CO-CREATE Dialogue Forum tool is now available
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An intergenerational novel tool designed to connect youth and decision makers to co-create solutions for a healthier future.
About the Dialogue Forum?
The CO-CREATE Dialogue Forum is an inclusive space for discussion and co-creation across generations and sectors. The free canvas and a five-step process are designed to allow participants to connect with others, discuss an idea or intervention, and collaborate on action. The tool and process, developed for and with young people, promotes youth inclusion and leadership in decision making.
The Dialogue Forum can be used digitally and as a physical canvas, which means you can host a Dialogue Forum anytime, anywhere. The Dialogue Forum is most useful when you have an idea, policy or intervention and you want to include different perspectives and insights from across generations to collectively take action to address it.
Why was the Dialogue Forum created?
The Dialogue Forum was created to facilitate policy discussions among youth, policymakers, and business representatives in the CO-CREATE project. CO-CREATE is an EU Horizon 2020 project which aims to educate and empower youth to develop policy solutions to build healthy food and physical activity environments. As part of the development process, young people were invited to plan and participate in Dialogue Forums to help refine their ideas and identify actions. Through CO-CREATE, 20 Dialogue Forums were held at the local, national and international levels. The Dialogue Forum tool and Guidebook are based on the learnings of these 20 Dialogues and participants' experiences from around the world.
A physical toolkit for people in the same room
The physical Dialogue Forum tool allows people to come together in person to discuss an idea and collaborate on actions. Tables that can accommodate a maximum of six participants and one moderator are used in the Dialogue Forum. Increasing the number of tables used in the Dialogue Forum can scale your event and increase the number of participants who can join the discussion.
You can download the full Physical Dialogue Forum package. This package contains the Dialogue Forum canvas, moderator cards and other materials. This can be printed at home using A4 paper or at a professional print shop.
To get going, watch the how-to host a Dialogue Forum in person on Vimeo (3 minutes). In this video, each step in how to facilitate and participate in a physical Dialogue forum. Use this to learn about the physical tool and share it with participants before your event.
To learn even more about hosting a physical Dialogue Forum, check out the “Discuss” section of the Guidebook.
The digital toolkit to bring people together beyond borders
The digital Dialogue Forum tool allows you to bring participants from around the world together to discuss an idea and collaborate on actions. The tool can be used on various free and accessible digital platforms including Zoom, Jamboard and Miro. Each breakout room can accommodate a maximum of six participants and one moderator. You can easily scale a digital Dialogue Forum by hosting several breakout rooms.
You can download the Digital Dialogue Forum package. Download the package to access the canvas, digital moderator cards and other materials.
A separate how-to video is available to teach you and participants about how to hold and use the digital Dialogue forum (3 minutes). Use this to learn about the digital tool and share with participants before the event.
To learn more about hosting a digital Dialogue Forum, check out the "Discuss" section of the Guidebook.
A Guidebook that helps you organise
The Guidebook has been written for anyone who wants to organise or learn about a Dialogue Forum. It provides practical guidance on planning, executing, and follow-up on a Dialogue. The Guidebook contains three chapters – Plan, Discuss, Act – corresponding to the three stages of a Dialogue Forum. Each section describes the steps needed to execute the stage. These steps are intentional and integrated, meaning they should be followed to ensure a safe and inclusive space for dialogue. The Discuss chapter also contains a detailed description of the physical and digital Dialogue Forum tools.
Examples of use
From June 2020 to March 2022, the CO-CREATE project delivered 20 Dialogue Forums at the local, national and regional level. Based on those experiences, six considerations on how to establish multi-actor Dialogue Forums were made. They are intended to guide youth organizations, policymakers, civil society organisations, municipalities, and other actors interested in organizing a multi-actor and intergenerational Dialogue Forum, and should be considered by the host in the planning, execution, and follow-up phases.
The CO-CREATE team has used the Dialogue Forum to collect children's views on the EU school fruit, vegetable and milk scheme, which is designed to support and promote daily consumption of fruit/vegetables and milk among children in Europe. This report provides evidence of the usefulness of this tool to collect input and create engagement among 10-12 year olds.
More questions? FAQs
1. What is a Dialogue Forum?
A Dialogue Forum is an inclusive space for discussion and co-creation across generations and sectors. Using a free canvas and a five-step process, participants are invited to connect with others, discuss an idea or intervention, and collaborate on action. The tool is available digitally and in a physical format, making it accessible across locations and time zones. To learn more about the tool, check out our concept videos and the Guidebook which provides step-by-step instructions on how to organise a Dialogue Forum.
2. Who is it for?
The Dialogue Forum tool was designed to connect participants across ages, sectors and geographies. While anyone can organise or attend a Dialogue Forum, the target audience is:
- Young people or youth organisations looking to engage decisionmakers to increase awareness and action on an idea.
- Decisionmakers (policy, private sector, experts) who are looking to engage and meaningfully involve young people in the design, implementation or evaluation of interventions.
To ensure youth participation is meaningful, young people should make up at least 50% of total participants. (The United Nations defines youth as persons between 15 and 24 years of age.)
3. Can I organise a Dialogue Forum?
Yes, anyone can organise a Dialogue Forum. The Guidebook provides step-by-step instructions on how to organise a Dialogue Forum and the tools are available to download for free. Both the digital tool and the physical tool can be downloaded.
4. Can I hold a Dialogue with just youth or just adults?
Yes, you can. It was designed to connect young people and adults, but it can be used with either group.
5. How do I organise a Dialogue Forum?
There are three stages to organising a Dialogue Forum:
Stage 1: Plan (idea to discuss, inviting participants, training moderators, setting up logistics)
Stage 2: Discuss and hold the Dialogue Forum!
Stage 3: Act (thank participants, share outcomes, take idea forward)
Check out our Guidebook for step-by-step instructions on how to organise a Dialogue Forum.
6. Is the tool free?
Yes, you can download digital tool package and the physical tool package.
7. Can more than six people join a Dialogue Forum?
Yes, you can invite as many participants as you would like. Each canvas was designed to accommodate a maximum of six participants and one moderator. To engage more participants, you can use multiple tables (physical) or breakout rooms (digital).
8. Who is needed to hold a Dialogue Forum?
You will need an organiser to coordinate the planning, execution and follow-up of the Dialogue Forum, and participants to engage in the activities, ask questions, contribute to the discussion and commit to action. Moderators are needed to guide participants through the activities and discussion using moderator cards. Technical support to help the moderators with taking notes of the discussion is encouraged.
9. Can the moderator also participate in the Dialogue?
Yes, a moderator can participate in the Dialogue at the same time.
10. Does a Dialogue Forum need to be two hours?
The Dialogue Forum was designed to be 1.5 to 2 hours long. This time gives all participants the opportunity to get to know each other, and the space to contribute equally, while exploring the idea or issue in-depth. If you want to hold a shorter Dialogue Forum, you can invite participants to answer the questions from each of the five steps in advance and be prepared to discuss during the event.
11. Is the tool available in any other languages?
The Dialogue Forum tool is currently available in English, Spanish, Catalan, French, German and Swedish (with more languages to come).
Click below to download the physical Dialogue Forum package in other languages (including the Dialogue Forum canvas, moderator cards and other materials).
- Catalan / Català
- French / Français
- Spanish / Español
- German / Deutsch
- Swedish / Svenska
- Norwegian / Norsk
- Portuguese / Português
- Dutch / Nederlands
- Polish / Polski
Click below to download the digital Dialogue Forum package in other languages (including the canvas and digital moderator cards):
- Catalan / Català
- French / Français
- Spanish / Español
- German / Deutsch
- Swedish / Svenska
- Norwegian / Norsk
- Portuguese / Português
- Dutch / Nederlands
- Polish / Polski
For any queries on the above, please contact Claire Bouillon at Claire@eatforum.org.
