Convene Across Sectors
Convening is about bringing those to the table who usually wouldn’t talk or work with each other to discuss challenges, find solutions and exchange learning through facilitated conversations. The aim of this tool is simply to enable you to free the knowledge, experience and contacts that sit within our networks and organizations to inspire new ideas and make new connections.
Both WWF and Impact Hub have been powerful conveners and we are targeting very complementary groups: while WWF has convened institutions (governments, corporates, non-for-profits); Impact Hub focuses on communities of grassroots innovators (social entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, designers). Convening these groups together will bring more diversity and perspectives to important conversations and open opportunities to more innovative and transformative solutions.
The way we convene is also important. Impact Hub uses highly collaborative formats that put all stakeholders on eye level and focus on resolving the issue at hand. The different formats presented below are meant to give you an idea of different programs or events that Impact Hub and WWF could initiate together starting with a 1-hour session to running a 12-month program. The formats are very flexible and can be adjusted to the various themes, local context, target group, etc. and it is also possible to develop something completely new.
Hackathon – A 1-day event that unites diverse stakeholders around a theme to a sprint-like event in which participants are joining their knowledge and skills to create practical and locally rooted solutions.
From Seed to Shirt – A 2 or 3 day retreat that convenes all stakeholders from a region that are engaged in a specific production chain to understand perspectives, define issues and develop solutions together that ensure sustainable products. Ideally, this would be a series of workshops with the same theme in various countries to ensure transnational learning and inspiration.
Beyond – A 1-year format where expert groups meet regularly to explore different local challenges under an umbrella theme to jointly build a deep understanding of the issue and define a solution package to be implemented and shared with the wider public.
U-Lab – This highly experiential course is based on Theory U, a framework, method, and way of connecting to the more authentic aspects of our self. The 6-week course of online videos is complemented with weekly in-person meetings of a group that is going through the change process together and tackle a local challenge through deep listening, deconstructing and prototyping.
