Introduction/Overview

This course on creative and inclusive workshop designs will give you practical tips and tools for designing and delivering workshops for a range of stakeholders, participants and communities. Why focus on workshops? As we move into a place of embedding equitable, trauma informed and inclusive research practice, we need to look for better ways to reduce power imbalances, empowering more people to be involved in research, including research and project design. This often means stepping away from traditional models of research, and being open to more safe, creative and collaborative methods for engaging and interacting with people. Workshops foster inclusive practice by creating accessible, engaging spaces where diverse voices are heard and valued. However, they need to be designed well.

This one day practical focused course will:

• Increase your awareness and understanding on how workshop designs can support empowerment, inclusive practice and trauma informed practice - and why these approaches matter.
• Provide you with tangible approaches and tools for designing inclusive and engaging workshops, in a trauma informed way. This includes approaches for co-design, co-production, creative methods and group decision making.
• Give you ideas and confidence in creating your own innovative approaches for research, research and co-design workshops.

Learning Outcomes

• Increase awareness and understanding in how workshop designs can support empowerment, inclusive practice and trauma informed practice – and why these approaches matter.
• Go away with tangible approaches and tools for designing inclusive and engaging workshops, in a trauma informed way.
• Feel more confident in creating their own innovative approaches for evaluation, research and co-design workshops.
• Understand how to create safe and fun environments which support collaboration and power sharing.
• Next steps – what happens after the workshop: Considerations and hot tips.

Topics

• Embedding inclusive trauma informed practice
• Workshop design for social researchers
• Co-design and co-production in practice
• Creating safe spaces for collaboration and joint decision making
• Working with people with lived experience
• Facilitation in social research

Who will benefit

This course could be open to anyone working as a researcher or who works with communities/ stakeholders on collaboration or co-design projects. It will be most beneficial to people who are actively, or looking to implement inclusive and trauma informed approaches in practice, and for anyone working with people with lived experience.

Course tutor

Sophi Ducie: Sophi specialises in designing and delivering social research and evaluation activities for traditionally unheard communities, social spaces, community-led initiatives, and mental health. She specialises in creative and participatory approaches like workshops (including Ripple Effect Mapping), storytelling, Outcome Mapping and creating engaging outputs. She has over 16 years’ experience in designing and delivering research with a focus on working with charities and the public sector across the UK.

Skye Curtis-Guilhen: Skye has extensive experience working in policy and evaluation research. She was previously Head of Evaluation at MEL Research and Citizen Advice, and is now a specialist inclusive research practice consultant. She delivers training on inclusive evaluation, trauma informed practice, embedding lived experience and peer research. Skye specialises in working with marginalised communities and people who have experienced trauma.

  This course contributes 6 hours to the MRS CPD programme

Looking to book for six or more people from your organisation?  Contact [email protected] to ask about our in-house courses