Participate! How to facilitate effective meetings on disaster risk reduction & climate change adaptation

Participate! is an interactive online training module to support the design of effective science, policy and practice events. Participate! focuses on participatory meetings such as workshops, conferences and training courses for the climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) communities.

Each participant will be equipped with a range of participatory methodologies and will complete a real-world project which is reviewed and supported by mentors and colleagues. All examples are drawn from the DRR and CCA world.

The course will run for 5 sessions:

27 September & 4, 11, 18 and 25 October, 2018

Session: 14:00–15:30 UK time

The course is designed for participants who:

• Wish to design more effective science, policy and practice events, such as workshops, conferences, training courses with a focus on CCA or DRR.
• Have a connection with DRR and/or CCA.
• Work in research, policy, or practice, from operational or management levels.

The deadline for registration is 21 September.

Take a look at a short video of what to expect.

Sessions will cover

Positioning:

Participants will assume the role of a facilitator. This session will introduce in adult learning, explore facilitation and introduce to improvisation as a useful mind-set.

Tools & approaches:

An introduction to tried and tested tools and approaches, including some well-known exercises, games and other resources. These are drawn from approaches such as experiential learning and applied improvisation.

Facilitation skills:

This session will explore what good facilitation is. It will review a range of ways to engage people, according to their learning preferences.

Designing your sessions:

Now you have a grounding in participatory methodologies, it is time to design a session. You will learn about sequencing and how to engage with diverse participants.

Adapting:

Expect the unexpected! This session will further explore how to increase the amount and depth of interaction.

At the end of this training module, participants will have a better understanding of:

Tools & methodologies

• Why interactive tools and methodologies are useful, and what makes them effective.
• How interactive tools and methodologies can be applied to: 
  • increase attention and engagement during your event
  • increase knowledge of a specific factor
  • change behaviour
• How to design an event, with a logical flow using tried and tested tools and methodologies.
• How to use tools and methodologies to make your events more effective.

Facilitation

• What good facilitation is, including tips and tricks.
• How to improve your own facilitation skills.