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This is why Agatino Nicita joined Hystore and he is giving his pivotal contribution to the success of the project with the use of the World Cafè method and its informal approach. Mr Nicita works at the Institute for Advanced Energy Technologies of the National Research Council (CNR-ITAE) in Messina, Italy, and his main expertise is the evaluation of the socio-economic impacts of environmental and energy technologies. 

We interviewed Mr Nicita to understand how he met the World Cafè methodology and why he believes is key to gaining social acceptance in the community where the projects are testing its technologies thanks to its co-creation and co-design methods and tools. 

Why did you start working with the Word Cafè method?

To achieve a full energy and environmentally friendly energy system, we can’t count on the development of technical and technological artifacts only. People must play a central role by changing their behaviour and using more efficient appliances, products, and systems, and optimizing their consumption.

Based on my interest in innovation diffusion and technology adoption processes, I’m passionate about involving potential users – consumers, installers, distributors, and decision-makers – in technology development to overcome obstacles and facilitate adoption.

How does this method differ from the others?

The World Café approach fosters collaboration among individuals from diverse backgrounds to reach a common goal through interactive events like workshops and focus groups. This co-creation process encourages creativity, idea-sharing, and experience exchange. Active participation enhances the adoption and diffusion of new products and services, fostering feelings of attachment, identification, and commitment. Products and services resulting from co-creation are more likely to succeed due to their clear added value for users.

Why does it work?

The key principle of this methodology is the ‘symmetry of ignorance’, which means we are all experts in some areas, but we deficient in many others. Because of this asymmetry, all participants are equal, and everyone can contribute to the development of a project or to find a solution to overcome a problem. The main challenge for the success of this methodology is to build a common language that allows each participant to meaningfully discuss the ‘value’ of their contribution with the others.

How to identify participants and topics? Who is its main target?

The success of a co-creation process hinges on various factors: the topic, objectives, and participants involved. Firstly, defining clear objectives and results is crucial to determining desired outcomes and their utilization, such as envisioning applications of technology or assessing reactions to prototypes.

 Secondly, identifying stakeholders and target groups, including customers, private and public actors, and NGOs, is essential. Once identified, understanding their interests and motivations enables them to leverage their motivations for the activity and to identify common goals that foster collaboration.  They need to see the added value of this interaction in relation to their own goals and objectives. It is important to bear in mind that each stakeholder’s motivation varies based on background, role, and interests, ranging from technology enthusiasts to environmental activists or those seeking participation opportunities for networking or community engagement.

How to encourage the partners to participate? What motivates them?

In Hystore, we conduct individual meetings with partners from the four pilot sites where new thermal energy storage technologies will be implemented. During these sessions, I outline the methodology, initiate brainstorming on potential topics and stakeholders, and address anticipated challenges in engaging those unfamiliar with the approach. Rest assured, we tailor the method to fit each unique context and environment.

What are the main challenges for the Hystore Project using the World Cafè method?

Effective implementation of this methodology necessitates meticulous activity planning, emphasizing teamwork and leveraging diverse skills within the project partnership for co-designing actions. It is in this collaborative framework that the meetings occur.

Each pilot site functions as a living laboratory where, alongside technical testing, we analyse people’s behavioural intentions and attitudes toward new thermal storage technologies. This analysis conducted partly through the co-creation methodology and partly through other methods, aims to promote and expedite technology adoption.

 

 

Hystore is developing new technologies that can change the way people experience energy consumption at their home. New technologies are not always welcomed though. This is why in Hystore we will run several meetings in our pilot cases following the World Cafè method – a co-creation approach based on informal conversations among people from different backgrounds. It is a tested method around the world that bring people for discussing about technologies or social problems in general, and to gain social acceptance. Read how it works what are its principles.

The new but always effective power of conversation and confrontation: the co-creation methodology

Co-creation is a widely used approach in business and public planning. Some companies such as IKEA, Heineken, Lego and Coca Cola use co-creation methods to develop their products and customer experiences. But also in research projects. Very interesting experiences have been made in this respect in some European projects: GoNano, Greco, S3C. In these projects, the co-creation method was used to address issues related to the development and application of nanotechnologies, to analyse the factors favouring or hindering the deployment of photovoltaics, to involve people in the uptake of smart energy solutions.

In research and innovation, co-creation can be used to ‘future-proof’ concepts, ideas, and products. For example, it can help to understand future contexts of use and their social practices, needs and values that may hinder the functionality of a new technological application. Furthermore possible uneven social impacts; or unforeseen safety or environmental impacts.

Working co-creatively with societal stakeholders and citizens at an early stage in a research or innovation setting can help anticipate challenges, shortcomings, or obstacles. It helps to design solutions that better meet the expectations and needs of society and future users. 

Furthermore, it would be possible to benefit from their ideas, suggestions, observations, but also from their creativity, which could, on the one hand, bring to shed light on aspects and issues that have not emerged in normal research activities, and, on the other hand, stimulate solutions that have not yet been considered by researchers or designers.

The World Cafè method and the seven principles

The World Café is a method you can use in a co-creation process. It is an easy to use, flexible and adaptable method for creating a collaborative dialogue and context. Its seven principles will guide and support everyone is willing to engage with this approach. The seven principles are:

1) Set the Context
2) Create Hospitable Space
3) Explore Questions that Matter
4) Encourage Everyone’s Contribution
5) Connect Diverse Perspectives
6) Listen Together for Patterns & Insights
7) Share Collective Discoveries

Set the context: To know what your goals and reasons are to have the meeting is first and most important aspect to define. By having your scopes well clear in mind, you can better choose participants and stakeholders to engage and best questions to drive people to give you fruitful responses.

Hospital space: never underestimate the environment. People who feel comfortable about where they are engage more and they are willing to do their best.

Questions that matter: Good questions will make the success of your meeting. Find questions that are relevant to the real-life concerns of the group. Depending on the goals, your Café may explore a single question or use a progressively deeper line of inquiry through several conversational rounds.

Encourage participations: in every group there will be someone who want to participate but they don’t feel secure enough to speak out. Be an encouraging figure with them and be able to let everyone speak their minds, always respecting their privacy and personality.

Connect Diverse Perspectives: how? Make them move and swipe tables! By having to chat with different people, participants will be stimulated by different perspectives and give you always new ideas.

Share Collective Discoveries: this is the final step of the Café, often called the ‘harvest’. This is the moment where ideas and questions emerged in the small groups are shared and discussed in a kind of general assembly involving all participants.

Tips to a great World Cafè meeting

Besides these principles, here are some tips to make your Cafè an insightful experience for your and your participants:

• Name your Café according to your scope. For example: Knowledge Café; Strategy Café; Discovery Café, etc.
• Each table should have 5 people max and consider 12 or 15 people in total for each session.
• Set up progressive (at least three) rounds of conversation, approximately 20 minutes each.
• Provide participants with some papers on the tables for notes and write down ideas
• Choose a ‘table host’: someone who remains at the same table on the next turn, while the rest act as ‘travellers’ or ‘messengers of meaning’.
• Consider if the same question can be addressed in one or more rounds of the conversation, or if different questions can be asked in each round to build on and deepen the exploration.

Word Cafè for the Hystore Project

In Hystore we are developing innovative technologies that can support people every day’s lives and their experience with energy consumptions. Implementing new technologies can be a challenge and new technologies can lack of social acceptance because too difficult to use, people are not fully prepared to change, or they don’t understand immediately the benefit of these technologies.

To overcome these challenges, we planned some meeting adopting the World Cafè methodologies in the cities selected as our pilot sites of the project.

Word Cafè expert in Hystore.

Agatino Nicita is the main expert within the project to run the World Cafè method. Read what interesting him the most about this method in his interview for the Hystore Project!

References: The World Café Community Foundation (2015). “A Quick Reference Guidefor Hosting World Café”, www.theworldcafe.com Frederick Steier, Juanita Brown a n d Flavio Mesquitada Silva (2015) “The World Café in Action esearch Settings” BK-SAGE-BRADBURY-150096-Chp20.

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