Creating the MARGISTAR Vision Workshop

By Dr Irene Christoforidi (Hellenic Mediterranean University)

Participating in a Virtual Mobility last June with Dublin City University was a pivotal experience for MARGISTAR’s Irene Christoforidi in designing the MARGISTAR Vision Workshop. This workshop aims to engage stakeholders in marginalised mountainous communities across the EU, enabling them to imagine future possibilities and develop actionable strategies for overcoming marginalisation challenges. Read on to better understand the outputs of this collaboration between Greece and Ireland and the budding initiative for community transformation in marginalised mountain areas.

Last June, I had the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Mobility with Prof Theo Lynn, Prof Colm O’Gorman, Dr Michelle Cowley-Cunningham, and Sam Schoenlank from Dublin City University (DCU) in Ireland. Virtual mobility gives room for online collaborations, creating work spaces between MARGISTAR participants from different countries and institutions that promote intercultural dialogue and soft skill development.

During the Virtual Mobility, we designed the MARGISTAR Vision Workshop (MVW) as a tool to collect meaningful data from local stakeholders in marginalised mountainous communities within the EU. The MVW focuses on immersive engagements with rural stakeholders, addressing their visions and fostering real-world solutions and post-marginalisation pathways.

Introducing the MARGISTAR Vision Workshop

The MVW design consists of (i) a presentation introducing MARGISTAR and the MVW, (ii) an ice breaker activity, (iii) four participatory activities, (iv) a wrap-up session focusing on next steps. Participatory approaches added material for the workshop activities and served to support participants in understanding alternative perspectives, explore their possible futures, and discuss future policy options together. The MVW’s four participatory activities follow the metaphor of a mountain climb:

1. The Approach, during which participants envision potential futures for their community, setting the foundation for their journey by exploring various directions and trajectories.
2. Basecamp, at which point participants identify and agree on the current and future challenges that must be addressed to achieve their visions.
3. The Summit Approach, where participants determine the key actions or steps needed to overcome identified challenges.
4. The Summit, where participants revisit and refine their vision statement, incorporating the challenges and actionable steps identified.

The workshops are concluded during the Descent, after which facilitators summarise and circulate a summary of workshop outputs for validation and clarification by the group, ensuring clear next steps and ongoing engagement.

MARGISTAR Vision Workshop Building Blocks

A workshop guide was also created to support workshop organisers and facilitators. The MVW Guide includes general information, like anticipated outputs and organisational details, a workshop agenda, a detailed procedure and an activity guide, and examples for potential solutions, indicative actions, or for diversification in multi-settlement scenarios. Designed materials include the MVW PowerPoint deck, worksheets, and activity cards.

The MVW is set to be implemented in eight marginalised mountain communities within the EU. They will support the standardisation of methods and procedures within MARGISTAR networking activities and collect data from local marginalised mountainous communities. Workshop results will contribute to MARGISTAR’s MoU objectives and deliverables, namely to:

1. Mainstream research results into local, national, European, and global discussions and decision-making,
2. Facilitate consensus building in a common language and effective networking
3. Synthesise evidence on periphery traps and transformation pathways
4. Involve stakeholders in territorial cooperation to increase knowledge.

Knowledge gathered from these workshops will be shared by those who live and/or work in marginalised mountain areas and have either an interest in or responsibilities for supporting their sustainable development.

The Bigger Picture: Why We Developed the MARGISTAR Vision Workshop

The MVW will assist those who live in marginalised mountainous areas to articulate a vision and design actionable pathways for sustaining and developing their community or area. By addressing the intricate web of natural, environmental, social, and economic dynamics in marginalised mountainous areas, the MVW will provide invaluable insights to guide authentic and transformative initiatives at the grassroots level. In addition, involving both geographically dispersed stakeholders and local key stakeholder groups will promote a legitimate scenario development process within the EU. This describes a process by which potential scenarios are explored to trigger a better understanding of future uncertainties. The output of this process is a list of potential scenarios for sustainable transitions and better futures in marginalised mountain communities.

The MVW was designed to trigger sustainable transitions in marginalised mountain communities. The MVW’s participatory activities are designed to foster ownership over workshop results, ultimately creating stakeholders who champion these evidence-based insights with key decision makers and thought leaders. In addition, stakeholder insights derived from their inclusive participation will better inform decision making in localities and enhance the perceived legitimacy of the workshop’s results.

If you are planning on facilitating a workshop, please contact Dr Irene Christoforidi to request the workshop document pack at [email protected]. You can also join our dedicated MVW facilitator’s group on MARGISTAR’s FAIRWAY in Europe platform.

Header image: @enginakyurt