Shifting Normal - designing projects to tackle climate change: workshop guide

Time

Activity

Notes

10m

Welcome and Introductions

Introduce yourself; Welcome people to the event; Briefly remind them of the purpose of the workshop.

A clear statement of the purpose at the start will help keep the workshop focused.

Invite everyone to turn to the person next to them and introduce themselves and why they are interested in the project. After a minute or so, remind people to swap over if they haven't already.

This gives everyone a chance to speak without feeling awkward.

Invite everyone to speak to the whole group, and say:

• their name;
• where they are from (this may be the area they live or the organisation they represent); and/or
• a couple of words on why the change sought is important to them.

Start off yourself, keep your 'couple of words' really short to set a good example.

It's good for everyone to know who is in the room very early on.

The last option helps everyone get an impression of the other people's interests and motivation - it can be an eye opener.

10m

Be Clear about the Change

Briefly describe how the change the project aims to bring about was agreed, and what the specific change is that this workshop will focus on.

Answer any questions.

Having a prepared flip chart with this written on it, and stuck on the wall can be a useful reminder for the whole workshop.

15m

Introduce the Four Questions and Four Zones

Explain that the workshop will be using this model.

Pass round Handout 1: the diagram with the Four Questions or ask people to turn to page 4 of Shifting Normal.

Explain how people ask themselves these Four Questions when deciding to do something and talk people through the diagram with a couple of examples.

Adapt the text on p3, just talk about the main points. Use examples from the text and/or the case studies.

Explain how the answers to the Four Questions are influenced by the Four Zones. Talk them through the Four Zones with a couple of examples.

Pass round Handout 2: the diagram with the Four Zones or ask people to turn to page 8 of Shifting Normal.

Adapt the text on p7, just talk about the main points. Use examples from the text and/or the case studies.

Explain how the Questions and Zones can be put together by talking through the diagram with the solar panel case study.

Pass round Handout 3: the table with the solar panel example or ask people to turn to page 14 of Shifting Normal.

Ask if anyone has questions? Explain that it will become clearer when we start using it for our project.

If asked, emphasise that it's not very important which issues are put in which box - the point is to use the table to try to cover all the important issues.

Discover what matters for the change your community group wants.

30m

What do people think and feel about the change?

Explain that we will now be using this framework to understand what people might think and feel about the change we want. Explain that these questions will help us dig deeper in the situation.

Pass round Handout 4: the Questions and Zones table or ask people to turn to page 12 of Shifting Normal.

Ask people to look at the Questions and Zones table (working down each column) and to answer the questions from the point of view of the people that the change is relevant to. If the whole group is discussing the questions, make a note of the most important issues on a flip chart as the discussion goes along.

In a group of six or more, or if some people are quiet, ask people to do this in pairs or threes. In a small group do it with everyone.

• If people are discussing the questions in pairs or threes, after 5-10 minutes ask each pair or three to tell the whole group what issues they think are the most important, and note these on a flip chart; or
• If people are doing this as a whole group, make a note on flip chart of the issues that come up as the discussion goes along. When they have been written up ask people which are the most important and mark these with a star.

15m

What might help or hinder the change?

Working from the list on the flip chart, ask the group which issues could help the change and which could hinder. Mark those that help with a plus sign or smiley face; those that hinder with a minus sign or sad face. If it's not obvious, ask people to explain why they believe the issue would help or hinder.

Avoid discussion about what to do - focus on what the issues are and whether they will help or hinder.

15m

Who could help develop or deliver the project?

Ask the group to consider what people, groups and organisations might be able to help develop or deliver the project. Emphasise that these are just ideas at this stage. If it's not obvious, ask people to explain their suggestion.

Make a list of the suggestions on a separate flip chart

In a small group this can be done as a discussion around the table. With a larger group it may help if people discuss this is threes or fours and then tell the whole group their suggestions.

15m

What research might be needed?

Explain that the issues that have been identified in this workshop have been based on a mixture of the experiences and knowledge of the people in the room, but we may not have had all the information we need. We may need to do some research.

Ask people to consider all the items on the list and to mentally score how confident they are that the issues is correct, where 3 is very confident, 2 is fairly confident and 1 is not at all confident. Give people a moment to do this.

Ask everyone what issues they have scored 1; write '1' against the relevant issues on the flip chart. Repeat with 2 and 3.

Summarise and highlight the items with the most 1s and 2s. Discuss each of these issues in turn:

• What do we need to know?
• How might we find that out?

Record this information onto new flipchart sheets.

Take care not to imply the people in the room are the wrong people or that they don't have the right expertise.

With a large group the final discussion of issues could be split between different tables: each table considering different issues.

10m

Summarise and close

Remind people that the aim of the workshop was to discover what matters: to understand as much as possible about the situation before starting to design the project.

Explain that the next stage will be to take the work this group has done and use to design the project. If a number of issues needing research have been identified, explain this will need to be done first.

Ask everyone to think about something interesting they have discovered during the workshop or something they have enjoyed about the workshop. Ask everyone in turn to say what that is in just a few words. Start with yourself, make sure you really do say just a few words to set the example and go around the group.

Thank everyone for their time and help.

Make sure everyone feels appreciated and that they understand how the time they have spent will help develop the project to bring about the change the group wants to see.

The final 'go round' is a good way to close a workshop: it gives the leader some immediate feedback about what people got out of the event, and it lets everyone feel their contribution is listened to.

In a larger group or where time is short, ask people to think back over the workshop: what word comes to mind? Ask people to share this one word in the 'go round'.