How does it work? Format description
At a round table, invited speakers, who are representatives of different stakeholders related to the topic, discuss among themselves. The moderator asks questions and gives the floor to those at the round table and also to the audience. The aim of the round table is to find solutions or at least agree on the next steps, in which all stakeholders are involved.
What do the participants in the discussion do?
Listeners are involved through the moderator, who asks the audience whether they think the round table is on the right track and whether all stakeholders are sufficiently represented.
If there are invited speakers in the discussion, what do they do?
The discussants are representatives of different interest groups/stakeholders related to one topic. They have come to a common table to find a better alternative to the current situation.
What is the role of the moderator?
As preliminary work, it is necessary to find representatives of interest groups who will try to find solutions at the round table. As follow-up work, someone (or all round table participants) will probably have to take some step.
Number and profile of participants in the discussion?
The number of participants is not limited, but rather the audience is familiar with the topic and they probably also have some of their own interests that are related to this topic.
Preliminary and follow-up work: what larger process is a discussion built in this way suitable for?
Can be used as part of very different processes – for strategies, development plans and other involvement processes, for example.
If you feel you need advice on choosing or applying a discussion format, please contact your discussion area coordinator.