Lessons Learned from Italy MML workshops

RRI Roadmap Milestone 2

• During the recruitment phase, ensure the methodology has been clearly explained and understood, to avoid misunderstandings during the event;
• Focus the challenge with relevant examples for the participants and related to their daily lives;
• Prepare a concise information corpus for participants;
• Consider societal challenges (as defined by the EC) during the participative events, in order for the results to be easily related to them;
• Inform in a wider manner all societal actors about the issue.

RRI Roadmap Milestone 3

• Give the participants sufficient time to present themselves and their work/field of interest, in order to facilitate connection and co-operation after the workshop;
• Choose well the workshop methodology to allow participants contribute to the discussion and to strengthen the links among them;
• Ensure the comfort of the room (space around the tables, temperature, light etc.) to reduce the stress and fatigue of the participants and to improve the results. Provide some small "gift" or surprise them somehow, to create a friendly environment for the discussion;
• Define a clear agenda and respect it, but do not hesitate to be flexible and modify the schedule to reach the final results;
• During the recruitment phase, ensure the methodology has been clearly explained and understood, to avoid misunderstanding during the event;
• Participants do not subscribe gladly to the platform, they don't have time and/or willingness to learn using another tool;
• During the recruitment phase, ensure the methodology has been clearly explained and understood, to avoid misunderstanding during the event;
• Ensure you have some big institution's newsletter to disseminate your workshop for recruitment and spreading of the results;
• Use new participatory methodologies to attract participants;
• Take into consideration that despite participants' willingness to participate, often practical barriers impede their attendance in participative workshops;
• Consider having virtual discussions to help some stakeholder groups (e.g. citizens) to attend participatory workshops and events;
• Identify or create a unique Body entrusted with the control of a process to ensure coordination and synergy of all stakeholders involved;
• Increase awareness in the youngest about the (local) marine issues to create a new generation of people that are aware of the problems and want to engage themselves, to take action also through a political career;
• Define the length of the workshop according with your foreseen audience and local habits;
• Involve students when possible;
• Stream only the most crucial sections of the workshop, disseminate the streaming agenda;
• Provide a synthetic, max 5 pages, info pack about the topic before the workshop;
• During the recruitment phase, ensure the methodology has been clearly explained and understood, to avoid misunderstanding during the event.

RRI Roadmap Milestone 4

• Give tight bounds to participants about the shape of the contributions they have to provide, so they will not have other option than provide what is needed;
• Actively introduce Gender Equality into discussions and ideas, as most often is a non considered aspect;
• Provide the participants with the legislative aspects related to the topic. If possible ensure the attendance of an expert;
• Check the discussion and gently but firmly ask the participants not to lose focus on the final purpose, to speed up and keep up with the timing or not to go too deep or too specific;
• One day is not enough for SDD.

RRI Roadmap Milestone 5

• Check carefully the voting process of the actions, to avoid selfish or non correct behaviours which could distort the results;
• Translate workshop results in something short and friendly in short time and disseminate among the participants and others, not to loose momentum;
• Check carefully the voting process, to avoid selfish or improper behaviours, which could distort the results;
• Empower citizens beyond data collection through involvement in decision-making and governance;
• Ensure that the process of co-generating an action plan is concluded during the workshop;
• While interpreting the results consider the location of the workshop: statistically most of the participants will come from the area where the workshop is held;
• Claim for an alignment between legislation and the changing scientific situation and technological innovations;
• Promote local communities and their traditions for societal relevance of the scientific outputs;
• Choose the most effective methodology to build a common vision and give space to many different voices;
• Ask the participants to obtain in advance the necessary authorization from the Institutions they represent, to propose actions during the workshop;
• Consider the best way of collecting votes for the purpose such as the number of votes available for each participant, the rounds of votes, etc.

RRI Roadmap Milestone 6

• Put in place a policy-oriented, holistic and integrated approach to tackle complex issues;
• Implement innovative and responsive policies to face climate change effects and assure a balanced competitiveness, growth and sustainability;
• Develop information-based decision support tools, with automated intervention systems.

RRI Roadmap Milestone 7

• The participants did not follow-up on the platform as they declared they were willing to do: there are too many platforms, they get lost or do not have time to explore another one;
• Create innovative tools to guide the consumers, thus inducing public and private stakeholders (including NGOs) to invest in more sustainable directions.

RRI Roadmap Milestone 8

• Promote a greater participation of general public in projects financed by European funds to help filling the gap between science and society;
• Equip urban open areas for open debates where local communities can meet frequently in order to exercise the rights guaranteed by the Aarhus convention to develop sustainable decisions in a collective and legal manner;
• Encourage scientific knowledge and professional growth that have fundamental roles in supporting innovative sectors;
• Plan periodic meetings on the same topic, with old and new participants, to create ownership of the process, intensify the effort and ensure follow-up;
• Ensure a ministerial umbrella to facilitate the educative process in school by scientists or scientific mediators;
• Invest in communication campaign by professionals, work with marketing societies to translate the scientific results into clear messages that can reach in particular young people;
• Provide free and easier access to the results of the studies;
• Translate in easy-to-understand messages research outputs and results for better dissemination. Consider using science mediators;
• Provide scientific education in all the scholar cycles: it is crucial;
• Put in place an effective communication about green washing, so to improve the critical sense of the public against "fake" green activities;
• Improve regulations and legislations about the release of bacteria at sea;
• Claim for an international coordination to identify the possible impacts of innovations;
• Use your participatory event as a flywheel to organize other similar events.

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