Workshop Methodology
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The following 5 participatory methodologies were used for the execution of the workshops:
Focus Groups
The Focus Groups method refers to a qualitative approach used to identify people’s preferences or to evaluate strategic plans and concepts. The selection of participants lies on a possession of a set of characteristics they have in common which are related to the hypotheses investigated. The questions asked are usually open-ended, allowing the participants to interpret them according to their understanding and feelings.
World Café
The World Café method is used to implicate groups of people from various backgrounds into structured discussions aiming at collecting the knowledge, wisdom and ideas of the group on a particular predefined topic set by the facilitator. In particular, the World Café follows a simple method involving multiple rounds of conversations which enable all groups to reflect on and contribute to the different perspectives of the topics under discussion.
Science Café
The Science Café is a method used in an informal, public setting allowing the interaction and open dialogue in a lay language between an expert and participants coming from a wide spectrum of the society, academia and industry. Anyone can walk in and take part in the workshop, during which attendees are allowed to raise questions to the expert related to the scientific topic under discussion.
Structured Democratic Dialogue (SDD)
The Structured Democratic Dialogue (SDD) is a method that supports democratic and structured dialogue among a group of stakeholders. It is delivered by a trained moderator and a dedicated software. The SDD is specifically designed to assist heterogeneous groups to deal with complex issues, in a reasonably limited amount of time. It enables the integration of contributions from individuals with diverse views, backgrounds and perspectives through a process that is structured, inclusive and collaborative.
Other
The workshops used a modified version of the Science Café method. A Science Café is an event organised in an informal, public setting open and accessible to anybody. An expert presents a subject in a concise and open manner after which the floor is open for a discussion. The moderator facilitates the sharing of a wide range of views on the subject at hand. However, since the workshops were not held in a public café but in a room located in a building with a restricted access, their methodology was classified as “Other”.