- Everyday experience and empathy (world café)
- Dimensions of migration
- Migration in Berlin – visibilities and invisibilities: Introducing the action research method
Category: 01. May
World Café method
“The “World Café” is a structured conversational process intended to facilitate open and intimate discussion, and link ideas within a larger group to access the “collective intelligence” or collective wisdom in the room. […] the focus is on exploring and innovating on themes rather than on problem-solving.The format is principally designed as a forum for creative or open thinking and is not suited to scenarios where there is a predetermined answer or solution.” (Wikipedia)
More detailed information about the facilitation method and its principles, see here.
Sunday 1 May – World Cafe, Refugee Chair and Simulation Game
On the second day of the workshop, and international worker’s day we did non-formal educational activities which aimed to expand our understanding of the refugee condition.
Revijara opened the day with a follow-up from the previous day. After sharing our fears and hopes for the outcomes of the work-shop, it became clear to her that some of the participants were not very confident that they comprehend the differences between the different forms of education. For this, Revijara wrote the three categories of education – formal/ non-formal/ informal – and participants were asked to put adjectives on them.
Then we moved to the first floor of KUBIZ for the World café where Valeria welcomed us with her melodies on the piano. The next step was to divide in groups of five or six and sit in different tables where a moderator with a topic was assigned. The topics were Inclusion, Media, Detention/ Deportation, Living Conditions and European Borders. After a few minutes of discussions the groups moved to the next table to discuss a different subject. Each table had a large white sheet were participants could draw or write their ideas. In the end of the café the moderators presented the sheets that were made.
In the next activity people were called to estimate the population of the different continents of the world, their wealth, their CO2 emissions and percentage of refugees. Then each one put her/ his chair on the sheet writing the continent’s name. It was interesting to test our knowledge and occasionally challenge what we regard as common-sense.
After a delicious vegan lunch cooked by our chef the program of the day continued with an incredibly inventive theatrical game which was starred by the amazing perfomances of the trainees. Each participant was given a role either as a refugee, a smuggler, border control, an NGO worker or a bureaucrat. The aim was for the participants to train their social imaginations for the labyrinthic procedures and difficulties that refugees are facing in their journey to reach the prosperous North, which in this case was called KUBIZlandia!
The day was finished with most of trainees participating in the exciting demonstration of the worker’s first of May in the centre of Berlin.
