How to participate
Participation in CLEAR
CLEAR promotes participation throughout the project, aiming to enable young people and other stakeholders to share and discuss their experiences and views on the project’s topics. In this section, we present the numerous understandings and applications of participation in qualitative research, show all project-relevant benefits and drawbacks of these understandings, and deliver a working definition of participation.
Why is participation integrated in CLEAR?
Assuming the educational environment is one of the primary contexts where citizenship and participation are ‘experienced’, especially by young people, CLEAR fosters the experimentation of multiple participatory actions and events in researching Learning Outcomes. CLEAR aims to consider the different standpoints of the people involved in education at various levels and with other responsibilities and objectives. Through participatory methods, these manifold stakeholders can contribute to shaping the project’s research plan, fine-tuning its research tools, and discussing preliminary results.
What IF you participate?
In 2025, CLEAR will hold events in each of the eight countries involved in the project. By applying participatory discussion methods, the Innovation Forums (IFs) will create a deliberative space for the exchange of ideas among young people, professionals, and local stakeholders in the field of education. This is where topics and issues raised by international academic research will be discussed with those who design and apply educational policies daily.
Who can participate?
In CLEAR, we value heterogeneity as a preliminary step to fruitful discussion. That’s why we welcome the participation of various stakeholders in the field of education; from policy-makers to street-level professionals and students, each profile can provide meaningful contributions to the discussions stimulated in the IFs.
What is an Innovation Forum?
An Innovation Forum is a participative and deliberative space designed to stimulate discussion, reflection, and the exchange of arguments and opinions among diverse participants through innovative methodologies. IFs serve as platforms where stakeholders from various backgrounds can engage in meaningful dialogue, fostering an environment conducive to mutual understanding and creative solutions.
Key Elements of Innovation Forums
Participative: IFs ensure an open and equal exchange of ideas among participants, allowing them to express their opinions in their own language, facilitating mutual understanding and challenging their perspectives.
Innovative Methodologies: The forums employ creative and participatory methods that are less common in traditional academic settings.
Deliberative Space: IFs provide a structured environment for thoughtful discussion and reflection.
Discussion, Reflection, and Exchange: The exchange of arguments and opinions is central to IFs, fostering dynamic interactions.
Cross-fertilisation of Ideas: The diverse backgrounds of participants encourage the sharing and development of innovative ideas.
Diversity of Participants: IFs bring together individuals from various positions to build Learning Outcomes (LOs), ensuring a rich diversity of perspectives.
Why Participative?
Participation is crucial in IFs to foster an open and equal exchange of ideas among individuals from different backgrounds. This inclusivity ensures that everyone can express their opinions in their own language, reach mutual understanding, and challenge their perspectives on the discussion topics.
Why Innovative?
Innovation Forums are innovative in terms of the following:
Process. IFs represent the first instance where an academic partnership presents research results to a mixed and non-academic audience, engaging them in participatory discussions.
Output. The research results discussed in IFs are derived from Participatory Activities (PAs) conducted throughout various research steps. These PAs aim to select relevant issues and topics and engage different actors to produce accessible visual outputs.
Methods. IF activities and discussions are designed and conducted using creative and participatory methods, less frequently employed in academic contexts.
A Dissemination Tool
IFs are also a dissemination tool aimed at mainstreaming the project’s outcomes among education stakeholders and contributing to broader debates about the policy agenda.
Structure of the Event
An Innovation Forum typically spans half a day and includes the following components:
- Registration of Participants
- Ice-Breaking Activities
- Plenary Session: Introduction and presentation of the project and the event.
- Sub-Groups: Discussions and deliberations in smaller groups.
- Plenary Session: Debriefing and conclusions.
Required Competencies
To successfully manage an Innovation Forum, at least three individuals are needed:
- Event manager
- Receptionist and logistics supervisor
- Facilitator for group discussions (one facilitator per sub-group)
Ideal Venue for an Innovation Forum
IFs are best held in non-academic sites that:
- Have multiple rooms (one for plenary sessions and smaller ones for group discussions) or a large hall.
- Provide walls or stands for visual outputs.
- Offer facilities such as toilets and Wi-Fi.
- Are accessible for people with disabilities and easy to reach.
Examples of events employing similar methods
- World Café is a qualitative data-collection technique combining interviews, drawings, and narratives from different participants, fostering cross-fertilisation.
- Photo-image elicitation engages participants through visual prompts.
- Instant Polls and Dot Voting or Positioning apply simple decision-making and prioritising techniques.
- Open Space Technology is a participant-driven collaborative method for managing small and large group discussions to explore specific questions or issues.
Innovation Forums thus provide a unique, inclusive, and dynamic environment for stakeholders to engage in the construction of Learning Outcomes, ensuring that diverse perspectives are heard and integrated into the outcomes.