fields and methods

lifelong learning, community work, social management.
seminars, training, faciliation.

Tailored to the needs of participants, projects and stakeholders we do offer training processes to support individuals and organisations in the most useful and enhancing way. Giving arena, time and space cascade opens the stage for all joining the process. We use participative methods no matter the size of the group.

As a network we can provide a wide range of skills and methods for our work.
 

methods

open space

Open Space Technology (OST) offers a revolutionary way of working – regarding theory, practice and terminology – for organizational transformation and conflict resolution. It requires a completely different form of facilitation. Emerging in the late 1980s, Open Space manifests the revolutionary shift from organizational development to organizational transformation. Based on the theories of Self-Organizing Systems and Chaos, and Complex Adaptive Systems, Open Space Technology has developed into the main working approach in the realm of transformation. It is particularly characterized by the “invisible presence” of the facilitator, the absence of a preset agenda and its lack of imposed structure and control. At the same time, Open Space Technology gatherings turn out to be very structured and controlled – by the people involved. In this way they meet the needs of the participants infinitely better than any pre-planning could ever achieve. Open Space unleashes the full potential of groups and systems, welcoming both conflict and surprise, and relying on the individual’s responsibility and participation based on passion. (source: https://en.boscop.org/pages/14-open-space)

liviling libaries

The Living Library is an innovative method designed to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices and encourage understanding.The main characteristics of the project are to be found in its simplicity and positive approach. In its initial form the Living Library is a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction. Visitors to a Living Library are given the opportunity to speak informally with “people on loan”; this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background. The Living Library enables groups to break stereotypes by challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner. It is a concrete, easily transferable and affordable way of promoting tolerance and understanding. (source: https://humanlibrary.org/what-is-the-living-library.html)

world cafe

The World Cafe is a creative process set in a cafe setting. The event either takes place in a actual cafe or else the room is set up to resemble one as much as possible: participants are seated around small tables with tablecloths and tea, coffee and other beverages. The cafe ambiance allows for a more relaxed and open conversation to take place. Often participants are provided with pens and are encouraged to draw and record their conversations on the paper tablecloths to capture free flowing ideas as they emerge.
Participants discuss the issue at hand around their table and at regular intervals they move to a new table. One participant (the table host) remains and summarises the previous conversation to the newly arrived participants. By moving participants around the room the conversations at each table are cross-fertilised with ideas from other tables. At the end of the process the main ideas are summarised in a plenary session and follow-up possibilities are discussed.
The choice of question(s) for the cafe conversation is crucial for the success of your event. In general it is useful to phrase the questions in a positive format and in an open ended format to allow a constructive discussion. If participants do not find the questions for discussion inspiring the event is unlikely to be successful, it can therefore be good to develop the question together with some of the intended participants.(souce: https://www.peopleandparticipation.net/display/Methods/World+Cafe, see also: https://www.theworldcafe.com/)

Risk Assessment
Risk assessment involves analysing threats (or 'hazards') facing a community. It should ideally be used in all planning - since most communities face some kind of threat. But it is most necessary for vulnerable communities prone to natural or human-made disasters. Risk assessment comprises three elements: hazard analysis understanding what hazards exist, the likelihood of them occurring, their likely intensity, and their effects; vulnerability assessment understanding who or what is vulnerable to the hazards, capacity assessment understanding what capacities exist within the community to reduce vulnerability. A range of methods can be used to make it easy for communities to make their own risk assessments as a basis for taking action to reduce risks (see box right). Most involve group work, preferably with trained facilitators. The end result is a clear understanding by the community of the nature and scale of the risks it faces. It is then possible to determine what is needed to reduce the risk; for instance new local initiatives, outside resources, technical expertise. {source: https://www.communityplanning.net/)

Apreciative Inquiery (AI)
AI is typically thought of as a "soft" strategy used in creating organizational visions, aligning groups, and building cultures. But as GMCR's experience shows, AI can contribute directly to measurable results. GMCR organized formal AI summits on the company's major business processes—procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, plan-to-produce, and market-to-sell—during which more than 200 employees, over half the work force, focused on raising productivity. They worked through a "4D" AI process to: Discover the "best of what is"—they identified where the company's processes worked perfectly  Dream "what might be —they envisioned processes that would work perfectly all the time, Design "what should be"—they defined and prioritized the elements of perfect processes, Create a Destiny based on "what will be"—they participated in the creation of the design. A positive focus tends to deliver a positive effect.
The notion of accentuating the positive flies in the face of conventional business wisdom, which says the best way to overcome a major challenge is to focus on what you're doing poorly and determine how to improve.(source: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3684.html, see also: https://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/)

Mapping
Mapping is an effective non-verbal way of finding out how people view their area. It is a good way to gather and present site-specific data, understand differences in perception and stimulate debate as a basis for joint planning. Individuals or groups create physical maps of their neighbourhood or city using pen and paper, lines in the sand, cloth, chalk or other materials to hand. A framework or theme is normally provided to focus people's thoughts, eg places you visit frequently, landmarks, boundaries, places you dislike, things you would like to see. The maps are discussed and analysed as a basis for understanding differing viewpoints and planning what should be done. Records of maps and debates are made for future reference. (source: https://www.communityplanning.net)

Planning for Real
Planning for Real uses simple models as a focus for people to put forward and prioritise ideas
on how their area can be improved. It is a highly visible, hands-on community development and empowerment tool, which people of all abilities and backgrounds find easy and enjoyable to engage in. A large 3-dimensional model of a neighbourhood is constructed, preferably by local people, using cardboard cut-outs for buildings pasted onto a base plan fixed to polystyrene or cardboard. The model is used at pre-advertised sessions held in various locations in the community.
Participants place suggestion cards on the model indicating what they want to see happen and where (eg playground, parking, standpipe, tree, shopping). The cards are sorted and prioritised to establish an action plan which is followed up by working groups. (source: https://www.communityplanning.net)

Art Workshop
Art workshops allow local people to help design and construct artworks to improve their environment. This can be an end in itself or part of a wider regeneration effort. Community arts projects are particularly useful for helping people express their creativity and develop skills, a sense of identity and community pride. Ideas are generated by local people working closely with community artists and sculptors in studio workshop sessions. People of all ages, backgrounds and abilities can be involved. Architects, landscape designers and other technical experts ensure that the designs are buildable. The community chooses which of the design options generated should be built, usually through some form of voting at an exhibition. The artworks are manufactured and installed, often with the assistance of local residents. A celebration is held to mark completion. (source: https://www.communityplanning.net)

Fish Bowl
The fishbowl method is a way to hold a facilitated discussion with representative members of one or more groups, who speak on behalf of their group while discussing a certain preselected topic. For the fishbowl method, the room is arranged with a large circle of seating around a smaller group of chairs, which is known as the ‘fishbowl’. Alternatively, a podium with a semicircle around it can be used. Depending on the size of the whole group, two to eight people (volunteers or preselected audience members), in addition to the moderator, can take part in the facilitated dialogue in the fishbowl to explore the given issue or knowledge area. The audience sits around the fishbowl, listening to the dialogue. The fishbowl method can be used when the number of participants in a discussion becomes too large to manage a conversation where everyone can participate equally, as would be possible with fewer participants, such as in a focus group. It is estimated that the method is appropriate with at least 15 participants. The maximum number of participants depends mainly on the organisation of the room (lack of space available to set up the circles, no possibility to see or hear the discussions in the fishbowl) and on the possibility for participants to move easily and quickly to the centre. The use of the fishbowl method requires that the room can be organised to create a fishbowl (inner circle, or half circle). In case the method is used with a big number of participants, it has to be ensured that the outer circle can hear well what is being said in the inner circle, using micros if necessary. (source: https://wiki.mountaintrip.eu/wocur/Fishbowl_method)

Human Libraries/Living Libraries
The Human Library is an innovative method designed to promote dialogue, reduce prejudices and encourage understanding.The main characteristics of the project are to be found in its simplicity and positive approach. In its initial form the Human Library is a mobile library set up as a space for dialogue and interaction. Visitors to a Human Library are given the opportunity to speak informally with “people on loan”; this latter group being extremely varied in age, sex and cultural background. The Human Library enables groups to break stereotypes by challenging the most common prejudices in a positive and humorous manner. It is a concrete, easily transferable and affordable way of promoting tolerance and understanding. (source: https://humanlibrary.org/)