World CaféLowering the barriers for participation

in the information society?

Based on text from the café to go reference guide. Authored by the World Café community.

Purpose

Collaborative dialogue Connect diverse perspectives

Opportunity to meet new people

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World Café at a Glance…

• Three (3) progressive rounds of conversation with each round addressing one question.

• At the end of each round, participants are invited to move to a different table

• New question discussed while linking and connecting ideas with previous conversation rounds. Paper tablecloths provided to create a visual memory of the conversation

• World Café principles include the following…

Focus on what matters

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Contribute your thinking.

Speak your mind and heart.

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Listen together for insights and

deeper questions.

Link and connect ideas.

Play Draw

Doodle

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One more thing…

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Before getting started, each group will need to identify a table host (not facilitator) who remains at the table during the 3 conversation rounds to: 

• welcome newcomers• share the main ideas,

themes and questions• encourage guests to link

and connect ideas (USING THE PAPER TABLECLOTH)

Round 1

Talk about a time when you have seen participation in the information society

enhanced because a barrier was lowered or removed.

Who was involed? What was the barrier? How did you research results enhanced participation? What was the outcome?

Round 2

What factors have contributed to (i) keeping the barriers in place and (ii)

removing or lowering them?

Round 3

What does participation look like in a utopian information society?

What should we be doing, as researchers and practitioners in the

ICT4D field, to enable the participation that we would like to see?

World Café Wrap-Up• Insights from Jeremy De Beer, Kazanka

Comfort and Dwayne Bailey (15 mins): – How does what you heard reflect your

experiences?– What one recommendation would you offer others

working to lower barriers to participation in the information society

• Insights from the audience (15 mins):– What idea or insight should be taken away from

here?