Experts and advocates – collectively, the COMMENTATORS – start giving information and evidence about the topic
All citizens have YELLOW & RED CARDS. If someone starts speaking in acronyms or jargon, they’re encouraged to raise their cards to call them out!
The day ends. The learning often goes for several days.
Each day, table seating will be SHUFFLED so citizens meet as many peers as possible.
All the while, the facilitators are encouraging…
Discussions at individual tables
Tables reporting back to the main group
Topics and thoughts being captured for all to see and align on
At their tables of 8-10, the citizens discuss what they’ve just heard.
After deliberating, each table agrees on a handful of QUESTIONS to ask the commentators
After a while, facilitators may ask new questions and may scramble to find NEW commentators to bring in.
Key thing: the CITIZENS take control of the learning
All this time, citizens are talking to EACH OTHER and contributing their own knowledge and experiences
Commentators then usually rotate around each table to be interrogated by each group of citizens.
Next: The Deliberation Loop