Our aim is to fully engage with the realities of our journey to the end, however we imagine that might eventuate.
Articles, links, references, resources and a cafe overview including meeting framework can all be found here.
Our window is small, but our view is panoramic and our views are inclusive of many cultures and traditions. This all adds up a magnificent smorgasbord on the menu for life affirming conversations, sometime leading to in depth discussions ranging across a landscape that is diverse and affirming.
If the road thus far has been rough and rocky, we can perhaps help achieve a softer landing.
As a gateway site based in the Hunter region (Newcastle / Lake Macquarie), Australia, we connect visitors with the significant players in the natural death scene, including how we do funerals.
We are advocates for community participation. We are one of the voices for choices when it comes to dying, death, ritual and remembrance.
A not-for-profit, community-based think-tank, we are not aligned with any political organisation.
In terms of the Cafe framework, we are not the only ones offering a way to discuss end of life issues.
Others include:
- Death Cafe
- Death Salon
- Let’s Have Dinner and Talk about Death
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We stand on the shoulders of giants – of those who have been there done that. We are indebted to these people for the years of dedication they have given freely, that we might be able to commence our journey further along the track – they have been the trailblazers, the pioneers. We still have some way to go, but at least the foundations have been laid.
We are relative new comers to the end-of-life planning process. A browse around the site will reveal the richness of the thinking that has been going on for years, without us being aware.
We have tapped into this vast reservoir of knowledge to reveal just a smidgen of the content on offer. Please be our guest, then having absorbed some of the knowledge pass it on – share it around – add your stories, and become another voice for choice.
There are some people who deserve special mention:
Charles Cowling, The Good Funeral Guide; Joe Sehee, Green Burial Council, Zenith Virago, The Natural Death Centre. They have been advocates for greater citizen participation in dying, death and disposal practices for many years. See References and Links for details.
Die-alogue Cafe 
I love the pun in the name, “die-alogue.” Is one main difference between your cafe and Death Cafe, etc. mostly about your location in Australia? Is one other main difference more of an emphasis on taking action on death-related issues as well as increasing death awareness? –Hospice chaplainKaren, of offbeatcompassion.com
Thank you for the comment Karen. The main difference is that we encourage theme and action based meetings. We think it is helpful to have an agenda that includes discussion centred on a book, a work of art; that includes guest speakers or topics (local or via the internet) that are in the news; that celebrates focus days like Dying to Know Day (August 8th in Australia) and so on. From our perspective, the way to increasing death awareness will be more readily achieved if we use established methods that potential attendees are familiar with. This is not to say that other methods are any less worthy, each method is simply another path to waking up to death literacy. In the Die-alogue Cafe outline (page 4) where we talk about We learn from / We learn about, the scope is deliberately inclusive of a wide selection of people and a wide range of issues.
I appreciate your point about using “established methods that potential attendees are familiar with”, and your approach overall. So far, is Die-alogue Cafe exclusively an Australian enterprise? (I just got back from Melbourne and Adelaide; a lifetime experience for me, a U.S. resident. When I got home, ironically I saw a Tweet about visiting Australia as a bucket list item!) Once I know that, I will better know how to spread the word about you. Sincerely, Karen
Die-alogue Cafe is Australian based and has no intention of going global. It is not exclusively so in that the framework can be applied almost anywhere, as would be the case if someone thought they would like to arrange a Death Cafe, Death Salon or Let’s Have Dinner and Talk About Death event. Being able to transfer the idea into a range of settings is the basis of its design. We have been endorsed by the Good Funeral Guide, a UK based group. See post Friday 11 April 2014 http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/blog/page/7/
Hi, You might like to have a look at Death is a community affair (http://blog.nurturedevelopment.org/2015/02/03/death-is-a-community-affair-con-carey-and-the-twelve-apostles/)