Facilitation of large groups and participatory procedures

Talking to one another, really listening to the other person, trying to understand their priorities and the reasons behind their thinking and actions; taking part in the discussion and taking responsibility, and reaching a fundamental identification and satisfaction with the chosen path – these are the results of participatory procedures.

A large group session can have anything from 30 to several hundred participants. These sessions are an opportunity to work through complicated topics without using up excessive time and resources. It is an opportunity to examine the structure of an entire organisation in a single meeting, speeding the exchange of information and decision making process, and accelerating change.

Methods

• Future conference: Developing shared visions and initiatives
• Real Time Strategic Change (RTSC): Steering an organisation’s entire energy in one direction
• Open Space: A place for quick, creative solutions
• Appreciative Inquiry Summit: Developing an organisation’s best features
• World Café: Intensive discussion of a single topic

Literature:

Seliger, Ruth (2008), Einführung in Großgruppen-Methoden. Heidelberg
Hartwig, Jürgen/Kroneberg, Dirk Willem (ed.) (2014), Moderne Formen der Bürgerbeteiligung in Kommunen. Konzepte und Praxis. Berlin