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Think about the problem (create sticky notes). Pair with a partner (share notes) and share your thoughts. Put sticky notes on the ways. What are your insights?

Board: Thoughts, Feeling, 3 Insights

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Rich picture & Iceberg analysis methodology v2

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Ideo, 2013, Bootleg Bootcamp METHODCARDS-v3-slim

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Activity: Students will create a visual representation and find connections from across what they read

Create 5 members to a group, preferably all new to each other.

In your group, describe why you chose the top three articles you selected from your assignment and share your pitch on why others should read your articles.

Based on your top 3 articles, write down your 5-7 most important ideas/messages that resonate with you on a post-it note.

All members of the group will take their post-it notes and gather by a window or wall.

Participants will place post-it notes on the wall and look for patterns of related information that emerge from conversations that are relevant to the idea/messages.

Provide instructions per group as needed, check-in to each group, provide a time "1 minute left or time to wrap up." Make sure each person has a chance to speak.

Another way to get everyone to speak is to provide a question for the class and everyone has to go around and answer it. This is helpful when one member wants to take over the group discussion.

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Write on board -[I like] [I wish] [I wonder]. Allow students to take a post it note and write down a comment for each quote.

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Closing Activity: What do you takeaway, what do you leave?

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Closing Activity: What do you takeaway, what do you leave?

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You will break into small groups (3-4)

All group members share the problems of practice they identified in the assignment and some initial thoughts on design of a self-in-field intervention. (15 minutes)

Group members decide which practice problem will be a focus for joint inquiry.

Joint inquiry (steps 1 and 2) into practice problem (30 minutes)

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Welcome to Open Space... look around, please, and see who's here. Imagine that you're sitting in a circle of friends, colleagues and perhaps some strangers, too. It might be just a dozen of you for a one-day working conversation, but perhaps it's 120 or even as many as 1200 gathered for a 2 1/2-day strategic conference. If it's just a few, we might be in your office conference room or a small hotel meeting place. If it's a very large group, we're likely in a hotel ballroom, a high school gymnasium, or even a warehouse facility that your company has cleared out especially for the work of this conference.

In times of turbulent change, conversation qualifies as real work - and is essential for powerful, profitable action. As specialization and customization increase, complex webs of relationships and information emerge, pressure for frontline decision-making and on-time delivery rises, and individual control seems to be slipping away, it's never been more important to be deeply connected with our partners at work. Open Space Technology is a simple, powerful way to catalyze effective working conversations and truly inviting organizations - to thrive in times of turbulent change.

However many are here and wherever we might be, our chairs are certainly set in one large circle. Even if the circle has several concentric circles, the room is set, from the start, so that everyone can see and hear everyone else. The middle of the circle, even if it's very large, is empty and open. There are no tables or podiums, but you can see that there are half sheets of flipchart paper and markers on the floor in the center. Then you notice that someone has apparently already been busy with these markers, as there are handwritten posters hung on every wall...although there is a large (and a little suspicious) blank area that fills most of one wall under a banner that says, simply, "marketplace."

Connecting

Someone sits down next to you, probably an old friend, somebody you know, but perhaps haven't seen for awhile. You begin a conversation, "well, hello...good morning...I didn't expect to find you here...gosh, how long has it been, how are your kids...well of course I should have known you'd be interested in this...how did you hear about it...I thought of you when I first saw the invitation...glad you were able to move your schedule to be here...wouldn't have missed this for the world...what do you suppose is going to happen...not sure, but I know we need to do something about..."

Your conversation is repeated around the room as others arrive and connect. They join you sitting in the circle or stand at the edges, talking with people they know or people they are connecting with for the first time. Some are sitting quietly by themselves, taking in the whole scene, glancing at the notes they've brought, or perhaps having a look at a one- or two-page handout that might have been placed on every chair. There is a table with coffee and juice, doughnuts, bagels, fresh fruit. Everyone is eating or drinking something.

And everyone is here for a purpose, having received an invitation and having made whatever simple or grand arrangements it took to get themselves here this morning. Everyone is here because they've chosen to be here, because the theme or issue or question at hand is something they have real passion about - and because they saw this gathering as a unique opportunity for connecting with others who are eager to learn about, plan for, and take action in an area that they see as critical to the success of their own interests, the work of their organization(s), and/or their relationships with colleagues, customers or suppliers.

Inviting

The invitation itself was very simple, probably just a page or two, maybe a short email or postcard, or even something posted on a bulletin board. It spoke plainly about what's working, what's possible, and/or what's needed now in some area of real importance. It was clearly not an invitation to complain or even "solve problems," but rather to co-create some dimension of the organization, the community, or the world that we all really want to be a part of. This doesn't mean that it denied or in any way minimized the importance of existing problems, only that it really focused attention on our strengths and assets - and invited people to work together to create more of them.

If circumstances allowed, you received this invitation well in advance of the gathering date(s), so that you could plan your schedule around it. A late invitation just isn't as open, credible and welcoming as one sent in advance, whatever "in advance" means in your organization. Alternatively, this gathering could be an urgent call to respond to some new situation or opportunity that's popped up. Either way, the invitation announced the theme (purpose or intention) for this gathering and provided a brief explanation (or reminder) about its importance or connection to your life. Perhaps it also invited you to spread the word, to other people you know who are interested in this work.

We should note, here, that Open Space can only fail for two reasons: if people show up with no passion and/or if somebody tries to control the process in order to achieve some sort of pre-determined outcome(s). And, the commitment to openness, passion and responsible self-organization begins with the invitation process itself.

The theme or purpose on which we've been invited to work was open, broad, and demands a creative, collective response. The invitation was extended to a diverse group of stakeholders and clearly stated the parameters for our work here. And, to the greatest extent possible, everyone here is participating voluntarily, because they have discovered that they have something to learn or contribute to the work we need to do.

The simple, clear, broad and open invitation process assures that the people who show up have real passion for the issue AND signals to them that the best outcomes are theirs to create. A good invitation lets everyone know, even those who can't or won't actually attend, that this meeting is intended to go beyond suggestions, beyond recommendations, beyond rubber-stamping, beyond past expectations. This meeting is for real responsibility, real learning, real action on the issue(s) at hand. Even if the number of attendees had be limited, for financial or other concerns, this could and should have been done in ways that don't limit the passion and possibility of the work.

Focusing

So, as you look around at the crowd assembling now in the main meeting room, you are aware that everybody in this diverse group somehow received the same invitation, that everybody here seems to have some connection to the theme question, but that nobody seems to really know exactly what will happen next. The level of anticipation and energy rises as the stated starting time arrives and seems to pass, the noise level in room rises, too - and then a totally new sound rings through the room.

Someone is ringing a small set of bells whose chiming pierces every conversation, even if the group is several hundred. This immediately invites and focuses everyone's attention on the one with the bells, who is standing with a person who nearly everyone in the room knows, or knows of. This familiar person is the leader of the sponsoring or planning group. She introduces herself, welcomes everyone into the meeting and into the circle, perhaps adding a very brief word about why we've all come here today. Then she introduces the bell ringer as the meeting facilitator and takes a chair in the circle with everyone else.

At this moment, the facilitator is, quite possibly, the only one in the room who has absolutely no doubt whatsoever that this group of 12, 120 or 1200 is on the brink of filling that large, suspiciously empty wall with a detailed agenda that will keep everyone working, playing, and learning for the duration of the conference - on the brink of what most (at this point) would call the impossible. The sense of anticipation and energy is so high in the room that even the sponsors and planners of the event are a little edgy, and eager for the agenda to appear. But first, a few instructions must be given, a few simple principles introduced, one basic law enacted, and a few logistical items explained. All of this, you notice, is also presented on the handful of posters that are scattered around the room.

The facilitator begins with an invitation to do what you've already been doing, looking around the room, seeing who's here, signaling good morning to the people you know and taking notice of any faces new to you. The theme is restated and briefly explained, perhaps a short story of how we got here, with the reminder that everyone you now see in the circle is here because they care about some aspect of this theme - and have chosen to be here, to learn from and contribute to the work at hand. The facilitator also explains that the big empty wall is, in fact, our agenda. He acknowledges that it is a giant empty space, but reassures us that it will, within the hour, be filled with discussion topics related to the theme. He makes it very clear that all of these breakout session topics will be proposed by us, the people now sitting in the circle. The logistics of this are equally clear.

Self-Organizing

While the reality of this responsibility sinks in, the Four Principles are explained. What seemed strange when you read the posters earlier, now seems to make a lot of sense. "Whoever comes is the right people" acknowledges that the only people really qualified or able to do great work on any issue are those who really care, and freely choose to be involved. "Whenever it starts is the right time" recognizes that spirit and creativity don't run on the clock, so while we're here, we'll all keep a vigilant watch for great ideas and new insights, which can happen at anytime. "Whatever happens is the only thing that could have" allows everyone to let go of the could haves, would haves and should haves, so that we can give our full attention to the reality of what is happening, is working, and is possible right now. And finally, "When it's over, it's over" acknowledges that you never know just how long it'll take to deal with a given issue, and reminds us that getting the work done is more important than sticking to an arbitrary schedule. Taken together, these principles say "work hard, pay attention, but be prepared to be surprised!"

The one law is The Law of Two Feet, or in some cases, The Law of Personal Mobility. It says simply that you, and only you, know where you can learn and contribute the most to the work that must take place today. It demands that you use your two feet to go where you need to go and do what you need to do. If at any time today, you find that you are not learning or contributing, you have the right and the responsibility to move... find another breakout session, visit the food table, take a walk in the sunshine, make a phone call - but DO NOT waste time.

This simple rule makes everyone fully responsible for the quality of their own work and work experience. It creates bumblebees who buzz from session to session, cross-pollinating and connecting pieces of the work. It creates butterflies who may not join any formal sessions, choosing instead to float at the edges. They create the space for everyone to appreciate the energies and synergies unfolding in the work of the conference. Sometimes the most amazing solutions seem to come out of nowhere - so that's where butterflies tend to look for them.

Action

After a quick logistical review, the facilitator invites anyone who's ready to come to the center of the circle, grab a marker and a sheet of paper, and write down their burning question, passionate issue, or great idea. To the surprise of many, a number of people spring from their chairs and are quickly on all fours in the center of the circle, scribbling their offerings. As each one finishes, they read their issue(s) out loud. These aren't speeches; just simple announcements. "My name is _____, my issue is ______," and we're on to the next one, while they tape their sheet to the wall and assign it a place and a time (from a pre-arranged set of space/time choices). This is how even very large groups can create two or three days of agenda in just one hour. As the wall fills, those who were at first surprised, find words for their issue and grab a marker. And then, as fast as it started, it's done.

Having done the impossible in the first hour, the energy level is pretty high now. The facilitator gives a few more instructions and the whole group moves to the wall and signs up for the sessions they want to attend. Minutes later, the first sessions start without any announcement or instructions, because everybody knows where they need to be. Suddenly the large circle is many small circles, in the corners of the room or in separate breakout spaces, each working on some important part of the main theme. Every session has been proposed by someone who really cares about that item and has taken responsibility for making sure it gets addressed. In longer meetings, the convener is also responsible for recording the main points and conclusions reached in his or her session.

As the first sessions finish, at roughly the scheduled time, the second sessions begin. If the work isn't finished, it continues or a sequel is scheduled. Some people have spent the entire 1 1/2-hour session on one topic; others have bumblebeed or butterflied around, connecting different issues. Everything is moving - people, ideas, resources, beliefs, relationships - but it all revolves and relates to the intention stated in the invitation. This motion ebbs and flows, but the work continues, session after session. In multi-day meetings, everyone also assembles in the morning and evening for short "news" sessions, where things like new sessions, major breakthroughs, and dinner plans can be announced easily.

Results

In some events, especially longer events, the proceedings are captured by computer. The person who convenes a session also takes responsibility for capturing the notes and typing them into the computer. The rule-of-thumb is that one day in Open Space will get you a lot of great discussion, two days will give you time to capture what happens in a typed proceedings document, and a third day (usually a half-day) will allow a more formal convergence to specific plans for immediate action.

In some cases, smaller groups might create handwritten proceedings to be typed up after the event. With larger groups and longer meetings, where follow-up and follow-through is critical, the typed proceedings can be dumped into an intranet format where future meetings can be announced and progress reports added onto the original proceedings. Over time, these proceedings on an intranet system also make a powerful orientation and training resource, at both project and organizational levels.

In the closing circle, everyone in the room attests to the fact that, together, we have done what most thought was impossible. Specifically, we have...

(1) identified, explored and addressed all of the most important issues,
(2) gathered new ideas, resources and people and connected them to these issues,
(3) documented all of this in somewhere between 5 and 500 pages of notes and next steps,
(4) established strategic themes, clear priorities, immediate actions steps
(5) distributed all of this information to a (re)energized and action-ready community of people
(6) empowered them to tell that story to the rest of the organization, community, or world, and
(7) seeded cycles of invitation that will continue to pull people into places where they can maximize their own learning and contribution.

Transforming

Longer term, with proper care and feeding, the realities and practicalities of the Four Principles and The Law of Two Feet can permeate the organization, inviting people at every level to turn attention into value, planning into vision, movement into learning, management into leadership that makes a real difference. These things are, however, easy to see and tough to measure.

Therefore, you'll need to measure the success of Open Space the same way you measure everything else you do, in terms of product development time, process cycle time, employee and customer turnover, total sales or volume of service, profit margin and any other ways that make sense. After all, we don't "Do Open Space" just because it's fun. We do it to invite important projects, relationships, strategies and measurements to move quickly in positive new directions.

Hailed for its utter simplicity - and it's power, Open Space starts with open-minded leadership, an issue that really matters, and an invitation to co-create something new and amazing. What happens in the meetings is high learning, high play and high productivity, but is never pre-determined. And what emerges, over time, is a truly inviting organization, that will thrive in times of swirling change.

Michael Herman specializes in Open Space Technology and other methods for working in new directions and creating inviting organizations. © 1998 Michael Herman Associates. mailto:michael@michaelherman.com

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Welcome to Open Space... look around, please, and see who's here. Imagine that you're sitting in a circle of friends, colleagues and perhaps some strangers, too. It might be just a dozen of you for a one-day working conversation, but perhaps it's 120 or even as many as 1200 gathered for a 2 1/2-day strategic conference.

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Rich picture & Iceberg analysis methodology

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Reflect back what I heard and how I understand the situation.

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Reflect back what I heard and how I understand the situation.

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Did I understand what you said? It means you are interested in understanding what they said. You are entering into their self in field experience. The checking is important because you may misunderstand it. They can correct you and check again. n

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Purpose: The dynamic offers participants the opportunity to give feedback among each other    | As a closing dynamic the facilitator invited all participants to make a superhero cape from the paper sheets used in the workshop.  Participants are invited to write on the backs of their fellow participants, to the left side: comments on what the deeply appreciate from these participants, and on the right side: questions or suggestions for this participants to think about.  Two basic rules are, that to write down a question or suggestion, one always needs to write down an appreciative comments, and  all comments have to be respectfull. | This dynamic tends to be a lot of fun, as all people will move around to be able to give comments to each other.  Comments are not shared.  In groups that work together more continuously, the dynamic can include more explicit constructive feedback on the right side to start a practice of more assertive communication in the team

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Purpose: The exercise allows a systemic analysis of a particular problematic   | The iceberg allows participants to do a more systemic analysis of a certain problematic (in this case health equity in San Antonio). After identifying the concrete and visible problems or situations on the highest level of the iceberg, they are invited to go deeper by analyzing what is below the surface: -        Trends - more general situations that have been happening over the last period and explain some of the visible events) -        Political, economic and social structures – these give deeper historical and systemic explanations for the trends and visible events -        Narratives and cultural models – these are the ideas, ways of living, identities and cultural dynamics that sustain structures. These are historical and systemic.  After the iceberg exercise in the plenary a conversation was held on the situation we want to change | The iceberg allows us to understand how the changes of concrete situations require deeper changes on structural and cultural level, but also how structural or cultural issues like racism, express themselves on daily life. As such, it enables us to built more robust and impactful strategies.

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Purpose: The exercise allows a deep and complex analysis of a problematic to start a conversation from a different perspective   | The rich picture asks participants to analyze a particular problematic through a very literal and detailed drawing by including the principal actors, conflicts, causal relations, and other elements to understand the situation.  Specific questions can allow groups to then analyze their drawing. It is particularly interesting to ask participants what new items or perspectives came up.  In this case, we used the rich picture to analyze health equity in San Antonio.   | In my experience this is a great exercise to start a process, for example, of building a theory of change. By drawing a certain problematic participants will go beyond their structured rational discourses, and may open up to other perspectives.  It is crucial the drawings are detailed and literal, more then symbolic.  Narrating the rich picture in the plenary, many times offer deep and detailed analysis.

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Purpose: The dynamic creates a lived experience on collaboration, communication and team work, and as such allows a deep conversation on these issues.   | The facilitation organizes the space during a break leaving all chairs in a disorderly fashion around the room. Participants are invited to take a chair when they come back.  There will be one remaining chair, where the facilitator -who assumes the presence of a zombie- will want to sit on. To make this impossible participants will move around according to their strategy.  Participants will win if they will make it impossible for the zombie to sit during two minutes. As the zombie is slow, well coordinated movements from the group can make it impossible for him/her/they to take a seat. However, three rules make participants lives difficult: a)     Participants may not touch the zombie b)     Participants may not move the chairs c)     Participants will have to move when they get up, even if it is only 1 cm  After the dynamic the group reflects on why it has been so difficult to beat the zombie. | The dynamic is a lot of fun, and “sucks” participants into the competitiveness of wanting to win. It is crucial facilitation reminds people of the rules, and asks for participants to remain calm. Also, it is better to not keep doing the game, as frustration can create more intensity.  Collective reflection focuses on why it is hard to maintain strategy agreements, how all of us want to safe the world, and what type of leadership a group needs.

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Purpose: The dynamic seeks to create awareness of inequality and discrimination related to our identities at the start of a process, so that these will be present in later activities and reflections   | The facilitation wrote down different specific identities on post its, some of them with a lot of privilege and status, and others clearly representing discriminated identities.  All participants move around the space with their identity (they have not seen) written on the post it on their forehead, and react to the identities of other participants as society would respond through non-verbal expressions.  After the theatrical dynamic, participants are asked to form a line from who feels the character with most power and privilege to the character with least.  After, the facilitator invites participants to guess what their character is, and a collective reflection takes place on what we can learn from the exercise.   | This exercise originally was developed by the Theatre of the Oppressed, and seeks to provoke reflection on inequality and discrimination, through a basic lived experience.  The facilitation will usually give people different identities then their own, mixing genders, ethnicity and status, so that people might experience something different then their daily live experience.

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¿Cómo te afecta el café? (Coffee for social change)

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¿Cómo te afecta el café? (Coffee for social change)

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Purpose: The dynamic connects us through a very simple activity to deep dimensions of our identity and of the society we live in    | The facilitation brought fresh coffee. Participants were divided in groups of three people, and invited to take their coffee, and talk subsequently on three questions (introduced by the facilitator with time in between for their conversation):  1)     What do you think of this coffee? 2)     What role plays coffee in your life? 3)     What does this tell about who you are as a person? 4)     What does your conversation tell about how change occurs in life?  After the small group conversation, a plenary conversation was held.   | The exercise always leads us to deep conversations about our lives, about politics, etc. It shows how all the world system is present in its concrete dimensions.

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How Does Coffee Affect You? Stories From People’s Life Experiences  (Pages 682-683)

Activity Instructions:

The coffee exercises begin with each participant, including the facilitators, being served a cup of high quality, aromatic coffee (or other drink if a participant does not drink coffee) and then pairing up with the person she or he knows the least in the group. The facilitator reveals three conversation questions, introducing a new question when the conversation seems to be winding down after each preceding question:

Time for activity (per question) - ??

Ciji: will provide a short introduction to the exercise. Ex: "How Does Coffee Affect You? What can we learn from sharing stories?.....Let's find out!"

Ciji: Ask the group to smell the aroma and take an initial taste then ask the first question.

1. What do you think about that coffee?

2. Based on what you just conversed, share with your partner, what does this tell you about who you are as a person?

Michelle: Ask the group the last two question.

1. Based on your entire conversation so far, share with your partner, what does any of this tell you about how you understand change in life?

2. Lastly, what modalities in designing a class would you like to see when presenting your research agenda?

Michelle: Thank you for participating in this coffee exercise and we hope you use this methodology with future activities.

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We closed in a circle in which each participant told what the person to their right had brought to the grant process.

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| We divided in two groups to analyze the river more deeply, engaging with the questions presented at the start of the day.  Both groups discussed what where the learnings and insights, and what new practices and identities emerged through the process, on two different levels: a)     Group 1 focused on the relationships and ways of working of the core team and organizations of the grant b)     Group 2 analyzed the relationships and practices in the work with the communities and organizations the grant interacted with | The specific questions allow a deeper level of analysis of the experience, and therefore vary according to each process. In this case it was proposed and chosen by the facilitator based upon the questions presented at the beginning of the day, and the discussion during the day.

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Purposes: Reconstructing the history of the process using creative language, that allows a deeper reflection on lived experience      | Participants were invited to draw a collective river of life of the process of the grant, on a huge wallpaper put up in the room. They used the moments and metaphors they had sent through previously by email, and integrated the reflections presented by other participants as well.  In the plenary, we walked through the river from its start to finish by focusing on the most important moments. All participants presented several moments, and dialogue took place on them | The main challenge here is to manage time and depth of the conversation, which will depend on each group. In this case, a long time was provided to walk through the whole river collectively.

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Bigger picture: the changes that we want to see?

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Bigger picture: the changes that we want to see?

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Purpose: Contextualising our collective process in the broader social context we are engaging with | All participants identified two or three social changes they wanted to see by 2030. These were socialized in plenary and categorized by the facilitator | The reflections presented in this exercise constitute elements of a theory of change.  Categorization can be done more directed by the facilitation of by participants.

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Purpose: Connecting our individual experiences, and visualizing how we bring different knowledges and experiences to the space | All participants identified crucial moments in their personal histories that let them to be today in this process.  With these moments all drew a river, using metaphors. The rivers were shared in the small groups, after which they talked on what connects their experiences and what makes all of them unique.  After, each group identified two questions they would like to answer today. | By first drawing a personal river, we would on the one hand make our individuality visible, and at the same time, see how our collective river was determined by our individual processes as well. It would also get people in the mood for the use of creative language to interrogate our experience deeper.

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Designing tactics and messages for our campaign

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Designing tactics and messages for our campaign

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Purposes: Within the framework of the narrative we come up with concrete ideas on how the narrative can be materialized in a campaign | In our workshop no time was left, but the steps would be:  i) Structured brainstorming on all ways in which the counternarrative can be promoted in society ii)      Analyzing and selecting the most creative and highest potential ideas to be further developed iii) Design thinking dynamic to develop the best ideas | For this part of the process, it is crucial to combine moments of free and quick brainstorming, where quantity is more important than quantity (to get one great idea, you need to pass through a wide variety of ideas first), with moments and processes to develop and test some of them.

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Purpose: Creating the elements of a counternarrative to the status quo | Using the same elements of the dominant narrative, we try to identify and create the elements of what can be a counternarrative  Characters - Who are the victims, the villains, the heroes, the messengers?  Images - What images show us the story rather than tell it? Metaphors? Symbols?  Conflict - How is the problem framed? Between whom or between what does the conflict occur?  Foreshadowing - How does the story show us the future? How will it be resolved?  Assumptions - What are the underlying assumptions or beliefs that make it true? | As in the analysis of the dominant narrative, it is really important participants not only come up with general ideas but to really engage with the elements of a narrative. For example..  Sometimes participants already start coming up with concrete campaign ideas, slogans or tactics: if this happens you invite them to write them down,  and post them on a parking lot.

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Purpose: Grounding our analysis in specific contexts  | We took a short moment to analyze what would be crucial audiences or actors if we wanted to change or displace this narrative  Both groups opted for first enlisting all relevant audiences, and then choose one or two to focus on. | It is challenging to choose specific audiences. At this stage of the process, one can opt for choosing several possible audiences. But it is crucial to start the conversation on how our strategy will differ in different cases.

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Purposes: Understanding what ideas and mechanisms constitute the narrative that supports the status quo | Secondly, we analyze the dominant narrative in society on the issues, by discussing and identifying five different elements of the narrative:  Characters - Who are the victims, the villains, the heroes, the messengers?  Images - What images show us the story rather than tell it? Metaphors? Symbols?  Conflict - How is the problem framed? Between whom or between what does the conflict occur?  Foreshadowing - How does the story show us the future? How will it be resolved?  Assumptions - What are the underlying assumptions or beliefs that make it true? | This exercise is a lot harder than it seems, for two reasons: -        Many times we prefer to just reproduce in generic terms the grand ideas of the narrative, without critically studying its dimensions. For example, stating that inhequality is based on red lining. Although this is true, a deeper analysis can show us through what practices, ideas, symbols redlining is reproduced nowadays. -        Particularly, focusing on characters and images, or identifying the conflict is sometimes overstepped. This takes away the power of the process, as these dimensions are crucial to the campaign or narrative we might build. -        Sometimes it is hard to take distance from our own ideas, to enter into the dominant narrative, particularly when we work with rights holders or affected communities. For example…In these cases support from facilitation is helpful.  This exercise becomes more substantial when supported by some research, which can even be done in the workshop (for example by revising social networks or newspapers on the issue), or when affected communities participate in the workshop.

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Purpose: To get a shared understanding of the final goal of any strategy to be defined | The group was divided in two, one working on i) children with special needs; and the other on ii) access to equitable health care for the LGTBQI+ community.  The first step in the process was the definition of the final change the group would like to see on the issue. This was written down in a couple of sentences. | The change we want to see can be best thought of in active terms: what do we want rights holders to be able to do, and what do different actors need to do, to make this possible.  Ex.: children with special needs receive additional support that allows them to fully participate in the classroom  Local government reserves specific funds to support this specific service. Schools hire additional specialized staff to support teachers, families and children with special needs.

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Purposes: get people connected in a personal way | All participants presented themselves with a fun fact unknown to the group. I then explained the program and approach of today´s workshop on narratives and story bases strategy

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Purpose: Close the process and enable the group to express appreciation and feel appreciated. | a)     All participants are invited to stand in a circle, outwardly facing. They are invited to close their eyes.  b)     A quarter of participants are invited to enter in the circle with the facilitator and to touch the participants standing in the circle, gently on their shoulder, whenever they identify them with the indication of the facilitator.  c)     The facilitator then mentions different reasons why participants are grateful to other participants. For example…  d)     After some minutes other participants are invited to enter in the circle, so that eventually all participants have been in the circle and in the center.  e)     The facilitator can choose to do a final reflection on how participants experienced the dynamic, but also not to do that.  | The reasons for gratitude can vary according to the group, but may include very simple things, like making you laugh, supporting others to understand their work, and deeper ones, like being a solidary person, or dedicating themselves to taking care of their families. The facilitator would include mentions to the shared mission, and to making us believe a better world is possible.  The facilitator makes sure all people receive appreciation, doing it him/herself/themselves if he/she/they sees some participants are less engaged.  The dynamics is gentle, but also really intense. It works very well in moments or groups where there are many emotions and intensity present, and particular difficulties in expressing appreciation.  Before starting the dynamic the facilitator will explain participants that they will be touched on their shoulder (only that) and that they will have their eyes closed, so that they can decide if they want to participate. Those who do not want to participate are invited to remain in the room, so that they can still learn from the dynamic.

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Purposes: … | I presented some examples of the participatory methods we use in Peru (presentation attached) | The slides show different methods and tools we have used in Peru for participatory processes, showing how community building, and the diaologue between different knowledges and experiences is at the core of all processes we implement.

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Purpose: Understand how people are making sense of the value of participation | After the mapping, we invited participants to team up in small groups and discuss: a)     What conditions allow good participation? b)     What are the mayor pitfalls for participation?  In the plenary main ideas were presented, and they were categorized in a very initial way (due to lack of time) | In participatory workshops or processes, we built in different moments in which groups can make sense of the experience.  Generally, this process is based on specific questions, and the categorization of the answers in different groups, to identify consensus, and open debates, which are then discussed in plenary sessions.  We have the actual results and could categorize them if useful.

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Purposes: Analyse the HN territories of intervention and livelihoods within in a participatory way, and from their complexity and identity | a)     Participants were divided according to the neighborhoods in which they work.  b)     Each group draws a map of the neighborhood, identifying within the area crucial spaces, facilities, cultural sites, etc., using different icons (provided), but also inventing new ones.  c)     Groups were invited to visualize problematics, conflicts, assets, and identity features.  d)     After finishing the map, groups were invited to analyze the characteristics and qualities of participation in the neighborhood. | There is an endless variety of critical mapping exercises. Sometimes it is more important to have more precise maps and you can choose to print them beforehand. In other occasions it can be more relevant to have a more symbolic mapping and you will ask participants to draw their livelihoods/territories according to what it means to them. For example…  An interesting variety, particularly for audiences less experienced with participatory methods, or when there is less time, is using pre-established icons, which can be available as stickers. This variant has been developed by the Argentinian Iconoclasistas:  The activity clearly showed how each group developed the methodology in different ways, using different materials, symbols and working methods. This would probably have been even more the case if community members would have participated, as they could have mobilized other locally rooted knowledges and symbolisms, giving deeper meaning to the territories based on their lived experiences.

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Purposes: ~    get people connected with themselves, each other, and with the issue of social change. ~    Develop empathy across common human emotions. | The facilitator asks participants to walk randomly through the workshop space (if possible, outside), and based on the facilitator’s indications, form couples or trios in four different rounds to share: -        What makes them laugh? -        What makes them angry or upset? -        What moves them? -        What do they want to change?  After sharing, we talk a little bit in the plenary, on how we connect in collective spaces | Depending on the group, the facilitator can choose to encourage more movement (by inviting the group to move around quicker, or to propose them to stretch, dance, etc.).  Couples can be formed randomly or based on certain criteria (find someone who you work with regularly, who you do don´t know at all, who you trust a lot, etc.).  The exercise allows us to connect as complete persons and bring our bodies and emotions into the space (as opposed to formal introductions).