Workshop logistics, organisation etc document is here.
- Hopes and ambitions for the workshops and the journey ahead
- Overcoming barriers to participation: language and trust
- Outreach and engagement methodology/philosophy and tools/process
- Setting a foundation for concrete outcomes from the workshops
- What comes after
- More general questions to answer
Hopes and ambitions for the workshops: what do you want to achieve and how could you help?
- @Khatuna concrete ideas and commitment to move forwad and realise some of them
- @Lurglomond: strengthen new connections. How do we go on after the project is over, how do we maintain the networks built? Strengthen network connections, motivate the new edgeryders, build synergies between the existing projects (external to UNDP that is) We can help with facilitation as well
- @Vahagn: to link local activists to each other and to the what is happening in the world outside
- @Hazem: many people work in the same place and field don't know about each other. I want to connect them together so that people can make pilot projects
- @gazbee sorour: to be able to connect with people, innovators in the local scene and move out of the old-school way of doing things. To start reaching out and working with citizens as experts. Working with lots of different people and ways of doing things.
- Sherif: we tend to work with governments in a top down way. I would like it if we worked differently and with different people
- @Maria Tarancon: to make the process accessible to people who have the least means to get involved, who don't go to elite universities and already have access to a lot of resources
- @Sam Muirhead I hope these workshops can help people realise they are not alone in their work - that many others in their own countries, and internationally, have similar goals and struggle with similar problems and may have found solutions or partial solutions to those issues.
Barriers to participation: language, documentation and trust
Now that we have the briefs ready for each topic, the online community builders can translate them. Everyone should feel free to communicate with the participants in their own language, also in the calls for participation; the encouragement is that they write in whichever language they feel comfortable in. The constraint here is that we need to be able to analize the content of the conversations as data. And we don’t have the resources to translate all the conversations into one language, nor do we have the resources to hire three ethnographers (one for each language)…In a comment below you will find the instructions for how to add translations of content on the platform.
- Self selection: we try to reach out to many many people and invite them, rather than spend too much time trying to convince a small number of individuals
- A status update a day: We update the social media accounts and the event pags on facebook with the latest news everyday. Tweet and FB them in your own language!
- Landing page: Every day we update this page with new posts. It's a nice starting page with good content that aso explaings how to participate
Setting a foundation for concrete outcomes from the workshops
We discuss/post the links where the needed materials instructions are found as comments below. Very important to make sure one person is documenting what people say in the bigger groups, when coming together!!
- Welcom: purpose/objectives/process and practical information< 10 minutes
- Opening presentation (brief, concrete examples of projects, how we make them happen and how this workshop contributes to this) <15 minutes
- Where does this all go? Depends on us in the room.
- Round of introductions: name and what you hope to get out of the day. small groups talking to each other for 3 minutes. Writing on post it for 2 mins. then rotate. Everyone posts on wall. <30 minutes
- Open questions and process to get to concrete project ideas. 3 minute rotation. I minute to forulate questions on post its, one post it per question. Post on wall. Cluster all post its. Pick groups. break down into sessions.
- Session 1:
- Session 2
- Synthesis, groups present insights. What would like to do> what's first step?
- Document as projects on the platform, people join projects interested in. Instuctioutions for what comes next
- Closing circle and maybe dinner?
What comes after?
One question that keeps popping up has to do with continuity. As in “why should I get involved and put effort and time into this when it is going to end?” Another has to do with outcomes as in “what’s the point of all this, where is it going to lead?”
To some extent we haven’t answered these questions because the answers depend on you, the core team, and on the participants themselves. So let’s try to answer them maybe? Its not a big deal. all it would take is communicating what you personally would like to see coming out of the workshop and project, and how you see yourself contributing towards that happening (pick the right workshop here). If you can write a post introducing yourself and your story like some of us already have done, this is goes a long way towatrds others feeling encouraged to do the same here.
The other thing that really helps with continuity is involving the participants in the documentation and follow up process. Give them clear instructions and a format at the beginning of the workshop, explaining why documentation matters. And get people to volunteer to do take notes during the workshop. get everyone else to commit to write one post of their refelections right before they leave the workshop including one small step they would be up for taking towards realising an idea after the workshop (make sure you have enough time for them to do this). Tell them how you are going to follow up on the results within the next 24 hours (while the excitement is high) and where they can post and see videos, text documentation, photos…and let them know that you DO want to stay in touch and explore further what you could do together.
Questions
- What are the goals of the tour?
- How do we explain what Edgeryders is, what you can do with it, who is in here?
- Can we do an informal event for people who could not make it to join us in the evening, like a dinner?
- Do you see something like unmonastry poping up from STF workshop and how can the Ederyders community support whatever projects that could pop up from the workshops ?
- What cooperation could happen between participants from the 3 countries as the workshops don't happen at the same time?
- What opportunities are there to follow up on the ideas and wish to collaborate after the event?