Notes from the Co-creation of CSAW, the Climate and Sustainability Action Week at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland and online.

During the co-creation of the CSAW Pilot, FoAM is conducting a series of short training and mentoring sessions for the EPFL co-creation team. The purpose of these sessions is to learn some some basics of participatory design and hosting/facilitation as well as respond to specific questions by the team and provide advice for the diverse challenges the team is facing. Each session focuses on a different aspect of process design, collaboration, participatory approaches to complex problems, etc.

This page collates our working notes SEP 2020 - FEB 2021.

• Framing what matters and articulating core questions for a participatory event
• A few relevant futuring techniques:
  • Mapping Critical Uncertainties before deciding on a theme,
  • Identifying what is Known, Presumed and Unknown about Circular Economy
  • Causal Layered Analysis for mapping a problem space
  • Exploring possible impacts and implications in a Futures Wheel.
• Articulating a Collective Purpose (template)
• The Conundrums of Decision Making and Open Space Principles that can be useful for co-creation meetings
• Stakeholder Mapping
• Event flow and experience design for participatory events
  • Flow exercise for the CSAW Pilot
• Gathering Online during a pandemic
• Session descriptions:
  • Examples of Running Sheets for facilitators
  • Mockup of a Session Handout for participants
• Handout structure
• Visualising the process and outcomes
  • DIY Graphic Harvesting training
  • Different Approaches to Project Mapping

Other topics discussed during mentoring sessions:

• Engaging co-creators with CSAW and each other
• Designing, facilitating and coordinating co-creation sessions
• Clarifying the purpose, core questions and theme for the event
• Connecting the purpose, the theme and the formats of the event
• How to avoid Solutionism and move towards systemic interventions (including methods from complexity, systems thinking, permaculture, cooperative games, etc.)
• COVID planning and working with contingencies
• Feedback on the detailed event flow, programme, session and atmosphere design
• Selecting participants and forming teams
• Balancing learning and doing, theory and practice
• Possible outcomes and deliverables
• Care packages and gifts for participants and speakers that reflect the theme and purpose of the event
• Challenges of co-ordination of heterogeneous groups and moderation of (online) plenary discussions
• Ongoing debriefing and feedback after co-creation and review meetings

Related

• https://libarynth.org/futurist_fieldguide/
• https://libarynth.org/hosting_craft
• A few basic principles for Hosting in a hurry