XR Future Democracy Hub Conversation of the Month – September 2019
General information
What is the Conversation of the Month (CoM)?
In cultivating effective grass roots democracies the XR FDH aims to enable conversations to happen in society. The CoM is just one way we think might help. It is a ready-made discussion package that anyone should be able to pick up and run with a little application.
What is the basic make up of a deliberative discussion?
Each discussion has three stages
- Input: Some content to introduce the topic, provide information and stimulate discussion
- Deliberation: A process with which to carry out the discussion
- Integration: Sharing and sometimes gathering of results and opinions, post discussion
That sounds a little prescriptive, why can’t we decide the topic and process?
The CoM is just an offering to help get people started, something we think might help such sessions become more common. The reality is that designing a session with content and a process does take time and we are just helping by removing some of that burden. We aim to crowdsource topics and processes that are most popular and then, in time, empower people to create their own resources.
Facilitator guidelines
The programme can be seen below but we recommend downloading the following facilitator notes which will provide direct links for the videos along with supporting notes to help you host the session.
XR FDH September 2019 Conversation of the Month (click to open and then you can download it)
Discussion questions pdf
CoM Discussion questions (click to open and then you can download it) Alternative video versions can be found below if easier.
Equipment and preparation
To run this session with a group you just need to make sure the videos can be seen and heard by everyone. You could gather around a laptop but better to have either a TV screen or an LCD projector to show the videos on. Sound can be amplified via a TV connection or by connecting your laptop to speakers via a 3.5mm plug connector. Some digital radios can be used as amplifiers. You will also need a broadband connection.
Programme
(optional) An introductory short video (3 mins)
An introduction to Thinking Box Process (2 mins)
A feature discussion video (7 mins)
Discussion questions for small group discussion
Small group discussions (20 mins)
Plenary discussion (20 mins)
(optional) A final heart-warmer videos (3 min)
Welcome
Welcome to this Conversation of the Month session for XR
(optional) Introductory short
Thinking Box How a session works video
This is how the session works
Feature presentation
Discussion questions
Pause this video (twice) to display the discussion questions and survey instructions
Small group discussions
See facilitator notes
Plenary discussions
See facilitator notes
(optional) Heart warmer