Tools and Techniques
Co-creation: rules of engagement
Gather different stakeholders from different sectors. Their diverse experiences and viewpoints foster solutions that are relevant and impactful.
Ensure everyone contributes. All voices should be heard regardless of experience, background and role.
Aim for quantity over quality. The goal is to generate a lot of ideas — prioritization and viability come later.
Think blue sky. Move beyond the perceived limitations of your organization and environment.
Promote active listening. When other people are talking, take notes and jot down questions.
Build on each other’s ideas rather than knocking them down. Instead of saying ‘no’ try ‘yes, and…’.
Share ideas in a visual and engaging way: drawing, acting, building… any action that motivates people to move and try new things.
Turn on FOCUS mode. Discourage the use of phones and computers. Respect the time people have blocked and be present.
Use simple visuals to transform your space. Posters, easel boards and sticky notes are low-cost ways to create a friendly and informal environment.
Story Sharing
Storytelling is one of the most important activities for any organization or initiative. Sharing progress and results through effective communication engages audiences, builds interest and garners support.
The range of communication channels and platforms available today make it easier than ever before to share stories and amplify activities, and there are numerous tools to fit any budget and respond to different levels of communications expertise.
Why do it?
- Greater awareness of your work among your community and other stakeholders.
- Promotion of your initiatives.
- Reinforce your mandate.
- Attract new partners and potential funders and supporters.
How to do it?
- Use your insight and convening power within your community to identify good practices that are having impact.
- Be selective: stories should serve the interest of the greater community and not over emphasize single actors.
- Share good practices using a communications tool that you can develop and manage.
- Develop a regular and branded series to amplify good practices and stories. Providing your community with consistent content — e.g. in the form of a monthly or quarterly email newsletter — helps encourage engagement and spreads knowledge.
Points to consider
Developing the concept
Keep it simple by telling a narrative that people can relate to and quickly understand the main takeaway(s). The best stories are those that spark interest and nudge people to act and learn more. Avoid communicating too many actions and ideas in one go.
Short attention spans mean that web and social communications must be concise. Use language that is clear and keep paragraphs and posts short. Add visuals where possible.
Platforms
Free or minimal fee website building and hosting platforms offer a quick and effective means to create an online presence. We use Squarespace, but there are many other platforms available.
Social media is another good way to connect with and reach a wider audience, as they are platforms integrated into everyday life. But don’t overstretch your capacity. Popular tools like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook are distinct and each require a dedicated effort if you want to use them effectively. Tools like Mailchimp and Canva provide templates that take the stress out of developing them from scratch.
Related Reading
The complete guide to nonprofit social media: Strategy and design tips for success by Canva
Unpacking
Unpacking is a method to (de)brief stakeholders on a specific theme, process or event, which may be involved or complex. It can take the form of a formal plenary-style briefing or a more informal exchange among participants. This method is particularly useful to help your stakeholders stay on top of an ongoing process or activity regularly.
Why do it?
- Establish regular moments in the year for your community to convene and hear from you on a specific topic or process.
- Underscore your role as a connector in the ecosystem.
- Provide a feedback loop on important developments.
- Create an environment in your ecosystem or organization where people share information, feedback in an open and trusting manner, and ideas and resources ahead of key events.
- Enable stakeholders to share knowledge, ideas and resources ahead of key events.
How to do it?
- Select a theme, process or event that is relevant to your work and the community and that you are intimately familiar with, but may be under addressed, difficult to engage with directly or lacks a shared
- In preparation of the session, ensure you have the most up-to-date information through desk research and/or direct engagement. Use this material to develop questions and discussion points for the session. Put the content into an easy to follow slide deck.
- For the session itself, allocate 10 to 20 minutes for the ‘unpacking’ and follow with an informal discussion using the points and questions you’ve prepared in advance. Use this opportunity to crowdsource information that your participants have on the topic.
- Send a follow-up email sharing the slide deck, a summary of what was discussed and key asks of the community.
Points to consider
Developing the concept
If you plan to ‘unpack’ a theme, process or event because it is difficult for your community to engage with it directly, be aware that it is necessary to be involved yourself. Think of yourself as a translator of sorts, meaning potential travel to cover an event or a meeting.
Making sure you have available resources to do so ahead of time will enable you to set the right expectations among your community.
Who to invite?
Think broadly about who the session might be relevant for, potentially in surprising ways. The real magic of Unpacking happens when people from a variety of sectors and disciplines are engaged in the session. It is an opportunity for these diverse actors to share stories, insights and challenges among each other that may not otherwise be heard.
Space & supplies
A tightly controlled venue (e.g. security restrictions) can impact participation for those coming from outside organizations. For a more engaging conversation, choose a venue that promotes informal dialogue.
Having a screen available to present a slide deck is essential for clear communication during the session.
Insight Sessions
Insight Sessions are highly curated, relatively informal knowledge transfer sessions made up of Insight Seekers and Insight Sharers.
An Insight Seeker presents their challenge, idea or project to Insight Sharers with different backgrounds, expertise and experiences to get feedback, ideas, information and connections that can help to enhance their project.
Insight Sharers are carefully selected and invited to the session in order to share their knowledge and previous experiences in a constructive and helpful manner.
Why do it?
- For Insight Seekers, this is an opportunity to gain feedback on their ideas from outside their immediate network and to accelerate SDG implementation.
- Through this process, Insight Sharers may also learn about new ideas, practices and tools for SDG implementation.
How to do it?
- Talk to the Insight Seeker to understand what they want to achieve and who they want to talk to. Taking time to ensure the right people in the room is critical — know that it can be difficult.
- Send an invitation ahead of time that includes the objective of the session and how the Seekers and Sharers should prepare.
- At the beginning of the session, invite the Insight Seeker to present their challenge, idea or project to the room of Insight Sharers.
- Give ample time for the Insight Sharers to respond. It is important to make sure everyone has a chance to give feedback, so it is best to ask the Sharers to go one by one.
- After all Sharers have had an opportunity to respond, the Insight Seeker may use this opportunity to pose follow-up questions or share additional comments.
- Provide an action summary in follow-up of the session that reveals key insights and actionable next steps for the participants.
Points to consider
Developing the concept
The concept should be shaped by the needs of the Insight Seeker. It can be based on a challenge, idea or project that they would like to put forward for feedback.
Invitation
See the template for guidance on how to prepare both the Insight Seekers and Sharers for the session.
Who to invite?
Based on the needs of the Insight Seeker, invite Insight Sharers that have relevant knowledge and experience. However, challenge yourself to think outside a single thematic area or discipline, diversity in representation leads to the most unexpected and innovative ideas. Ideally, Insight Sharers come from at least four different sectors or organizations.
Space
All that’s needed for this session is a general meeting room. Round tables work best at facilitating collaborative conversations.
Facilitators
Pick a facilitator that is credible for both the Seekers and the Sharers. They should be diplomatic and able to manage different personality types and inputs. It is important that they establish the right expectations among the group and speak clearly to the purpose of the session.
Follow-up
See the action summary template for guidelines on how to provide actionable follow-up after the session.
Tracking & documenting
Document key points such as objective, invitee list, participant attendance and their organizations, organizing costs and location and any communications (e.g. invitation, action summary, etc.).
Good documentation will enable consistency across your team for future sessions and help to demonstrate your impact as a convener.
Run a 'So What? Series’
So What? is multi-stakeholder event platform to ask provocative questions, demonstrate the indivisibility of the SDGs and help forge a better understanding of what an integrated approach means in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.
It provides the opportunity to explore interconnections between two seemingly unrelated SDGs. A panel of practitioners from different backgrounds and sectors are asked to address how two SDGs are mutually reinforcing in practice.
Why do it?
- Break down the complexity of the inter-sectoral aspect of the 2030 Agenda by putting it into practice.
- Activate a mindset shift in policy making, programming, budgeting, funding and partnership building.
- Showcase practices that demonstrate the added-value and impact of thinking, acting and investing in an integrated way.
- Amplify high-impact solutions and partnerships that could be replicated and scaled-up.
How to do it?
- Identify two goals or targets from the 2030 Agenda — or two distinct issues — where there is need for a deeper understanding and practical examples of the horizontal connections. It can be strategic to build on key events or gatherings already happening in your community.
- Invite relevant organizations (one for each goal/issue) to co-host the event — their networks can help you to reach the right panellists and audience members that may otherwise be less accessible.
- Convene a meeting with the co-hosts to highlight concrete examples that demonstrate the added value and challenges of a systemic approach. The themes that result from this meeting can help to establish the framework for the concept note and panel questions.
- Send an invitation with all details relating to the event.
- Host the panel: keep it informal, encourage an open dialogue and ask bold, tough questions.
- Provide timely follow-up including overall concept, main takeaways and lessons learnt and memorable quotes.
Points to consider
Developing the concept
Be balanced between demonstrating the indivisibility of the 2030 Agenda and not getting lost in a world of theory. The link you are making between two goals/targets/issues should connect to practical examples that ground the discussion.
Invitation
When selecting a date, be cognizant of other events that may be happening at similar times so as to not compete for attendance. Send out the invitation one-month prior — too long beforehand and people can forget when it is upcoming. Follow-up one week before with a kind reminder.
Who to invite?
The panel should convene different stakeholders from different sectors — it can also be interesting if they’re at different points in their career. Having a variety of perspectives pushes the panelists to think critically and provokes a greater diversity in answers. A gender balanced panel is a must.
The event invitation should be sent to a diverse audience to ensure a dynamic group of actors from your local community.
Have the participants register using a platform like Eventbrite or Google Forms in order to track names, organizations and how they heard about the event.
Space & supplies
Book an accessible event space: a tightly controlled venue (e.g. security restrictions) can impact participation for those coming from outside organizations.
Facilitators
Ask your moderator to keep it informal, underscore the ‘unexpected connections’ when possible and prompt speakers for concrete examples.
Follow-up
Use your communication platforms — like a newsletter, blog or social media — to provide a recap to your community. Capture the overall concept, main takeaways and lessons learnt and memorable quotes from the panellists. Share with photos if possible!
Tracking & documenting
The So What? event is something that takes a fair amount of time and coordination. If you turn it into a routine engagement, be sure to keep record of the event in order to demonstrate impact to potential partners and/or funders in the future.
During the event, consider video streaming the panel. Conversations like these can be useful to students and researchers interested in SDGs.
Document key points such as objective, panellists and their organizations, invitee list, participant attendance and their organizations, organizing costs and location, and any communications (e.g. concept note, invitation, panel questions, recap, etc.). Good documentation will enable consistency across your team for future events and help to demonstrate your impact as a convener. In Action: SDG Lab ‘So What?’ Series
The SDG Lab has hosted several So What? events since 2017. Recaps of these events are featured on our website.
Peer Input
Peer Input is an event for when someone with a specific problem – the Problem Holder – could benefit from input from a group of peers that hold different perspectives and experiences, i.e., the Brain Trust.
To be most effective it should be used when an individual is dealing with the problem in real time (i.e. it isn’t a problem from the past that has already been solved) and has the capacity and authority to take forward ideas that are raised in the process.
Why do it?
- Support a member in your community on gaining access to new ideas and resources for an issue they’re dealing with.
- Strengthen your role as a convening partner.
How to do it?
- Take 10 minutes for the Problem Holder to describe their challenge in full. Encourage the use of visuals. It is helpful for the facilitator to also record key information on a flip chart for all to see.
- Give another 10 minutes for the rest of the individuals in the Brain Trust to ask clarifying questions to the Problem Holder to ensure there is a holistic understanding of the challenge.
- Open a 20-minute ideation session, but first, prompt the Problem Holder to go outside the circle with his/her back turned. The Brain Trust is then asked to discuss the challenge and come up with ideas. The facilitator can help to guide the conversation and should record key points on the flip chart. During the ideation, the Problem Holder should listen intently and take their own notes, specifically noting any questions they want clarified when they re-enter the circle.
- Note: it is crucial that the Problem Holder leave the circle, or the discussion becomes centred around them, having them outside allows them to hear and record but keeps the creative flow going amongst the rest of the Brain Trust.
- Finish the session with 20 minutes dedicated to clarification and contextualization. By now, the Problem Holder should re-join the circle and provide a brief summary of what stuck out to them from the discussion. They can continue by asking clarifying questions and/or building and bridging on the suggestions from the Brain Trust.
Points to consider
Timing
If there are time constraints, you can also consider cutting the time allotments in half. The discussion may not result in the same level of depth, but it is likely to still lead to valuable outcomes and a swath of new ideas.
Space & supplies
The group should be in a circle of chairs. A flip chart is optional but highly recommended as it can be useful for recording information about the challenge as well as key points that are raised. Ask the Problem Holder ahead of time if they plan to share any videos or other visuals and coordinate a presentation screen or computer accordingly.
Facilitator
One person should be tasked with keeping the exercise to time and moving the group through each stage. They should also keep track of the order of comments and encourage quieter individuals to add to the discussion. Note: in a pinch, the Problem Holder can facilitate the entire process, but it is not ideal.
Roles
Problem Holder: One person has the issue and is responsible for preparing the challenge for presentation. They should consider what background information the group would need to understand the challenge including who the main stakeholders are, what solutions have already been tried, what success or failure would look like, timelines, resource constraints, known assumptions, and why it matters to them or their organization.
Brain Trust
Invite a semi-curated group of 10-15 individuals. The composition of this group can vary greatly depending on preferences; however aim for those that have relevant experience, but may come from surprisingly different backgrounds or sectors to encourage out of the box thinking.
Action Areas Workshop
This is an exploratory ideation workshop for existing or intended collaborations with the aim of identifying action areas such as future work streams, research opportunities and beyond.
Why do it?
- Get your collaboration(s) to result in actions.
- Gain insight into the unique activities of your various partners.
- Create a space for co-creating and prioritizing work streams.
How to do it?
- This workshop strings together five different exercises, adapted from design thinking methodologies. Not all exercises may be relevant to your objective or fit within the time frame you have available — and that’s okay. Identify which ones are most important and start from there.
- Before jumping into the sessions, share the agenda and establish the rules of collaborative brainstorming using the slide deck. Split participants into table teams of no more than 10 participants per table, making an effort to have multi-disciplinary teams.
- Session one: Within your table team, take 20 minutes to identify existing and future work streams of each partner, using a poster-sized sheet of paper and sticky notes. Reserve the last few minutes for table leads to report what was discussed to the full group.
- Session two: Within your table team, and based on the new insight into everyone’s work streams, take another 20 minutes to capture on sticky notes ideas for future action areas using a new sheet of paper. Remember, there are no wrong ideas! Now is the time for quantity over quality. Again, reserve the last few minutes for table leads to report what was discussed to the full group.
- Session three: As a large group, plot the sticky notes from exercise two on a 2x2 matrix that can group action areas along relevant variables that help with decision making; these will vary based on your collaboration. You will find that this is not necessarily a straightforward process, but it will push for critical conversation between all participants.
- Session four: Now is the time for prioritization through individual voting, otherwise referred to as ‘dotmocracy’. Participants should use six dot stickers each to vote on the action areas where they have the greatest interest; a participant may use up to two dot stickers on the same idea. Use the selection criteria provided in the slide deck to guide the process.
- Session five: Participants will naturally want to continue expanding on the action areas, however, in a session of this length there isn’t enough time to fully develop the concepts. Discussion of next steps ensures momentum is not lost and there is a clear path forward. Split among the table teams the highest rated action areas from session four (one action per team). Using the action planning canvas, work together to identify immediate next steps.
- After the session, hold everyone accountable to the next steps with timely follow-up. We find that it’s helpful to use a platform like mural.co and keep close record of what was discussed by plotting the sticky notes on a virtual white board and sharing the link with everyone. At a minimum, consolidate the next steps from the canvas and share those with the participants.
- When this workshop goes well, it is going to prompt a series of spinoff meetings on developing the action areas. Be ready to support and to keep the momentum high. Growing collaborations take a lot of time, energy and attention to cultivate.
Points to consider
Invitation
See the Insight Session invitation template for guidance.
Who to invite?
This session is most effective when the group works across common themes, has expressed interest in collaborating, or is already collaborating.
You need actors from two different organizations (think multi stakeholder and multi-sectoral) at a minimum; however, three or more can be even more fruitful. Keep in mind that the number of participants you have impact the number of action areas you will be able to dive into in the final session.
Space & supplies
All that’s needed for this workshop is a general meeting room. Round tables work best at facilitating collaborative conversations. Have easels, sticky notes and markers on-hand for the breakout sessions.
Facilitators
The facilitator must have the capacity to follow up.
Follow-up
Reference the Insight Session action summary template for guidelines on how to provide actionable follow-up after the session.
Tracking & documenting
Document key points such as objective, invitee list, participant attendance and their organizations, organizing costs and location, and any communications (e.g. invitation, slide deck, mural.co board, action summary, etc.). Good documentation will enable consistency across your team for future sessions and help to demonstrate your impact as a convener.
Related Reading
See The Field Guide to Human-Centred Design from IDEO and the DIY Toolkit from Nesta for more ideas on how to facilitate ideation during the workshop.
Innovate using an ‘Open Space’
Open Space is a ‘self-organizing’ session that capitalizes on the collective intelligence of participants. As the host, you will bring the overarching theme that responds to a community need. The sessionis considered self-organizing because what’s exactly discussed within that frame is spontaneously chosen by the participants based on their most pressing ideas, challenges and opportunities.
Why do it?
- Approach the complexity and interconnectedness of issues in SDG implementation in a short period with a simple methodology, and without the need to hire keynote speakers or draft meticulous schedules.
- Facilitate unique opportunities in co-creation and idea exchange between diverse actors.
- Shift individual ownership of issues and solutions to collective responsibility, while demonstrating the need for an inter-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach.
- Insight into the ideas, challenges and opportunities the community is facing.
How to do it?
- See the points to consider for pre-event planning and logistical preparation. Be sure to send an invitation ahead of time.
- At the start of the session, use the first 10 minutes to welcome the participants to the Open Space. Start by sharing the principles of Open Space and the ‘law of two feet’ using the slide deck. Then, introduce the theme of the day.
- Use the next 20 minutes to invite participants (first come, first serve) to pitch a topic they want to discuss (30 seconds each). This can be something they are dealing with in their own work or an issue they want to explore. Each pitch will be assigned a table number using the table map.
- Make the table map with the topics visible to all participants. Everyone is free to choose which tables interest them or where they want to contribute.
- Open Space is free flowing so at any point an individual can choose to move to another topic table, or a group can split into two or merge with another. This is the beauty of Open Space: the conversation serves you so you can choose how you want it to be structured. This open exchange will last for one hour.
- At the end, table leads should be designated. They are responsible for presenting a 2-minute report-back on what was discussed at their table to all participants.
- Provide simple documentation of the event via email to all participants. Share high-level notes from the 30-second pitches as well as the final report-back.
Points to consider
Developing the concept
The theme should be kept broad so people can easily contribute, yet strategically respond to a community need. ‘Resilience’ or ‘energy’ are two examples.
Invitation
Depending on how open or adverse the participants are towards spontaneity, customize the invitation that you send ahead of time. For those that are more adverse, it can be helpful to provide them with the theme beforehand so that they are able to reflect on the topics or ideas they wish to share.
Who to invite?
For Open Space to work well, you need at least 30 people in the room. However, we’ve done it for up to 600. Based on the theme you plan to address, invite participants that have relevant knowledge and experience, yet challenge yourself to think outside a single thematic area or discipline. They don’t necessarily need to have high titles, but they do need to care about the topic at hand and be willing to be actively engaged.
Facilitators
Depending on the size of the group and the venue, consider having two facilitators from the convening organizations. They should have high energy and be able to push participants to step outside their comfort zones. It is important that they establish the right expectations among the group and speak clearly to the purpose of the session.
If possible, have a third person available to support note taking during the Open Space.
Follow-Up
Reference the Insight Session action summary template for guidelines on how to provide actionable follow-up after the session.
Tracking & documenting
Document key points such as objective, invitee list, participant attendance and their organizations, organizing costs and location, and any communications (e.g. invitation, action summary, etc.).
Good documentation will enable consistency across your team for future sessions and help to demonstrate your impact as a convener.
Related Reading
- Harrison Owen’s ‘Brief User Guide to Open Space Technology’
- Chris Corrigan’s ‘Open Space Technology Planning Resources’
- Michael Herman’s ongoing collection of ‘Open Space Technology Practices’
- ‘Open Space Facilitator Resources’ from Open Space World
Peer Messaging
Peer Messaging is the use of a platform that creates the space for peers within an ecosystem to directly exchange publications, resources and news related to the SDGs.
It may take shape as a common mailing list, a Slack or WhatsApp group, or something else. Whatever the platform of choice, the most important thing is to set the right parameters.
Why do it?
- Provide a non-judgmental space for people to share things that are important to them with a group of like-minded people.
- Share and receive information that may be outside of your direct network.
- Embracing ongoing communication with other stakeholders from other sectors enables you to think systemically about SDG challenges and implementation.
- Not needing to relay information always through the convener shifts an ecosystem’s ownership towards collective responsibility.
How to do it?
- Select a platform for the Peer Messaging depending on how and when you expect the participants to exchange with each other. Potential platforms include a common mailing list or a Slack or WhatsApp group. (We use WhatsApp because we find it’s helpful for also getting phone numbers for quick communication.)
- Establish guidelines for what should be shared. A sample of these guidelines can be found in the invitation template.
- Send the invitation to members of your ecosystem and if relevant, make the invitation publicly visible so that the network can continue to grow. Joining the platform should work on a by-request-only basis to ensure you have oversight.
- Now that the platform has been established, it is your responsibility to moderate, without being overly prescriptive. Make sure the people that are supposed to be in the group are there and keep it local to the actors you are trying to serve and engage. At times, it may be necessary to kindly remind the participants of the purpose of the group and its rules of engagement.
Points to consider
Invitation
See the provided template for guidance.
Tracking & documenting
Similar to the Ecosystem and the Lunch Trials, Peer Messaging is an opportunity to grow a community. By tracking the participants that join the messaging group and their organizations, you will be able to demonstrate increased community engagement over time, showcasing your value as a convener.
Randomized Lunch Trials
Randomized Lunch Trials is an informal, voluntary and fun way for people working in the same city to network, establish professional contacts and share ideas and knowledge.
By way of an online sign-up sheet, individuals are matched and connected to share coffee or lunch once per month. After contact has been made, the individuals decide when and where to meet, and if they would like to repeat.
Why do it?
- Connect professionals and practitioners in an informal and fun way to help them network, act and think in a cross-sectoral way.
- Break down silos within your city, community or professional network.
- Demonstrate how mindsets can be shifted towards engaging and working in the SDG era.
- Prove your value as a platform for experimenting with unconventional methods and ways to build communities.
How to do it?
- Set up an online registration form with defined eligibility criteria. When a participant registers, use this opportunity to prompt them to complete a short biography that will be used to make matches.
- Ensure you collect consistent information from all participants, e.g. bios that identify SDG interest, place of work, etc. Don’t be afraid to exert quality control because first impressions count.
- Create a mini Lunch Trials group to test the tool before scaling it up. Soliciting their feedback will help to ensure that the initiative resonates with your stakeholders.
- Notify your community of this initiative and ask them to take part in the Lunch Trials.
- Match participants monthly using a randomized process (or at a regular interval of your choosing) and let them know that they are now connected with the cover email. Include their bios and the conversation starters, and remind them to set up their appointment.
- Get routine feedback and iterate accordingly.
Points to consider
Registration
See a live example of how the 2030 Ecosystem invites participants to register or use the provided template for guidance.
Examples of eligibility criteria the Geneva 2030 Ecosystem uses are also included online.
Facilitator
Designate a focal point responsible for making the matches, sending communications and tracking participation.
Follow-up
A specific email account will help manage all communications related to the Lunch Trials. Having a designated inbox to answer questions from the community will also help you to streamline your efforts.
Pitch sessions
Pitch Sessions are a form of idea generation where working experts pitch ideas to their peers that they have already been reflecting on, in order to gain the traction needed to drive their ideas forward. This can be a useful activity to incorporate into a larger workshop.
Why do it?
- Create the space for pre-existing ideas to come forward without necessarily needing to create new ones.
- Gives a platform to people that are oftentimes well in-tune with the gaps in the spaces they work and have great ideas on how to help close those gaps.
- Create space for your network to share and hear ideas that result from a range of perspectives.
- Support your community to resonance test opportunities they would like to see addressed.
How to do it?
- Let people know that at the meeting or workshop they'll be attending, there will be the opportunity for them to bring forward ideas they'd like to see come to fruition. This will normally be framed in the context of a specific challenge or initiatives that they feel are missing within the space.
- In preparation for the session, ask that they frame their pitch by answering some standard questions laid out in a form that they return to you by a specific due date. There will also be the opportunity for accepting ideas that come up on-site, but collecting in advance will help the facilitator to gauge how much interest there is in the activity.
- The facilitator may want to consider criteria for giving participants more clear boundaries about what to bring forward. One that we’ve used in the past is that the pitch must require a community effort; in other words, we are not looking for ideas that a single actor could move forward on their own (collaboration is the name of the game).
- During the session, have extra forms on the table for people to fill-in, as more ideas are sure to pop up. Give those with a pitch prepared 3-5 minutes to present their idea to their peers. Following each pitch, leave a couple minutes for the audience to ask clarifying questions.
- After all the pitches have been shared, hang the forms on a wall. Try to group the ideas as much as possible to show where there's alignment and excitement. Ask participants to vote with sticker dots their favourite ideas based on what they would be most eager to engage with. Dotmocracy helps to narrow into which ideas the community is ready to start building on.
Points to consider
Who to invite?
Think carefully about the curation of the participants. Aim for an audience that will have a lot of knowledge on similar topics, yet from different perspectives.
Follow-up
During the session, ensure that next steps are drafted so that the initiative can effectively move forward. It is important that as the facilitator, you are prepared to support the incubation of these ideas. Reference the Insight Session action summary template for guidelines on how to provide actionable follow-up after the session.
Tracking & documenting
Document key points such as objective, invitee list, participant attendance and their organizations, organizing costs and location, and any communications (i.e. invitation, action summary, etc.). Hang onto the pitch forms following the session - they will be valuable for future reference! Good documentation will enable consistency across your team for future sessions and help to demonstrate your impact as a convener.
Future Artefact
A Future Artefact is a tool used to encapsulate with vivid detail what the successful outcomes of a potential collaboration or innovation could look like if it comes into fruition. Sometimes for key influencers to understand the value of an initiative, an illustrated vision can help to trigger their necessary buy-in.
Why do it?
- Get key people aligned on an initiative and buy into its vision by demonstrating its value.
- Particularly effective for a) partners who are struggling to see the value in participation; b) stakeholders/partners who have different expectations for outcomes; and c) ambition levels are varying or need to be raised within a group.
How to do it?
- Determine what your audience's objectives are and assess how your initiative can support meeting those objectives. If there are barriers to why your key audience is struggling to buy into a collaboration, understand and empathize with them.
- Create an artefact that highlights what success would look like if your initiative is supported, such as a ‘fake’ newspaper article or press release, a Photoshop of a future photo, a demo app, a mock-up of a building or space, etc. The objective is to communicate a compelling story – this can be done with a myriad of form factors. Choose one that fits the story you’re trying to tell and your resources. Acknowledge any potential barriers your key audience faces and strategically align your expected outcomes to their objectives.
- Make the artefact (i.e. article, demo or mock-up) look real by investing in the visual presentation. You can even try making a spin-off of something that is familiar and you know your audience values. Giving it a quality, professional touch will bring out the emotional appeal.
- Use the artefact to drive a productive and thoughtful conversation with your audience.
Ecosystem of Actors
An ‘ecosystem’ refers to a distinct ecological phenomenon: it is a community of organisms and the network of their interactions among each other, and with their physical environment.
While the Ecosystem of Actors is not biological, it does build well on the analogy. It is a highly networked community of actors that interact among themselves and with many global issues and processes.
Every community by nature has an ecosystem, but more can be done to realize its full potential in addressing challenges and leveraging opportunities.
This is an opportunity to activate an already existing community of actors in service of the SDGs.
Why do it?
- Opportunity to build on each other's work and advance the Agenda as a united front.
- Transformation of culture to one that values collaboration, partnerships, knowledge exchange and support.
- Ability to translate the knowledge and expertise of actors into actionable products that support SDG implementation.
- Opportunity to develop multidisciplinary solutions to key challenges in policy and practice that would not otherwise be addressed through a single-disciplinary approach.
How to do it?
- Talk to the right actors and potential co-conveners (get out and go door-to-door) to know their vision for their community and their unique challenges. Use what they share to draft a mission for how the Ecosystem could respond to those needs and ambitions.
- Then, host a visioning session with the Ecosystem to test it. Inform the community that you're still in the 'prototyping' phase – it is essential to have their feedback before locking in what the Ecosystem stands for and will be delivering on.
- After you have a co-created mission, begin piloting tools that uniquely speak to your actors. We’ve developed Randomized Lunch Trials and Peer Messaging in response to the needs and requests of our community. Not every tool will resonate; but trying demonstrates your commitment to the community and to experimentation.
- Conduct surveys and check-ins to have one ear always tuned in. Annual surveys provide insight into how the Ecosystem has grown over time, and where it is doing well and where the opportunities are to improve. In order to best evaluate impact, start with a baseline survey. Between surveys, 2 to 3 question polls can be a great way to get quick feedback on new tools or concepts you are exploring.
- Stay consistent with communication and engagement with regular (not necessarily frequent) updates and meetings. Once the Ecosystem has been well-established and you have the right actors engaged, leverage these engagements to cross-transfer knowledge and tackle challenges individual actors may be facing.
- There is value in getting actors talking to each other and building unexpected partnerships, and this may be enough in the beginning. But eventually, people will want to take advantage of the multidisciplinary nature of the Ecosystem to accomplish things they are not able to otherwise do alone. Depending on where you're at in your growth stage, either make it clear when action isn't the purpose of the Ecosystem or secure resources when you see the community is eager to take the next step.
Points to consider
Developing the concept
The first question to ask yourself is if you see an opportunity for greater collaboration between actors in your community. After articulating the need you want to address, identify if there have been similar attempts in the past. What can you learn from these attempts? If there are current initiatives, how can you build on each other's efforts? Remember, part of your role as convener is to influence greater collaboration within the community, not to duplicate efforts.
Once you’ve established your Ecosystem, ensure that you remain agile; meaning that you’re constantly checking in with the changing needs of your community and creating, adapting and eliminating tools that no longer serve them.
Who to engage?
Based on what the co-conveners are mobilizing the Ecosystem around, engage actors that are working on similar initiatives but in different capacities and with varying mandates. Know that the composition of the Ecosystem will have an important impact on its dynamic (e.g. a Member State focused Ecosystem functions differently than one composed of non-state actors).
Space
As the Ecosystem is diverse, encourage members from different organizations to host gatherings and events. This helps to instil the notion of ‘shared ownership’ of the Ecosystem.
The spaces you choose for gatherings will influence the conversation and outcomes (e.g. if people are sitting in theatre seats there will be limited brainstorming and informal exchanges).
Conveners
The Ecosystem works as a balance between ownership and no ownership. Although it doesn't belong to anyone in specific, there are still distinct conveners that bring legitimacy and are responsible for driving the initiative forward. The number of conveners needed depends on how many groups you need legitimacy with. For example, if your Ecosystem brings together actors from development and finance, it is best to have two conveners trusted by both communities.
The conveners should frequently reinforce that the Ecosystem is a community effort and they are simply stewarding the process.
Resources
To be able to deliver on what you've promised, secure start-up funding for a dedicated staff person, a tracking system and flex funds for general convening. There is a business case to be made for interconnected and innovative communities, so look to your local and/or national governments for these early resources.
Tracking & documenting
Moving door-to-door means a lot of names and numbers, therefore, a system to help you track these contacts is essential. In the beginning, this may take shape as a spreadsheet; however, you may need to scale to something more robust quickly.
Beyond keeping a contact database, a system that also supports segmentation and overtime engagement tracking enables you to deliver targeted communications and demonstrate impact.