World Cafe Model of Dialogue
Concepts:
Drawing on seven integrated design principles, the World Café methodology is a simple, effective, and flexible format for hosting large group dialogue. World Café can be modified to meet a wide variety of needs. Specifics of context, numbers, purpose, location, and other circumstances are factored into each event’s unique invitation, design, and question choice, but the following five components comprise the basic model:
1) Setting: Create a “special” environment, most often modeled after a café, i.e. small round tables covered with a checkered or white linen tablecloth, butcher block paper, colored pens, a vase of flowers, and optional “talking stick” item. There should be four chairs at each table (optimally) – and no more than five.
2) Welcome and Introduction: The host begins with a warm welcome and an introduction to the World Café process, setting the context, sharing the Cafe Etiquette, and putting participants at ease.
3) Small Group Rounds: The process begins with the first of three or more twenty minute rounds of conversation for the small group seated around a table. At the end of the twenty minutes, each member of the group moves to a different new table. They may or may not choose to leave one person as the “table host” for the next round, who welcomes the next group and briefly fills them in on what happened in the previous round.
4) Questions: each round is prefaced with a question specially crafted for the specific context and desired purpose of the World Café. The same questions can be used for more than one round, or they can be built upon each other to focus the conversation or guide its direction.
5) Harvest: After the small groups (and/or in between rounds, as needed), individuals are invited to share insights or other results from their conversations with the rest of the large group. These results are reflected visually in a variety of ways, most often using graphic recording in the front of the room.
Instructions:
​
-
Break group up into 3-4 smaller groups, ideally sitting at different tables
-
Balance participants between different disciplines, nationalities, and student/researcher.
-
Each table has it’s own open-answered question - discuss and consider it as a group
-
Self-select one person per table to stay and be the “thread-keeper” or “note-taker” to facilitate dialogue in the group and between groups
-
After 15-20 minutes (whenever conversation dims), everyone switches except the thread-keeper who will stay at the original table and will share with the new people the past conversations
-
In the new group, the thread-keeper links the new and old group together and a new conversation centered around the table topic begins
-
After all groups have had a chance to meet and discuss, facilitate a call-back discussion with the whole group
More Information:
​