More than ever, Americans are concerned about political polarization.

At the same time, citizens have hope that polarization can be overcome. People seem to have a firm conviction in the basic capacity of human beings to communicate, understand each other, respect their differences and compromise.

To address the divisions in our societies, three kinds of democratic innovations have emerged: 1) local efforts to bring people together, 2) national or even multinational initiatives that use technology to try to build bridges at scale and 3) changes in governance processes that try to make bridge-building and collaboration among citizens a regular part of public decision-making.

The first two types take the form of activities or initiatives, while the third is more structural. The success of these three kinds of innovations probably relies on the extent to which they are able to build on and support one another.

Dealing with division through local efforts at bridge-building and collaboration has the longest history and the greatest track record of success. Most of these efforts rely on paired or small-group discussions that happen face-to-face, often with skilled facilitators or mediators. When people meet in these kinds of settings, where they have the chance to share experiences and interact on a more human level, they are more likely to empathize with one another, find common ground and understand the reasons for their disagreements.

Our research shows that the majority of Americans (66%) are looking for better ways to understand people with different political views than them, and 2021 promises to be an active year for these kinds of initiatives. A national engagement effort called America Talks, supported by USA Today, the Civic Health Project, the ListenFirst Coalition, Public Agenda and The Fulcrum, aims to involve thousands of people in one-on-one virtual discussions on June 12 and 13.

The America Talks process will attempt to link local and national efforts by letting participants know about opportunities to get involved in bridge-building, deliberation and problem-solving efforts in their communities. Hundreds of those local initiatives will be happening in 2021, organized by networks such as the National Issues Forums and many other organizations, as part of a National Week of Conversation.

Americans say they want to overcome political polarization, and at least in 2021, both community members and officials will have local and national opportunities to do so.

Matt Leighninger is the director of public engagement at Public Agenda. He wrote this for the Fulcrum, covering what's making democracy dysfunctional and efforts to fix our governing systems at thefulcrum.us.