Work on the preparation of the deliberative process

In preparation for the implementation of the workshop, a series of parallel activities had to be undertaken in order to create the right space for deliberation. 

One of the first things we did as a research team was an observation walk in Przemyśl, where we learned about important points for refugees from Ukraine and the observations of institutions and aid organizations about these spaces. 

We held two briefings, combined with observation of spaces, in Warsaw centers for long-term residence of people from Ukraine. We told about the assumptions of the implemented pilot project and asked them to share their opinions on the planned activities.

We determined how to ensure the comfort of the participating persons by organizing a lunch break during the workshop and then determined how to implement this task. 

We agreed with the partners in what locations the workshops would be held in both cities, what materials and equipment must be available on site, and what the role of the facilitators of each deliberative process should be. 

We agreed with institutional partners and with NGOs what kind of support in terms of the preparation of the meetings, their participation in the process, and the expected responsiveness to the proposals for organizational changes put forward by those participating. 

We held a series of meetings with Game Changers Academy on the preparation of all workshops and the selection of game and play tools that can serve the process. We then determined what materials we would need from them to implement the planned activities.

We created a framework for the Polish-Ukrainian translation of the materials in the process and the participation of translators, to ensure that the processes were as accessible and transparent as possible.

A key activity was the creation of detailed plans for each workshop. We first identified the questions that would frame each meeting:

Workshop 1

- What gives them a sense of security and freedom?

- What is a barrier to planning for the future in uncertain times?

Workshop 2

- What makes them feel strong and ready to face challenges?

- What takes away their strength?

Workshop 3

- What support do they receive to meet their needs?

- What do they need to be strong?

Then, after recruiting and familiarizing ourselves with information about the groups, we adapted the selected game and play tools to the likely needs of the group. What's more, we determined what the assumptions were for the interactions between the people participating in the various activities depending on:

whether they were individual, subgroup or whole group activities;

whether they were based on individual experiences and perspectives or collective discussions;

whether they were based on artistic, cooperative or verbal exchange activities.

In the plan, we indicated how we wanted to ensure the group's comfort by providing adequate access to information about each workshop, information about what the role of individual organizers is, how we ensure the security of the data they share with us, access to translation, and about other people participating in the deliberations. We specified in detail what materials and tools we would use during each workshop and how.