Put Yourself in my Shoes: Role-Playing for a Better Policy Design

Summary: Key features in a nutshell

• Originated from an academic participant’s observation of a local problem (difficulties in dialogue between providers of public interest services)
• Mobilized the quadruple helix model (academia, policymakers, private sector, civil society) plus Master’s students
• Resulted in two webinars discussing key issues and an experiential workshop led by academic scholars (full professor and researchers) and knowledge exchange managers
• The experimental workshop included group works in a role-playing mode, in order for participants to understand how other professional job role works
• Final debate and networking
• Ultimately, it allows for a new perspective and a broader understanding of the policymaking and implementation process

Description

This case study points out how a common language can be constructed with respect  to policy design or policy implementation in the region, thanks to an experiment launched by the Department of Economics at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and Ca’ Foscari Challenge School (the executive school of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice offering Master’s degrees and advanced training courses for professionals) under the Erasmus+ ENGAGEgreen project.

The program was organized into three constituent parts: two online meetings an in-person experiential workshop. This approach facilitates the engagement of researchers, policymakers, students, and workers/representatives from the third sector, NGOs, and civil society.

The starting point

The impetus for establishing a workshop that facilitates collaboration among diverse professionals engaged in public policy emerged from the observations of a researcher from the Department of Economics at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The researcher was involved in a field research project in the planning office of a public body that collaborates with third sector organizations to provide services and relies on university research centers for the methodological definition of planning tools. Through field observation, it became clear that there was a problem in the dialogue between different bodies on the same issues, with regard to both administrative and methodological processes – in this specific case, the coproduction of social services.

Who should be involved as participants?

Master’s students, doctoral students, researchers, professors, mayors, councilors, public sector workers, third sector workers, and civil society.

How does the format work?

The initiative begins with the collection of participants’ registration. This step may seem obvious, but it is equally essential for creating a mixed classroom composed of different professionals and roles.

Subsequently, two online webinars are planned, led by professionals and university professors. The number of introductory webinars may vary based on the need for further study and the topics to be covered. The webinars aim to bring together the key topics of the course from both a theoretical perspective (looking at both the legal/administrative and methodological/sociological aspects) and a practical perspective. Ideally, the introductory webinars should lay the foundations for what will then be shared and implemented during the experiential workshop. The ideal structure should include at least one webinar held by academics to share theoretical foundations and at least one webinar held by public sector professionals to share the operating methods implemented by public offices.

The last and most important meeting is an experiential workshop divided into two parts:

• In the first part, the key theme of the day is explored in depth through a presentation by an academic expert on the subject, who will then support the working groups to resolve any theoreticalissues;
• The second part – which should last at least three hours – is the core of the activity and involves dividing the participants into mixed groups. It will proceed as follows:
  • the group work will take the form of a role-playing game, replicating a real-life operational situation involving discussions between various organizations and professionals, as would happen in reality;
  • as in any role-playing game, participants will put themselves in someone else’s shoes so the mayor may be a third sector worker, the public sector worker may be the councilor, the third sector worker may be the researcher, etc.
  • tasks are assigned – for example, the preparation of a collaboration agreement between institutions, and participants must draft the document, remembering that, on this occasion, they must represent an institution or role other than their own;
  • each group will have a knowledge exchange manager who will help participants stay on track.

Participants:

5 researchers

37 policymakers

6 students

5 NGO/civil society representatives

30 other (business/private)

Challenges

• involve different professionals and roles from different organizations and territories
• ensure that participants have a uniform level of knowledge
• make it clear that during the experiential workshop group work, participants are representing another organization and/or another role and therefore need to think differently

Task and resources

Academics

The program is very time efficient for academics. Since the meetings are about topics they already cover in conferences or courses, they do not have to invest much time in preparing other than reading about the topics of interest.

Support staff (researchers, knowledge exchange managers, and research managers)

The department employed

• two researchers, already part of the staff, to handle the methodological management of the initiative
• two research managers who handled the organizational aspects
• three knowledge exchange managers who facilitated the group work

Policymakers/researchers/workers from public bodies and the third sector

The participants must submit an application that takes them a couple of minutes to prepare.

Required funding

Light networking lunch was offered at the end of the workshop.

Sources and further reading

Event poster.