Impact Space events promote participant learning and exchange. The in-person event agenda will include:
Open Space – participant-led discussion, facilitated using a tried and tested model – more detail below.
‘Ignite style’ talks – short, time-limited talks to all participants. They’re a great chance to showcase a campaign, share learnings or failures, or share a provocation to feed into a later discussion session.
Parallel presentations – longer presentations, running in parallel to offer participants a choice of topics.
Teach in – workshop style sessions where you can share a skill or try out a learning exercise with an eager group.
Speedpitching – a chance for suppliers and agencies to literally ‘set out their stall’ in fast 5m ‘pitches’ to small groups over drinks. This is a fun and productive format, as the pressure’s on to keep the pitches fun and useful. It also allows us to have a strict ‘no sales talk’ rule for the rest of the event.
Skillshare dating – what do you know a lot about? What do you wish you knew more about? We’ll help pair you up with people who need what you have, and have what you need!
Impact Space 2024
Impact Space online part 1 – 5 March 2024, 15:00 – 17:30 Central European Time
This online event, hosted on Zoom, will offer a mix of speakers and group discussions.
Impact Space Amsterdam – 22-23 April 2024 – two full days
This participant-driven, two-day event at MidWest, Amsterdam, will feature a mixture of presentations, open space discussions, ‘ignite style’ talks, teach-ins, speedpitching, and skillsharing.
Impact Space online part 1: 23 May 2024 15:00 – 17:30 Central European Time
Join us on Zoom to watch pre-recorded sessions from the Amsterdam event, followed by Q&A with the speakers and breakout discussions with peers.
What is Open Space and how does it work?
Open Space Technology has been around since the 1980s and has been used to organise small meetings to large multi-day conferences with hundreds of participants.
At Impact Space we use an adapted version of Open Space, in combination with the other formats above, to build a participant-led agenda with a strong structure, and plenty of changes of pace through the day.
Open Space operating principles
Whoever comes are the right people
You don’t need lots of people; just people who care
Only one? Maybe use the time to reflect on what you’ve learnt so far
Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
About letting go of expectations: coulds, shoulds; whatever is, is; work with it
You’ve got your objectives for the event – find a way to achieve them
When interesting stuff starts is the only time it could have started
Creativity does not happen according to a schedule
When it’s over, it’s over
Done in 10 minutes? Great! Move on.
If it’s not over, keep going until you’re done – reconvene in another session.
The Law of 2 Feet: Move when it is right for you
- Move when you are neither learning nor contributing
- It’s up to you to take a stand get your own needs met
- If someone is hogging air-time, vote with your feet
- Be a bumblebee: Cross-pollinate ideas, it’s fine to move from group to group.
Don’t underestimate butterflies: look delicate; deceptive impact. Sit down and have a quiet, reflective talk with that person sitting by themselves; a chance remark may impact your thinking and you take it back into the larger group and it affects others
Irritated by people who never participate in sessions? Know they do serve a useful purpose. You’re one of them? Don’t need to feel guilty about it – in open space you’re valued.
Be prepared to be surprised. Never before and never again will this group be together – so make the most of it!.
What actually happens…
If you haven’t experienced Open Space before then you may well be wondering what all this means in practice. Fair enough! What do we actually DO?
The easiest way to get the hang of Open Space is to do it; most first-timers find that after the first round they understand the process clearly, and by the end of two days are wondering how they can go back to ‘normal’ conferences full of people telling you what you’re supposed to talk about!
But in the meantime (because we want you to come) here’s roughly how we do it..
1/ Gather topics
2/ Individuals come forward to turn topic ideas into session proposals
3/ Individuals pitch their proposals to the group
4/ We allocate sessions to spaces
5/ GO LEARN!
When you apply… we’ll ask you about the topics you think you’ll want to discuss. What are your challenges, areas of interest, burning questions?
Before the event…
we’ll share all those ideas, generate more, and start to group them into themes and recurring ideas. We start to generate session proposals.
During the morning of Day 1…
we’ll introduce the format to the whole group, and start to generate more session proposals. Anyone can make a session proposal and thereby offer to become a ‘convener’ – that is the ‘host’ of the ‘space’ or discussion they’re going to open. The facilitation team can help you develop or refine your proposal if you want.
At the beginning of each Open Space slot…
we’ll review the available proposals, select 5-10 and ask the conveners to ‘pitch’ their session. Each group is then allocated to a physical space in the building. The facilitation team will ensure that room allocations are shared publicly, so people can easily move between groups if they wish.
In each Open Space slot…
the convener hosts the space, but the groups are collectively responsible for the outcome. Each group gets a feedback sheet and a flipchart, and can decide what they wish to share back to the wider group.
Past agenda – get a feel for the event
If you’re registered to attend, or sign up for updates, there will be opportunities to feed into the agenda, and we’ll keep you informed as the event takes shape. In the meantime, take a look at the agenda for the 2019 Berlin event to get a sense of how things come together.
2019 guest speakers
Wednesday, November 27th
| 10:00-16:00 | Training days Full day trainings are bookable separately, or alongside the main ECF event. Change the world with content strategy, with Contentious | UfaFabrik |
| 18:30-19:30 | ECF pre-meeting In this optional pre-meeting we'll be starting to generate agenda topics and session ideas. Come along and help us get the event off to a strong start. | UfaFabrik Foyer Bar |
| 19:30-21:00 | Pre-event dinner Included in the participation fee - a great chance to kick start the conversations and connections of ECF. | UfaFabrik Foyer Bar |
| ab 21:00 | Drinks | Foyer Bar |
Thursday, November 28th
| 08:00-08:50 | Breakfast (included in the event fee) | Foyer Bar |
| 09:00-09:15 | Welcome + agenda review | Theatre |
| 09:15-10:15 | Warm up activities | Theatre |
| 10:15-10:30 | Introduction to Open Space and agenda-setting | Theatre |
| 10:30-10:45 | Coffee | Foyer Bar |
| 10:45-11:45 | Open Space A We'll build the agenda from the participants' interests, questions and challenges. Let us know what YOU would like to see on the agenda. | Various |
| 11:45-12:45 | Theatre | |
| 12:45-13:30 | Lunch Vegan lunch courtesy of our lovely caterers, Playing with eels. | Foyer Bar |
| 13:30-14:00 | Walk/free time | Meet by the steps if you'd like to go for a stroll. |
| 14:00-14:45 | Children and young people in activism - Sena Atici Movements led by children and young people are growing bigger and bigger. Looking at Greta Thunberg and young climate strikers around the world to young people in America marching for their lives (MarchForOurLives), we have seen a rise in youth-led movements. These young people have started social change and are making adults change their minds. What can we learn from children and young people's campaigns? How can we make our own campaigns more appealing to younger generations? And finally, how can we empower children and young people to make their voices heard? Is the Alt-Right still way ahead in information technology? - Juri Maier In the last 3-4 years we were busy understanding how the Alt-Right managed the echo chambers provided by social media in order to create their alternative reality. But what are the consequences so far? Is imposed or self-regulation of Social Media helpful in reducing hate speech, fake news and foreign influence on elections? Are progressive organizations any nearer to a strategy for answering the challenge, or at least narrowing the gap in the efficiency of social media usage between the Alt-Right and the rest? And what new strategies and activities of the Alt-Right do we need to examine? Introduction to behavioural psychology - Alex Chesterfield If your interest has been aroused by some of the ideas that Ali and Alex have touched on in their presentation, here's a chance to find out more about the emerging science of behavioural psychology - the study of why people do what they do. Behavioural scientist Alex will introduce some of the key concepts, studies and methodologies that are used to understand human behaviour, and the implications for campaigners and communicators who seek to influence people and change what they think and do. Reaching the other side - Rachel Collinson In this presentation, you can find out how the WeDialogue project recruited conservatives and libertarians for an online research project. This is a rare opportunity to learn some frank lessons from failure and see what methods and tactics worked in the end. | Various |
| 14:45-15:45 | Open Space B | Various |
| 15:45-16:15 | Coffee and cake | Foyer Bar |
| 16:15-17:15 | Skillshare session | Theatre |
| 17:15-18:00 | Fundraising through Facebook - sharing some success stories from Barnardos Ireland about how we used storytelling on Facebook to bring in new donors - Jean O'Brien Suffragette spirit - connecting local, regional and international issues at Amnesty - Sara Rydkvist Political advocacy for a nuclear ban - Xanthe Hall and Philipp Holz Everything I learned from starting a memes page on Instagram - Paul Hallows How to be a craftivist (craft + activist): the art of gentle protest - Sarah Corbett, Craftivist Collective | Theatre |
| 18:30-19:30 | Speed pitching A fast-paced and fun chance to hear from agencies and consultants about what they can offer, over drinks. | Theatre |
| 19:30-21:00 | Evening meal (included in the event fee) A delicious vegan menu - guten Appetit! | Foyer Bar |
| 21:00-late | Drinks & get together | Foyer Bar |
Friday, November 29th
| 08:00-08:50 | Breakfast (included in the event fee) | Foyer Bar |
| 09:00-09:15 | Agenda review and pulse check | Theatre |
| 09:15-10:00 | Warm up activities | Theatre |
| 10:00-11:00 | Open Space C Activist retreat space open in Atelier 1 during Open Space C and throughout Friday, courtesy of the Craftivist Collective. | Various |
| 11:00-11:15 | Coffee break | Foyer Bar |
| 11:15-12:15 | Open Space D | Various |
| 12:15-13:00 | Lunch | Foyer Bar |
| 13:00-13:15 | Group photo | Theatersaal steps |
| 13:15-14:15 | Free time/Walk/Tour of UfaFabrik Discover the fascinating past and present of our amazing Berlin venue | Meet outside |
| 14:15-15:30 | Children and young people in activism - Sena Atici Movements led by children and young people are growing bigger and bigger. Looking at Greta Thunberg and young climate strikers around the world to young people in America marching for their lives (MarchForOurLives), we have seen a rise in youth-led movements. These young people have started social change and are making adults change their minds. What can we learn from children and young people's campaigns? How can we make our own campaigns more appealing to younger generations? And finally, how can we empower children and young people to make their voices heard? Is the Alt-Right still way ahead in information technology? - Juri Maier In the last 3-4 years we were busy understanding how the Alt-Right managed the echo chambers provided by social media in order to create their alternative reality. But what are the consequences so far? Is imposed or self-regulation of Social Media helpful in reducing hate speech, fake news and foreign influence on elections? Are progressive organizations any nearer to a strategy for answering the challenge, or at least narrowing the gap in the efficiency of social media usage between the Alt-Right and the rest? And what new strategies and activities of the Alt-Right do we need to examine? Introduction to behavioural psychology - Alex Chesterfield If your interest has been aroused by some of the ideas that Ali and Alex have touched on in their presentation, here's a chance to find out more about the emerging science of behavioural psychology - the study of why people do what they do. Behavioural scientist Alex will introduce some of the key concepts, studies and methodologies that are used to understand human behaviour, and the implications for campaigners and communicators who seek to influence people and change what they think and do. Reaching the other side - Rachel Collinson In this presentation, you can find out how the WeDialogue project recruited conservatives and libertarians for an online research project. This is a rare opportunity to learn some frank lessons from failure and see what methods and tactics worked in the end. | Various rooms |
| 15:30-15:45 | Open Space B | Foyer Bar |
| 15:45-17:00 | Coffee and cake | Seminar room |
| 17:30 onwards | Skillshare session | Cafe Ole, UfaFabrik |
