

70

with hearing disabilities

13

with other disabilities

54

aged 70

or older

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EMPLOYABILITY OUTCOMES

100 %

All 21 colleagues with visual disabilities who left DiD secured another job within six months.

14    67 %

immediately (within days / weeks)

7       33 %

within six months

STORIES OF IMPACT

Global Stories

These are selected examples of how Dialogue creates impact across different places, programmes, and communities.

Different places.

Real people.

A more inclusive world.

Visitors gather near the entrance to Dialogue in the Dark in Dongtan, Republic of Korea.

From Fear to Possibility

After an advanced cancer diagnosis, a former elementary school teacher became afraid to travel far from the hospital. A visit to Dialogue in the Dark Dongtan offered a different perspective on living through uncertainty. On the way home, the visitor's daughter wrote that the visitor spoke about focusing on what could still be done and experienced - and even imagined visiting Rome. Their later journey is unknown, but the daughter said the experience gave the visitor courage and renewed the family's sense of possibility.

Dialogue in the Dark

Dongtan, South Korea

This experience gave my mother courage.
Portrait of a Anna Tritschoks smiling with glasses against a dark background.

Arriving in a World Without Labels

Born with a visual impairment, Anna Tritschoks faced years of low expectations, exclusion and discrimination before joining Dialoghaus Hamburg. Anna completed retraining as an office management assistant and now contributes in visitor services, finance and as a Dialogue in the Dark guide. At Dialoghaus, Anna found a safe environment where strengths could develop without fear of judgement. Anna now values the perspective Anna brings and helps others look beyond labels.

Dialogue in the Dark

Hamburg, Germany

I'm allowed to make mistakes and just be human.
Participants explore a tactile globe together during an inclusive learning activity.

More Than Offering a Job

When Navidullah Aziz applied to become an Exhibition Guide in June 2024, an official classification restricted work to three hours a day. Moving towards full-time employment required approximately five months of coordination with public authorities. Dialogmuseum remained committed: HR manager Svenja Lind and director Maureen Ekizoglu supported communication with the authorities, while colleagues used simple language. Today, Navidullah reports a sense of belonging, improved German and clearer self-expression.

Dialogue in the Dark

Frankfurt, Germany

I'm very happy that I finally have a job.
A Dialogue in Silence guide communicates through gestures with participants wearing sound-reducing headphones in Hamburg.
DiS_label_English.png

Learning Through Silence

Following a Dialogue in Silence tour with a voluntary social year seminar group, one participant described the experience as a creative way to encounter another perspective. The participant connected communication beyond spoken language with empathy and the possibility of change. No longer-term follow-up is available, so the testimony is presented as immediate reflection and perceived learning rather than lasting behavioural change.

Dialogue in Silence

Hamburg, Germany

It was a great experience!
A very creative way to help people see things from a different perspective.
Two girls practise using white canes with support from programme staff during a community initiative in Egypt.

Beyond Eye Care:
Supporting Mobility and Inclusion

Through Vision for All - Sea Beyond Sight, Dialogue in the Dark Egypt and Somabay combined eye-health services with disability awareness and mobility support. Across two medical convoys and three surgical convoys, 1,743 people received ophthalmology examinations and 201 surgical procedures were completed. The initiative also distributed more than 1,785 medication units, provided 822 corrective eyeglasses and supplied 191 white canes together with mobility orientation and usage guidance. Awareness sessions, practical training and personal accounts from guides with visual disabilities helped families and caregivers develop a more informed understanding of visual impairment, while collaboration among healthcare, civil-society and private-sector organisations created a coordinated model of support.

Community Health

Safaga / Hurghada, Cairo, Egypt

Ee Beng Tan attends a business event, with his white cane beside his chair.

Skills That Travel Beyond Dialogue

Ee Beng Tan developed communication, public speaking, self-presentation, digital literacy, teamwork, leadership and agility while working as a Dialogue in the Dark guide and facilitator in Kuala Lumpur. After leaving Dialogue, Ee Beng joined Genashtim Pte. Ltd. as a Business Development Executive and was later selected to lead a new ESG division. After contributing to the ESG Business Institute, Ee Beng stepped down from that role following a leadership transition and continues as Director of B Market Builder Southeast Asia. The journey demonstrates how skills strengthened through Dialogue can travel into new roles, sectors and areas of responsibility.

Dialogue in the Dark

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

A runner with a visual disability and a sighted guide run together during an inclusive marathon in Seoul.

From Experience
to Shared Action

Dialogue in the Dark Korea and a business-network partner strengthened their collaboration around a marathon for people with visual disabilities. Employees from participating companies first attended Dialogue workshops and later contributed as guide walkers. Approximately 3,000 people with and without visual disabilities joined the public event. The sequence shows how experiential learning can contribute to participation and partnership beyond the exhibition.

Community Partnership

Seoul, South Korea

Accessibility professionals with visual disabilities lead a digital accessibility session in Seoul, with a guide dog resting nearby.

Lived Experience Driving
Digital Accessibility

N-VISIONS extended its inclusion expertise into professional digital-accessibility services. Its five-person consulting team includes four professionals with visual disabilities, whose lived experience informs testing, client advice and developer training. The team supports organisations in identifying barriers across websites, applications, kiosks and digital services. The work treats accessibility not simply as compliance, but as practical usability.

Accessibility Services

Seoul, South Korea

Employees and facilitators gather for a group photo after an inclusion workshop in Mumbai.

From a Workshop to an
Ongoing Inclusion Effort

Aditya Birla Group introduced Dialogue in the Dark at its Gyanodaya academy in 2024 as part of disability-inclusion learning. The Group returned in 2025 and expanded participation across companies including UltraTech Cement, Hindalco Industries and Grasim Industries. More than 900 employees and leaders participated across the two years. Repeat participation does not demonstrate lasting workplace change, but it shows how an initial sensitisation workshop developed into a continued organisational effort.

Dialogue in the Dark Workshops

Mumbai, India

Participants practise non-verbal communication around a table during a Dialogue in Silence showcase in Japan.
DiS_label_English.png

Finding New Ways
to Be Understood

In December 2025, Dialogue in Silence facilitators brought a non-verbal Showcase to a community-based third place for children in Nasushiobara. Twenty-five children and adults participated in activities using eye contact, gesture, facial expression and body language rather than spoken words. Facilitators observed participants move from cautious gestures to active, whole-body communication, checking whether others understood and ensuring that no one was left behind. The kickoff also led to a collaboration agreement between Apple Base and Dialogue Japan Society to continue creating accessible opportunities for connection in the region.

Dialogue in Silence Showcase

Nasushiobara, Japan

It made me really happy when I realised I could understand what the other person was thinking.
10-year-old participant
An older woman and a Hope Ambassadors volunteer sit together during a community visit in Hong Kong.

From Receiving Support
to Giving It

Through Hong Kong’s Hope Ambassadors programme, 19 people with visual disabilities supported older people through visits, telephone calls, counselling and community activities. Over two years, the programme reports approximately 10,000 calls, more than 300 counselling hours, visits with 800 older people and a further 1,000 people reached through carnivals. During one visit, an older participant who was losing vision said that difficulty with household tasks had reduced the participant’s sense of contribution. Hope Ambassador Lily shared personal experience of raising children and caring for a family member as a person without sight, and then demonstrated how to use a washing machine. The encounter shifted the usual support roles: lived experience became practical knowledge that could strengthen another person’s confidence and independence.

Hope Ambassadors Programme

Hong Kong

Older adults and participants sit together in conversation during an intergenerational Dialogue with Time session in Tokyo.
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Living Memories Across Generations

In 2025, Dialogue with Time guide Izumi Harada and a fellow guide shared firsthand memories of war during two special public sessions commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Twenty-two participants encountered history through the voices of people who had lived it rather than through written records alone. The sessions showed how older Dialogue guides can contribute not only expertise in ageing, but also living memory and intergenerational reflection on peace.

Dialogue with Time

Tokyo, Japan

Hearing the facts of war and peace through living words was a profound and shocking experience. It brought home to me just how vital it is that we keep passing these stories down.
Mauri Takaizumi
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EXCEPTIONAL TEAM MEMBERS

The People Behind the Impact

People make Dialogue possible by guiding encounters, supporting teams and representing it locally.

Hyeong-seop Kim seated beside his guide dog.

Hyeong-seop Kim

Seoul, South Korea

Hyeong-seop’s journey from guide to digital-accessibility specialist shows how lived experience becomes professional expertise.

Sherman seated against a blue background, wearing dark glasses and holding a folded white cane.

Sherman Yuen

Hong Kong

For 15 years, Sherman has brought Dialogue to life in Hong Kong through guiding, leadership, peer support and programme development.

Donald seated in his power wheelchair against a blue background.

Donald Ching

Hong Kong

Since starting his first full-time role at Dialogue in 2016, Donald has become a valued member of Hong Kong’s administration team.

Joan Hung in a judo uniform, holding a medal and trophy after a competition.

Joan Hung

Singapore

Joan brings adaptability, clear communication and thoughtful responses to different people and situations as a guide and facilitator.

Hiroe Ohashi standing within the Dialogue in Silence  exhibition in Tokyo.

Hiroe Ohashi

Tokyo, Japan / DiS

The Dialogue in Silence guide Hiroe brought deaf-led expertise to a stage as co-director of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics ceremonies.

Portrait of Dialogue with Time guide Izumi Harada, smiling at the camera.

Izumi Harada

Tokyo, Japan / DwT

By sharing wartime memories, Izumi helped participants encounter history as living memory and reflect on peace across generations.

Portrait of Igor Konishev standing with folded arms against a black background.

Igor Konishev

Moscow, Russia

Igor brings business workshops to life through careful organization, delivery and lasting client relationships.

Stylised silhouettes representing the Dialogue in the Dark Monterrey team, including colleagues using white canes.

DiD Monterrey Team

Monterrey, Mexico

Through practical problem-solving, cost-conscious delivery and humour, the Monterrey team keeps Dialogue working on the ground.

Portrait of Natalya Zaykina wearing dark glasses against a black background.

Natalya Zaykina

Moscow, Russia

Natalya helps groups understand the lives and capabilities of people with visual disabilities, turning knowledge into dialogue.

Fatma wearing a Dialogue in the Dark Egypt shirt and white hijab.

Fatma Ahmed

Cairo, Egypt

Through on-site work and external activations, including Drosos Foundation’s Collective Impact Day, Fatma grows in skill and confidence as an Exhibition Guide.

Portrait of Anantha Narayanan smiling in a light blue shirt.

Anantha Narayanan

India

Anantha extends Dialogue across India by building partnerships and client relationships that open doors to new audiences.

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BEST PRACTICES

Practices That
Strenghten Impact

Across our global network, creative approaches are turning inclusion into lasting change. These examples show how local action, partnership, and imagination can create a more inclusive world.

SOUTH KOREA

Paid Leave and Replacement Planning

Dialogue in the Dark Korea reported 50–80 days of paid leave supported by advance replacement planning, combining employee wellbeing with operational continuity and additional work opportunities.

SINGAPORE

Media Workshop Previews

CNA and The Straits Times experienced workshop previews before reporting.

Participants hold illustrated light-bulb cards during a collaborative learning workshop in Taipei.

TAIPEI, TAIWAN

Education and Media Partnerships

Experiential education combined with school delivery and TVBS communication expertise.

HONG KONG

Inclusion & Diversity Appreciation Awards

An external platform recognizing inclusive practice beyond Dialogue and helping maintain relationships with employers and partners. Reviewed and approved by Dialogue in the Dark Hong Kong.

EGYPT

Industry-adapted
Activations

Dialogue tasks customized to client workflows while retaining learning objectives.

Participants decorate paper sock templates with colourful drawings during a creative workshop at Dialogmuseum Frankfurt.
Colourful handmade sock designs hang on display at Dialogmuseum Frankfurt as part of a co-designed sensory arts programme.

FRANKFURT, GERMANY

Co-Created and Multisensory Cultural Programming

Dialogmuseum supported a multi-week craft workshop with 21mal3 for World Down Syndrome Day, created a multisensory exhibition for the 100th anniversary of the Hesse Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and designed a freely accessible display on 200 years of Braille during the Frankfurt Book Fair.

MAIN INNOVATIONS

Innovations That
Move Dialogue Forward

These examples show how local teams used Dialogue methodology, lived experience and partnership to respond creatively to real needs.

Participants work on laptops during a Dialogue With AI workshop for professionals with visual disabilities in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG

Dialogue With AI

How can responsible AI make workplace capability more visible? Dialogue With AI combined empathy-driven problem-solving with human-centered design. Its first workshop took place in December 2025; by July 2026, three sessions had welcomed representatives from 44 companies and demonstrated AI-supported use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

MONTERREY, MEXICO

AI as an Operational Tool for a Small Inclusive Team

For Monterrey’s small inclusive team, AI became a practical way to participate more independently in marketing, programme design, proposals, sales, surveys, and reporting.

SINGAPORE

SkillsFuture Leadership Courses

Two full-day SkillsFuture courses brought Dialogue into workforce development, while preparing guides, interns and staff became a shared learning process.

Visitors take part in a K-pop listening experience inside the darkened Dialogue in the Dark venue in Seoul.

HONG KONG

K-pop Listening Experiences in Complete Darkness

What changes when music loses its visual presentation? With BIGHIT MUSIC, Dialogue in the Dark Korea shifted attention towards voice, sound, memory and other senses. More than 4,000 people applied and 360 participated.

Peace in the Dark graphic featuring a blue-to-orange circular gradient and the programme title.

HIROSHIMA & TOKYO, JAPAN

Peace in the Dark

In Peace in the Dark, trained guides led bombing-related scenes in complete darkness, connecting living testimony with reflection on peace while preparing to support participant distress or crisis.

TOKYO, JAPAN

Lived Experience Shaping
Authentic Representation in The Last Man

Promotional poster for The Last Man: First Love displayed at a Dialogue venue in Tokyo.

For the film The Last Man: First Love, lived experience entered the creative process. Dialogue guides and staff coached movement for authentic representation. Ryuta Hanzawa and Miki Shibuya contributed with Mariko Kuramochi, Kayoko Shirohata and Yaeko Yamazaki. Produced by Keigo Higashinaka and released by Shochiku in December 2025, the collaboration was featured by Asahi Shimbun in connection with the SDGs.

ANNIVERSARIES AND NETWORK MILESTONES

Milestones That Shaped Our Network

For almost four decades, local partners have sustained, adapted and renewed Dialogue in their communities. Their milestones show how committed teams have kept the concept relevant, created opportunities and given meaning to our shared work.

Dialoghaus Hamburg team members gather in front of the Dialogue in the Dark venue in the Speicherstadt.

HAMBURG

25 Years of Dialogue,
Experimentation and Growth

For 25 years, Dialoghaus Hamburg has sustained a permanent home for Dialogue in the Dark in the Speicherstadt. During that time, Hamburg became a central hub where formats shaping today’s network were presented, tested and refined. The anniversary honours continuity and experimentation, the development of guides and facilitators, and the exchange of knowledge across the international network.

A group of participants and representatives gather on stage during an event in Seoul.

SEOUL

15 Years of Careful Design
and Lasting Quality

Careful design and lasting quality have shaped Dialogue in the Dark Korea since its permanent Seoul experience opened 15 years ago. Building on earlier temporary exhibitions, Younghee Song, Director Jeonghwa Jo and their team created a distinctive visitor journey grounded in sensory detail, guide preparation, and attentive group support. The organization later expanded to Dongtan and into digital accessibility, employment initiatives, and community partnerships.

Arched corridor at the Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano, home of Dialogue in the Dark Milan.

MILAN

20 Years Where History
Inspires Innovation

20 years at the Istituto dei Ciechi di Milano have made Dialogue in the Dark an important part of the Institute’s contemporary identity. Celebrated in December 2025, the milestone connects a longstanding commitment to people with visual disabilities with public engagement, culture and experiential learning.

Dialogue Social Enterprise and Dialogue Impact logos connected by an arrow, symbolising the 2025 institutional transition.

INSTITUTIONAL TRANSITION

A Difficult Transition, a Renewed Commitment

A difficult institutional transition in 2025 became the starting point for a renewed commitment to Dialogue’s future. After Dialogue Social Enterprise GmbH entered insolvency proceedings, Dialogue Impact gGmbH assumed ownership of the intellectual property of the three Dialogue formats and responsibility for international licensing. The new structure brought Dialoghaus Hamburg and international franchising together within one organization. Under Svenja Weber’s leadership, and with Laura Gorni’s support in maintaining network communication, the transition reinforced the need for sustainable structures, reliable governance, and consistent partner support.

Award recipients gather on stage at the 2025 Inclusion & Diversity Appreciation Awards in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG

15 Years of Dialogue,
Innovation and Inclusive Opportunity

What began with experiences in darkness has grown over 15 years into one of the network’s most diversified platforms. Hong Kong now connects Dialogue with education, youth development, services involving older people, career empowerment, digital accessibility, AI and cross-sector partnerships. Its gala on 20th February welcomed approximately 400 guests and presented 40 I&D awards. The event also strengthened relationships later used for job shadowing, internships and employment opportunities. Hong Kong’s sustained reach and reinvention make it an important role model within the network.

Older and younger participants sit together in conversation at Taiwa no Mori in Tokyo.

TAIWA NO MORI

5 Years as a

Home for Three Dialogues

Since opening in August 2020, the Dialogue Diversity Museum Taiwa no Mori has become one of the few venues in the network to bring Dialogue in the Dark, Dialogue in Silence, and Dialogue with Time together under one roof. Five years on, the Tokyo venue shows how the three formats can enrich one another within a shared space.

Stylised blue illustration of the Shanghai skyline, representing 15 years of Dialogue in the Dark in China.

CHINA

15 Years of Local Reinvention

From its beginnings in Shanghai in 2010, Dialogue in the Dark in China has travelled across cities, venues and operating models. Shiyin Cai’s vision and perseverance helped sustain that 15-year journey. Through changing environments, local teams continued creating professional opportunities for guides and trainers with visual disabilities while interpreting Chinese culture, everyday life, sound, place, and storytelling in distinctive ways.

Dialogue in the Dark Moscow team members pose together against a dark background.

MOSCOW & INTEGRATSIA

5 Years

of a Shared Inclusion Mission

A partnership begun on October 12th, 2020 has grown into five years of sustained collaboration between Dialogue in the Dark Moscow and the State Museum, Cultural Center “Integratsia” named after N. A. Ostrovsky. The Moscow team has delivered approximately 120 workshops at the institution. Through professionals with visual disabilities, participants experience inclusion through communication, trust, role reversal, and lived experience. The milestone belongs to everyone who has kept this shared mission active.

AWARDS, CERTIFICATIONS & EXTERNAL RECOGNITION

Recognition Across the Network

Across locations, Dialogue organizations received awards, certifications, and public recognition for inclusion, sustainability, education, and visitor experience.

HONG KONG

Diversity & Inclusion Award

Digital Accessibility Silver

Top 5 Happy SMEs

Social Sustainability

Cross-sector Collaboration Gold

HAMBURG

DEI Corporate Excellence Award

Haspa Sustainability Award

Annemarie Dose Prize

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Tripadvisor Traveler's Choice

TAIPEI

Sustainable Education Action Evaluation Recognition

TOKYO

Best of Atre

SEOUL

Prime Minister's Commendation to Hyeong-seop Kim

SINGAPORE

SkillsFuture Course

Approval

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OBSERVED COMMUNITY & ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

From Experience to Practice

Across the network, change is being observed in organizations, public services, and communities. These examples show how dialogue, accessibility, and inclusion can influence systems, services, and everyday practice.

CAIRO, EGYPT

Vision for All

Integrated ophthalmology examinations, surgery, medication, corrective eyeglasses, white-cane provision, mobility orientation and disability-awareness activities across Safaga, Hurghada and Cairo. Dialogue in the Dark guides with visual disabilities led the practical white-cane orientation together with the on-ground team.

MUMBAI, INDIA

Aditya Birla Group

Repeated and expanded disability-inclusion learning across several Group companies.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

Digital Accessibility

Digital services informed by testing, consulting and developer training from specialists with visual disabilities.

VIENNA, AUSTRIA

UN Visitor Services

A UN visitor service sought guidance on welcoming visitors with visual disabilities after Dialogue engagement.

SOUTH KOREA

Inclusive-Employment Benchmarking

Companies and public institutions visited N-VISIONS to learn from its employment model.

SINGAPORE

Public-Agency Consultation

Public agencies interviewed colleagues with visual disabilities to improve services.

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WHAT'S NEXT

Looking Ahead

Where the network is growing next and how stronger partnerships, better evidence, and shared ambition can expand Dialogue's impact.

Strategic
Outlook

Dialogue Impact will strengthen international licensing, partner services, exchange, and evidence collection. A confirmed 2026 exhibition in São Paulo will use Italian migration to Brazil as its narrative framework, connecting migration, identity, adaptation, resilience, and acquired disability. Work is also progressing towards a new Dialogue hub in Berlin, with a potential opening in late 2026 or 2027.

Network
Development

A larger and more connected network can strengthen visibility, collective evidence, collaboration, social impact, and financial resilience. Every partner is a network ambassador. Potential operators should be referred to

international@dialogue-impact.com or jose.macias@dialogue-impact.com.

Measurement Improvements

Shorter surveys; clearer definitions and denominators; distinction between zero activity and missing data; regular collection of quotations, consent, photographs, and evidence; stronger follow-up after experiences.

Every encounter can open a door: to a partership, a new location, new employment opportunities and thousands of future encounters.

Growing the Dialogue network means growing our collective impact, visibility, and resilience.

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PARTNER WITH US

Join Us in Creating Change

There are many ways to support Dialogue's inclusive work arount the world, from direct support and shared expertise to new partnerships and new locations.

Donate
 

Support inclusive employment, accessible experiences, education, and meaningful encounters.

Book an Experience

Visit a core experience or bring a Dialogue workshop to an organization or community.

Open a Dialogue Location
 

Bring an officially licensed Dialogue experience to a new city or country.

Book an Experience

Contribute expertise, accessible technology, equipment, venues, media support, transport, professional services, or other resources.

Get in
Touch

Share an idea for a partnership, programme, research project, accessible service, cultural collaboration, or new location.

AMBASSADOR NOTE

Every Dialogue partner is an ambassador for the global network. If a person or organisation is interested in bringing Dialogue to a new city or country, please connect them with Dialogue Impact, the official international licensor.

Dialogue Impact gGmbH
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As a as non-profit we create social impact worldwide.

Managing Director: Svenja Weber

Commercial Register: Hamburg, HRB 192366

VAT ID: DE 455 786 427

 

Dialogue in the Dark®, Dialogue in Silence®, Dialogue with Time®, and their associated trademarks are the intellectual property of Dialogue Impact gGmbH. International operation requires an authorised licensing agreement.

CONTACT US

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