Mission2062 event report

EVENTREPORT v1

Mission2062 was a playful three day workshop which took place March 22-24 2012 in Paris. Convened by the British Council and held at La Gaîté Lyrique, it saw thirty five creative professionals from North America, the Middle East and Europe take part in a progressive conversation about the role of culture in a vibrant future.

is report provides a summary of the origin of the workshop, the design decisions that led to its innovative structure, the process of the event itself and the learning that it provided. It is the intention of this document and the wider materials at www.mission2062.com to share as much of the process and thinking as possible since given the challenges we face, we require new creative productive ways of moving forward and Mission2062 provided many new insights about what works.

THISDOCUMENT

1. Key Personnel2. Event Commissioning3. Research Phase4. e Story5. Story Design6. Facilitation Style7. Missions & Strands8. Event Format9. Event Participants

DOCUMENTCONTENTS10. Outputs & Outcomes11. ree Highlights12. Participant Feedback13. Success Factors14. Areas for Development15. Replicating the Model16. Lessons For Policy17. Recommendations18. Document Illustrations19. Contact Details

is document is written by Mission2062‘s lead producer Rohan Gunatillake with input from Shelagh Wright and Suzy Glass. He would like to thank them and above all Laëtitia Manach and her colleagues at British Council Paris without whose contribution this innovative event would not have been possible. 2

1. KEYPERSONNEL

Name Organisation Primary Role

Laëtitia Manach British Council (Paris) Convenor & Commissioner

Rohan Gunatillake Innovation producer Lead designer, producer & facilitator

Shelagh Wright Mission Models Money Co-producer

Suzy Glass Producer Facilitator

Participants Various Participants

Sandrine Mahieu British Council (Paris) Production & Administration

Sarah Bagshaw British Council (Paris) Production & Administration

Beatrice Pembroke British Council (UK) Commissioning

Jérôme Delormas Le Gaite Lyrique Venue host

Clemence Saurat Le Gaite Lyrique Venue liaison

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La Gaîté Lyrique (GL) is multi-purpose venue in the 3rd Arrondissement in Paris which opened in Spring 2011. Having already supported a small number of exhibitions featuring British Artists, British Council France enjoyed a good relationship with GL and its director Jérôme Delormas and both parties were interested in future collaboration opportunities. erefore when GL announced that their Spring 2012 programme was to be themed around the year 2062, British Council France recognised it as the ideal opportunity – with the initial concept was that the British Council convene an event inspired by and occurring alongside the 2062 exhibition and programme.

Recognising that the innovative and progressive nature of La Gaîté Lyrique and its 2062 season enabled the British Council event to be innovative and future-focussed, BC France invited Rohan Gunatillake and Shelagh Wright to Paris to visit the GL and explore the opportunity. Rohan Gunatillake was invited for his background in producing progressive events and programmes related to digital innovation in the cultural sector as well as being a participant on the current Cultural Leadership International programme. Shelagh Wright was already collaborating with the British Council on the Innovator’s Studio programme of events and has significant cultural policy expertise.

Following that meeting, Rohan and Shelagh were commissioned to design and run an event called Mission2062 which had the following elements:

• play and narrative used to engage participants• inspired by La Gaîté Lyrique’s articulation of digital culture• emphasis on self-organisation, collaboration and making• used the device of the future to help develop strategies for the present• licence to be different and experimental

2. EVENTCOMMISSIONING

A central walkway at the Gaite Lyrique

A United Visual Artists installation at the venue launch

e main image of the 2062 exhibition at LGL4

ere are four common problems with traditional futures work:1. Projection. We take what is happening right now in our experience and simply extrapolate and project it forward rather than think differently2. Abstraction. We frame the future as a high-level idea and thus are unable to directly connect to it as a human experience 3. Monolithification. We think of the future as just one thing rather than a diversity of experiences4. Extremification. We make the future polar, either all about doom and gloom or conversely as an over idealised paradise

With these risks in mind, four central design principles were identified:1. Play. Using game mechanics to increase engagement in the process and creativity of the outputs2. Story. Placing the event within a very specific story which framed all the workshop activities, further increasing engagement and creative thinking3. Making. Ensuring all workshop elements resulted in an output which encouraged collaboration and resulted in tangibility of all effort 4. Self-organisation: A format which allowed participants to direct the depth of their experience

And three different projects directly inspired and influenced the event design:1. Superstruct. 2008 forecasting game from Institute for the Future & Jane McGonigal which used story to explore creative solutions to major social issues.2. A Small Town Anywhere. A play produced by Coney where the audience members perform all the roles by self-organising within a narrative structure 3. Culture Hack Scotland. An intense event where digital talent works with cultural professional to create new projects in just 24 hours

3. RESEARCHPHASE

Superstruct by Jane McGonigal/IFTF

A Small Town Anywhere by Coney

Culture Hack Scotland5

4. THESTORY

Mission2062’s story of saving the world was not dis-similarto the classic time-travelling sci-fi plots used in Doctor Who

An illustrated version of e Conference Of e Birds

e central story used for Mission2062 was as follows:

e SetupParis, March 22nd 2062. e Simorg has been stolen from La Gaîté Lyrique and it could mean the end of the world as we know it. Unless this prized object is recovered in the next fifty hours all the amazing work which took place from 2012 to 2062 which has led to a world where culture and creativity has never been more vibrant, prized and celebrated, will be lost. With the clock ticking down, the Gaîté Lyrique director Germaine Roger has called back in time to 2012, inviting a global group of forward looking creative practitioners and cultural leaders to help retrieve it. Why the Simorg taken and where it is hidden? What on earth is it anyway? And why does 2062 need help from 2012 to get it back? Working together the participants have to find out the answers to these questions and more much more. At least let’s hope so because if not, a vibrant and creative future for the entire world is at risk of being lost forever.

During e WorkshopWorking under the instruction of Germaine Roger and the Gaîté Lyrique Archivist Henri Montjoye, the participants carry out activities where they remember and document events which happened during 2012-2062. Doing so replaces lost information from the venue’s archive and reveals more clues about the location of the Simorg. e participants eventually recover the Simorg which is found actually to be themselves and their collective knowledge and wisdom - therefore framing them as catalysts in ensuring a vibrant future. e person who stole the Simorg in the first place is a shadowy character called Le Corbeau who is also revealed in the end as the workshop convenor Laëtitia Manach. e final twist is that since the time travel machine has lost power, only 10 participants can return back home so the group have to convey to those 10 the key lessons to take back to 2012. 6

5. STORYDESIGN

Actress Germaine Roger was LGL director after WW2

With play and story central to the workshop design, it was important to create a narrative within which the participants’ activities would be held. is narrative was designed through a five-step process.

1. e workshop is set in the future. With La Gaîté Lyrique’s 2062 theme, it was apparent that it would be useful to use the conceit that the workshop takes place in the year 2062 itself. is device of time travel would allow participants to look at the years from 2012-2062 as a factual remembered history rather than as an ethereal projection.

2. e participants have been brought to 2062 to solve a mystery. If 35 people from all round the world are to be brought through time to a specific place then there has to be a good reason! e second piece of the story is therefore the classic narrative device that the group have to solve a mystery together.

3. An inspirational central mystery. e central mystery of Mission2062 was that an object called the Simorg had been stolen. is device is borrowed from a classic Sufi poem called the Conference of the Birds by Attar - in which thirty very different birds join together to search for the Simorg. e Simorg is a metaphor for Sufi enlightenment and the use of it in Mission2062 is itself a metaphor for the way the workshop participants have come together to explore the future.

4. e need for jeopardy. Without jeopardy, the story would lack urgency and so it was added by the idea that the loss of the Simorg had made the vibrancy of the the future at risk and so it had to be recovered so as to save the future.

5. Anchoring the story in the place where it is heldWith the centrality of the La Gaîté Lyrique in the workshop, the facilitators acted as the story’s central two characters called Henri Montjoye and Germaine Roger - the names of two key figures in the history of the venue in the 1950s.

Additional input to the story and narrative flow was provided by Tassos Stevens of Coney, whose Small Town Anywhere was a major influence

An illustrated version of e Conference Of e Birds

6. FACILITATIONSTYLE

Suzy Glass doubles as Germaine Roger

Caption 1 blah blah lorem ipsum blah to the end

Rohan Gunatillake doubles as Henri Montjoye

Central to the workshop were the particular ways in which the event was facilitated:

1. Lead facilitators playing characters in the story. ere are three fictional characters in the story, La Gaîté Lyrique Director Germaine Roger, its archivist Henri Montjoye and the stealer of the Simorg, Le Corbeau. Given that Le Corbeau was not revealed until the very end, the primary characters were Henri and Germaine who were played by lead facilitators Rohan Gunatillake and Suzy Glass. ey signified that they were in character by wearing hats so that when their hats were not on, they were themselves and would switch between the two depending on what information was being given. is proved to be a very effective device and required the facilitators to be able to improvise. And recognised that there isn't always a scripted solution and that improvisation is critical due to the unravelling, unpredictable nature of group story-telling.

2. Designing the detail of activities in response to the group. While the high level structure of each of the workshop elements were known, the details were only finalised shortly before they were to begin. is was to allow the most natural progression of the story as well as being as responsive as possible to the modes of activity that participants were finding most fruitful. is too required considerable agility and flexibility on behalf of the facilitators.

3. Self-organisation of participants. Inspired by open facilitation techniques such as open space, all of the activities had a level of autonomy where participants could choose which topics they explored according to their interest.

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7. MISSIONS&STRANDS

Superstruct by Jane McGonigal/IFTF

At the end of each mission, participants would attach a physical output to the timeline and relevant strand of wool

A significant and visually striking collection of outputs was made over the course of the workshop

Alongside the overall story, these two elements formed the architecture of the workshop.

Missions. While the overall mission was to recover the Simorg, every activity that comprised the workshop was called a Mission. Each mission had a description and a suggested output - be that written, drawn or photographed.

Strands. ese were the themes for the workshop. Since Gaîté Lyrique is a venue dedicated to exploring the impact on society and culture by digital technology and so inspired by this, the Mission 2062 strands, while related to wider society in general, are especially related to and amplified by digital culture.

ey were:• making | low barriers to entry for everyone to make creative outputs• identity | different forms of presenting self for different contexts • open | transparent and widespread access to information • networks | the social and creative power of communities of all types• activism | individuals and groups empowered in human-scale politics • acceleration | rate of change often outpacing our ability to make sense of it• generosity | economies based on sharing and free or low-cost

ese strands were made physical by having seven woollen strands across the workshop space in a timeline symbolising 2012-2062. ereby when participants attached mission outputs to the timeline, they would also choose the strand for which it was most relevant. With a group involving creative people, it was decided to use creativity as key elements of methodologies, borrowing tactics & techniques from our own worlds of art & culture rather than elsewhere.

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8. EVENTFORMAT

• Logistical arrangements through British Council offi

ce• Contact w

ith participants in character of Henri to introduce narrative

• Introduction of four initial missions to capture useful inform

ation• Resulted in pre-event engagem

ent and anticipation

PRE-EVENT DAY 310am-3pm

DAY 210am-5pm

DAY 13-7pm

POST-EVENT

OVERALL NARRATIVE

• Welcom

e• Introduction to event form

at, narrative and design• Exploration of 1962 to help understand challenges of 50 year tim

e horizon• M

ission BringMeaning (see later description)

• Mission Explore2062 w

here participants visited the 2062 exhibition at LGL

• Drinks reception w

ith Jérôme D

elormas and head of BC France

• Discussion of best w

ays forward

• Feedback session on event format and process

• Closing session with Jérôm

e Delorm

as

• Re-orientation to format

• Mission Rem

ember

eFarFuture - discussing future scenarios• M

ission ParisCollection - (see later description)• M

ission Remem

bereN

earFuture - open sessions on topics of their choice• Clues related to the resolution of the narrative given throughout day• Free evening w

ith optional concert tickets

• First key story resolution• G

roups to discuss individual & organisational capacities required to thrive

• Second key story resolution and formal close of event narrative

• Sharing of contacts• Putting all w

orkshop materials and outputs online

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9. EVENTPARTICIPANTS

ere were 30 invited participants who were all part of existing British Council programmes including the TN2020 network, the Innovator’s Studio and alumni from the Young Creative Entrepreneur and Cultural Leadership International programmes as well as some BC staff members. Most were 30-40 years old with the nations represented including Syria, Lebanon, UK, France, Denmark, US, Canada, Italy, UAE, Turkey, Georgia and Poland. In their different ways, they shared an interest in change and new ways of thinking and doing.

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10. OUTPUTS&OUTCOMES

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Outputs- Participant-created future scenarios- Curated realtime report via Storify- Visual record by Ella Britton (participant)- Large photo archive of event- Event review for Guardian website written by Canan Marsigilia (participant)- Collection of references and resources sourced from participants- Feedback responses

ese materials will be available on www.mission2062.com in due course

Outcomes- Set up a network of creative leaders who have shared values for the future- Provided an enormous information bank/resource of projects,  ideas, cultural players and networks- Inspired creative thinking and proposed action plans for cultural leaders about what needs to be done for the different future scenarios- Provided space for discussion and learning about different cultural perspectives- Demonstrated new innovative techniques for hosting group events

11. HIGHLIGHTBRINGMEANING

e table where items were left

Caption 1 blah blah lorem ipsum blah to the end

People started tagging their stories to the objects

Full Mission2062 materials and mission descriptions are available in the appendices. Here is this first of three detailed descriptions of key Mission2062 activities which were particularly productive.

Mission BringMeaning was the fourth of four pre-event missions that the participants were invited to complete. e simple instruction was for everyone to bring an object to the workshop that somehow symbolised their personal hopes for what the future might be like. e only conditions were that the object be physical and that it also be something that they would be happy to leave behind.

At the opening session, these objects were used as the primary device to get people talking through offering insights into beliefs and tastes. Having asked for them all to be placed on a special platform, the mechanic was that one object was chosen at random and the bringer of that object was asked to describe what it was and why it was meaningful. is person then chose another object that interested them and the cycle continued until all objects were described. e objects were then kept in the room for the duration of the event and at the close, participants were able to take home another’s hope-imbued object that had most meaning with them as a souvenir and inspiration.

is exercise was incredibly effective since it allowed everyone to learn about each other’s personal hopes for the future - quite an intimate piece of information - in a way that was tangible, expressive and safe. As it was done very early on in the workshop, it allowed the group to meet each other in a much more personal and evocative way and therefore very quickly formed connections between strangers.

Having the objects on the pseudo-altar during the whole event also meant that these personal objects were always in view and many people continued to explore them as the main activities took place.

THREE TAKEAWAYSMake activities physical, tangibleAllow for deeply personal storiesDesign activities that open doors

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HIGHLIGHTPARISCOLLECTION

Caption 1 blah blah lorem ipsum blah to the endA while-you-wait plastic-surgery booth from 2030

e last security camera from 2052

Full Mission2062 materials and mission descriptions are available in the appendices. Here is this second of three detailed descriptions of key Mission2062 activities which were particularly productive.

Mission ParisCollection took place in the mid-morning and lunchtime of the Friday session. e instruction was that participants were to explore Paris in small groups on the premise that La Gaîté Lyrique in 2062 had a collection of objects from 2022-2062 on the streets but could not remember what they were - this was of course a playful device since no actual objects had been left...people just had to look at the city as if they were there. Participants therefore had to take photos of objects and tell the story of what the objects were and why they were important. In other words the task was to walk the streets of today’s Paris but wear the imaginary lenses of someone from the far future.

Groups then had to send in photos of up to five objects with a description of what they meant and the group that sent the best items would receive additional clues as to the conclusion of the overall event story. e groups were given 2.5 hours which included their lunchtime and were allowed to complete the task in whatever way they wished.

e creative response to this Mission exceeded expectations. Empowered by the ability to be out in the city and inspired by their instruction to look at Paris as if it contained objects from the future that they had to discover, the groups returned dozens of objects and stories which were immediately shown back to them on the venue screens and were a source of great pride, amusement and insight.

THREE TAKEAWAYSInclude the city streets as a venue

Create competition between groupsShowcase outputs as soon as you can

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HIGHLIGHTCLOSINGDISCUSSION

Daniel Latorre talking openly at the closing discussion

Full Mission2062 materials and mission descriptions are available in the appendices. Here is this third of three detailed descriptions of key Mission2062 activities which were particularly productive.e very final activity was a discussion held in the beautiful Gaite Lyrique bar where the participants were joined by the GL Director Jerôme Delormas and some members of the public.

Continuing to use the device of the story, it was held as a conversation between Germaine Roger the director of the venue in 2062 and the current director. After Germaine shared details of the series of actions and events that the group felt need to take place in the next fifty years, such as strategies for avoiding homogenisation of cultural references and the need to embed cultural activity across society and not ghettoised in a demarcated sector. is was followed by a response by Jerome who then also spoke about his plans and activities which he felt were aligned with the future that Germaine had described. e group were then invited to share more reflections on the future that they had seen and also ask specific questions to Jerome about the Gaite Lyrique and its operations and ambitions.

is was an excellent finale to the workshop and allowed a direct way for the participants to connect the work they had done in the previous three days with the activities and vision of the host venue. e session hinted at a model where a team of global talent as was assembled by Mission2062 could usefully provide powerful and new insights to a forward-looking and open-minded cultural organisation.

e engagement of Jerome Delormas in the process was highly appreciated by the participants and made the holding of the workshop at the Gaite Lyrique meaningful. Holding it as a public session also gave it additional import.

Germaine getting ready to talk to her 2012 counterpart

THREE TAKEAWAYSCreate a public showcase momentShare learnings with local leadersEngage deeply with at least one

12. PARTICIPANTFEEDBACKere were two ways in which feedback was sought. Firstly participants were invited to fill out blank feedback cards four of which are are displayed here with a full set available as an appendix.

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PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (2)

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PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (3)

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PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (4)

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PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (5)e second mechanism was a conventional paper feedback form which returned the following feedback and the full data available as an appendix:

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of participants agreed that Mission2062 was a high quality

workshop

100%

of participants agreed that British Council was a leading

organisation in its field

96%

felt that their understanding of the future role of culture had

increased a great deal

84%

Other comments- Very professional leading team, challenging ideas and ways of thinking, high level of conversation with peers- Well organised; and freedom was respected- Everything was so well organised- Amazing experience! It was a lab, a successful lab - I was not sure what to expect or to gain but am very happy- It was what I hoped for, and more

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13. SUCCESSFACTORSMission2062 was considered a success by all stakeholders. To help understand the elements which contributed towards this event, we have classified several success factors in six areas. ese six areas are:

1. Workshop design 2. Content3. Look & feel4. Facilitation5. Hosting6. People

While the documentation of these success factors can be used as principles for the design and production of future workshops, replicability will be explicitly discussed in a later section of this document

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SUCCESSFACTORS // WORKSHOP DESIGNUse of narrativeHaving a story within which the workshop was structured resulted in high levels of engagement and created a space for participants to think genuinely creatively.

Use of game mechanicsGame mechanics such as creating competitive elements where successful teams gained more information towards resolution of the narrative further increased engagement and team-bonding

Emergent narrative within known story arce narrative was such that the overall story was known but the episodic details were adapted according to how participants responded, this allowed the pace of the narrative to be at just the right pace for the levels of engagement.

Participant as a creative forcee participants were recognised as the creative professionals that they are with the workshop containing elements such as uncertainty, risk, storytelling and making which they would be familiar with in their conventional work.

Allowing for choice and optionsMany workshops are very highly structured and do not allow for emergent behaviour and diversity of activities. is event was designed to support participants to make choices as to what activities they did and how they did them - again increasing engagement

Lots of free timeRecognising the risks of over-scheduling and burn-out, workshop times were kept relatively short 10-4:30 to allow participants to balance the intensity of activities with time to themselves.

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SUCCESSFACTORS // WORKSHOP DESIGN (2)Avoiding conference clichesBy not using tables or flip-charts or limiting the activities to one space, Mission2062 avoided the worst elements of conventional workshops events to support inspiration and new thinking

Using outside space as core spaceMany traditional workshops limit themselves to one closed venue with the only engagement with the location coming out of hours. By making participants engage with the city as part of its core activity, La Gaîté Lyrique and its relationship to Paris became central to the narrative and experience of the workshop.

Limited use of social mediaSince social media does not always support presence nor bonding to a group in the same physical location, despite it being a current trend to ensure people captured as much content through digital devices as possible, Mission2062 did not emphasise this so as to ensure that face to face connections were primary.

Immediate showcasing of outputsBy showing the outputs of participant activity as soon as possible on the venue screens, there was a growth in the sense of pride in their thinking and creativity.

Pre-event actionsEngaging participants before the event via preliminary missions were very effective in introducing the event themes. Only 2 of the 35 participants did not complete the four preliminary missions indicating very high engagement despite them all being busy people

Meeting through objects and personal stories and not just biosWhile participants biographies were available before the event, the primary device used to socialise the group was the mission called BringMeaning described above. is technique allowed the group to form very quickly. 24

SUCCESSFACTORS // WORKSHOP DESIGN (3)Genuinely no agenda around community post evente event was designed for its own sake with no stipulation on what the participant community might do next. is allowed space for the participants to explore future actions openly and assess which follow-on activities are more appropriate.

Space for reflections and debriefAfter the close of the main activities, a session was included to allow participants to reflect upon and discuss their experience as well as share feedback on the process.

Trusted by the commissionersMission2062 was an experimental event whose creative design process involved relatively high levels of emergence, risk. By trusting the lead producer to deliver a high quality event even though some detailed elements were designed to be responsive in real-time to the participant’s engagement levels, the British Council demonstrated a progressive level of willingness to work in new ways.

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SUCCESSFACTORS // CONTENTNot utopian or dystopianWhen exploring the future, there is a risk that the future is framed exclusively as a paradise or as a hell. Participants were warned as to this risk and it allowed them to explore diverse scenarios without falling into either of these two traps.

Allowing for dissent and differenceAnother risk for a workshop of this type is that there is an explicit or implicit requirement for everyone to agree. Mission2062 allowed participants to hold different views - often radically so - and for that to be a necessary creative force of the event.

Not about culture or digital but all about itMission2062 was commissioned as an event which had the future roles of digital technology and the cultural sector at its heart. It quickly became evident that the participants felt that in the future there was no need to label anything as digital or to segregate the cultural sector since both these would be immersed in wider society.

Out of the immediacy of current contexte skilful use of play and the future as a theme allowed participants to step outside of their daily issues and contexts to engage in wider thinking that was not clouded with short-term issues.

Website legacyUsing the Mission2062 website both before and after the event as a repository for content encouraged the participants that their experience would also have a public-facing legacy

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SUCCESSFACTORS // LOOK & FEELCrafted aestheticFrom the website design to the use of woollen and paper structures during the event, Mission2062 had a very stylised and beautiful aesthetic. is is very rare in equivalent workshops and the unusually high production quality most probably resulted in participants engaging with the overall process in a deeper way than if it had not been employed.

Tangible and personalDespite involving much intellectual effort, Mission2062 was designed to ensure that participants used their hands and engaged with physical objects as much as possible to allow the event to be as embodied as possible. Since it involved the tactile sense so strongly, it also resulted in participants engaging with the process in a personal sense.

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SUCCESSFACTORS // FACILITATIONTeam facilitationHaving three facilitators who worked in partnership allowed responsibilities to be shared,energy levels to be maintained and all activities to enjoy a high level of visibility

Peer status of facilitatorsWith Rohan and Suzy as primary facilitators and being the same age and career level of the participants, there was a strong peer dynamic which minimised any intergenerational or authoritarian issues.

Design decisions explainedBy Rohan explaining why key design and narrative decisions were made to the group as they were introduced, this helped participants understand the design from a practical perspective as well as a learning one.

Trusting the group to get to know each othere participants were treated very much as adults and the facilitators did not feel it necessary to do any “hand-holding” which can create a distant dynamic between participant and facilitator

Honesty and integrityanks to the facilitators always looking to use open-ended questions and not pretending to know all the answers, the participants felt empowered and in control

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SUCCESSFACTORS // FACILITATIONSkill of the facilitator teame facilitator team was highly skilled and able to react responsively to the workshop as it developed.

Keep it riskyBy allowing for parts of the process to be emergent, it ensured the facilitators were vigilant and working hard to maximise the potential of the event

Real time check-insis emergent approach was enabled by regular check-in meetings between the facilitator team to review and plan in real-time

Strong local BC teamHaving such a strong British Council team as there is in Paris allowed the facilitators to focus on their role since many of the core production activities were so well executed

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SUCCESSFACTORS // HOSTINGLa Gaîté Lyrique as venueHaving such an exciting new space as the workshop venue was inspiring and attractive to the participants

Jerome’s involvementWith the GL’s Director actively involved at the beginning and end of the workshop, it meant that all activities were firmly connected to the venue and allowed a direct and meaningful route for sharing the learnings

2062 exhibitione 2062 exhibition and programme was central to the theming of the workshop and provided a different but related curated space for the participants to engage with the topics

Walkable cityWith Paris being such a walkable city it allowed the outside space to be directly used for workshop activities

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SUCCESSFACTORS // PEOPLEParticipant typeHaving all the participants engaged in the agendas of change and innovation led to the group being biased towards engaging with the theme of the future. is would be more difficult if the participants had been more traditional.

BC staff as normal participantsHaving the British Council staff considered just as the other participants were allowed them to enjoy that role and engage in the full participant experience without feeling they had to be one step removed.

Global group brought to a new placeHaving participants from several and often distant parts of the world gave a sense of a group coming together to do something special in a different city to the one they know the best and use the relatively unknown city as a way to allow new ways of seeing and thinking.

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14. AREASFORDEVELOPMENTere were two main areas in which the Mission2062 production team felt the process can be improved:

Creating an output for a wider public audienceWhile the closing session of the workshop in Paris was a public event and all worksop materials will be openly available online, there is potential in future similar events to create a more direct tangible output for a general audience. An inspiration for this is boat magazine (pictured right) where an editorial team is based in one location and creates a specific issue based on stories and issue from that location.

Creating a practical solution to a shared problemDespite the strong emphasis on making and tangible outputs, the workshop was not designed to explicitly result in practical solutions. ere is however the potential for future events to use the conversations as inputs for the practical development of relevant projects.

Both of these development areas are similar in that they are both tangible outputs for key audiences. Incorporating these into a Mission2062 type event would be possible with sufficient resources. is would best be done as a second follow-up event rather than including it all in one single event so that there is time to prepare and bring in more skills.

e Detroit issue of Boat Magazine

A planning session from Culture Shift Nairobi33

15. REPLICATINGTHEMODELMission2062 was designed as a site-specific workshop. erefore while exact like-for-like replication may not work in a different context and location, there are some key principles which would result in effective replication elsewhere.

Local Story. Create a narrative that is

meaningful to context of the event location

Local Host. Connect the activities to the

host venue’s agenda and involve the local leadership

Diverse Group. Invite enough non-local

participants so location can be seen with fresh eyes

Inspiring Space Create a workshop space that

will inspire the level of thinking that you want

Walkable City. Expand the boundaries of the

workshop and use the city for inspiration & content

Research Phase. Give sufficient time for the

designer to research the best solution for the context

Strong Facilitators.Employ facilitators who are

skilled in processes which are open, dynamic and uncertain

Commissioning. Having a clear objective for the event, knowing what a learning opportunity in the

process which involves

Realistic Budget.Allocate a budget to allow for a high production quality and

detailed design process

Local Knowledge. Allow the local British

Council team to be actively involved in the process.

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16. LESSONSFORPOLICYe design of the event itself provides some learning that is of value in policy development.

Moving from ‘policy discussions’ to developing narrativePolicy roundtables are often sterile and repetitive of the same issues. Creating a story within which policy can be imaginatively constructed through engagement and genuinely creativity could be a more valuable way to approach engagement.

People as a creative force rather than as ‘recipients’ of policyPolicy is often constructed in isolation by policy makers. Involving creative professionals with elements such as uncertainty, risk, storytelling and making which they would be familiar with in their conventional work could forge more engagement.

Allowing for creative solutions, choice and optionsPolicy is currently often stuck in old paradigms and does not allow for emergent behaviour and diversity of activities. Designing processes to support choice-making and emergence would support more innovative policy-making.

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17. SOMERECOMMENDATIONSMission2062 and the recent Culture Shift series of events reflect the British Council’s ambition of convening and curating innovative events which create new conversations, new collaborations and new projects. Based on the experience of Mission2062, the design team have five recommendations to the British Council for future work:

1. Include the core design principles of play, narrative, making and place in future events, especially those which include a global group (e.g. CLI)

2. Frame events with big, inspirational questions or calls-to-action

3. When participants come from creative backgrounds, use techniques from art & culture to design the events and draw on the creative skills of the participants

4. Design events specific to and inspired by location they are hosted in

5. Convene further Mission2062-type events and ensure they are being continually refreshed and improved

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18. DOCUMENTILLUSTRATIONS

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e illustrations in this document were done by Ella Britton, a UK participant. A full set of her visual record will be available on the Mission2062 website.

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19. CONTACTDETAILS

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For more information about Mission2062 please contact either Laëtitia Manach (convenor and commissioner, British Council) or Rohan Gunatillake (independent designer, producer & facilitator)

laë[email protected]@gmail.com

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