As a Participant…

The Dialogues are carefully curated and facilitated to help you explore convergences and differences with others. They are designed to offer informed, and constructive feedback for use in the preparation of the Summit. The Dialogues approach enables all Participants to:

  • Listen to each other;
  • Welcome diverse perspectives;
  • Seek out new connections;
  • Explore both synergy and divergence;
  • Collaborate in order to identify promising courses of action;
  • Debate potential impact of different strategies.

Click here to learn more about the role of Participants in a Food Systems Summit Dialogue.

 

How to become a Dialogue Participant

  • Dialogues are closed events and therefore Participants are invited by the Convenor. If you would like to take part in a Dialogue but have not been invited, you can explore Dialogues that have been announced. In some instances, Dialogue Convenors may be contacted on the Dialogue event webpage.
  • If you aren’t able to join a Dialogue as a Participant, you might want to consider convening a Dialogue or working within your network to encourage someone to become a Dialogue Convenor.

 

What to do if you have been invited to be a Participant

  • Great news! You have come to the right place. Now that you have registered on the Summit Dialogues Gateway, you should have seen an Invitation on your welcome page. When you accept, your Dialogue Convenor will be notified that you are a Participant and your profile information (in particular your sector and stakeholder group) and be able to plan accordingly.
  • On the Dialogue event page via Your Dialogues, you will find information from the Convenor such as joining details (for online events) or venue information (for in-person events). If you have been invited by a Convenor to be a Participant but do not see the event on your Your Dialogues page, please contact your Convenor to make sure the correct email has been used and that you have registered with the same email address.

 

On the day

  • Come prepared: for example by reading any background documents the convenor may have sent… but not too much. Dialogues events contain few speeches and are structured around dynamic interactions that happen in “Discussion Groups”. This might be a breakout room for online meetings or the tables for an in-person meeting.
  • Let yourself be surprised: you probably won’t know until the last minute which discussion group you will join and it may not be the one you expected. Every Discussion Group will have a Facilitator who is responsible for ensuring that each Participant has an opportunity to contribute meaningfully and have their perspectives listened to by others.

Click here to understand what to expect from a typical Food Systems Summit Dialogue event

A recommended rule for open discussion

When a certain level of anonymity can be promised, people speaking are more likely to be open and honest. This is important for the richness of the discussion and the value of the Dialogue. Therefore, information disclosed during a Dialogue event may be reported by those present, but the source of that information many not be explicitly or implicitly identified.

This rule is sometimes referred to as the “Chatham House Rule”.

Your Convenor, Curator or Facilitator will let you know on the day if this rule is in place at your specific Dialogue.