What is a World Café?
The SECESA World Café is an adaptation of the format popularized on http://www.theworldcafe.com/ .
In particular see also their World Café Method (http://www.theworldcafe.com/key-concepts-resources/world-cafe-method/).
It is a format that attempts to leverage collective intelligence . We bring knowledgeable participants together in an informal atmosphere to share and discuss pertinent issues and challenges in our domain. Through reflection in rounds of dialogue, we try to jointly gain new insights and find possible solutions. So the motto is:
Share your knowledge during the World Café and deepen your networking experience!
The conversation is moderated by an assigned expert. ~5 participants are invited to each of the World Café session tables.
The moderator is assisted by a note-taker and time-keeper. The moderator at each round table welcomes the guests and kicks off by introducing challenges and – potentially controversial – issues, to each of the participants and then a (hopefully fruitful) discussion develops. There will be strict time-keeping to ensure that all participants get a reasonably equal share of the discussion time.
After 15 minutes all moderator / note-taker pairs move to the next table, based on assigned order, to start a new round. At the beginning of each new round, the moderator gives a short summary of previously discussed aspects and questions that may have emerged. This offers the opportunity to dynamically build on the progressing discussions, with changing topics and participants.
Finally we wrap up with a short plenary session where the main findings will be reported by the moderators.
