Table 2 Rationales for workshop design

Artists designing the workshop

Employ skilled facilitators with appropriate skill sets that were external to the C2C team and the University, to support the facilitation of a more neutral space [7]

Provide space for artists and facilitators to design a situation that builds on their expertise, without the limitations that can happen when academics commission an artist and then direct them (but without having any experience design expertise themselves). Academics relinquish control [5]

Avoid academics setting up the workshop, where they might make implicit decisions about what is important and what should be discussed, and they would know exactly what would happen and when

Create a space where it might become possible for the facilitator to subvert what the participants’ expectations might be for their role and the purpose of their contributions

Creating a level playing field at the beginning

Researcher-participants enter the workshop space with the same level of knowledge as the public-participants and having been told the same reasons for why they might want to attend. We note that whilst the C2C team aimed for researcher-participants to be taken through the same recruitment process as public-participants, in practice researcher-participants would never enter a research project as a 'naïve participant' as they already have a deep understanding of research processes (e.g. consent procedures and investment in topic areas through their own research careers)

Destabilise hierarchy [5]

Change the usual introductions style

Introducing a researcher-participant at the start suggests a structure of a focus group, where the researcher has expertise in a particular topic and where they would like to collect the experiences of people who have lived experience of that topic. Without introducing the researcher-participants, we intended to create a more open space for participants to consider their own role within the event and begin at a more level starting point

In most workshops we intended that researcher-participants were not introduced as a researcher, but rather only by name in the same way as public-participants. However in some workshops this was less feasible (in WS1 the public-participants were young people, making the adults in the workshop clearly researcher-participants, in WS3 one researcher was known to the group.)

First build interpersonal connections, before discussing research interests

Use a variety of techniques including participatory performance, creative methods and play to build interpersonal connections between people first, before then beginning a conversation about their shared interests and respective experiences and ideas on the research topic

Actively cultivate relationships as a priority [5]

Final criteria for workshop design

Build relationships between public-participants and researcher-participants in a way that attempts to break down common hierarchies in research

Include a section that is ‘for fun’ rather than about research; focused on building relationships where everyone works together doing something fun/creative

Include a section focused on collective development of research ideas in relation to the workshop theme, using creative methods and including collaborative processes of capturing conversation and outcomes

Workshop design lead

Artist partners and community partners, together with AB and JS (WS1-2, WS4)

Artist partner and community partners together with JS, AM and MF with input from topic researcher (WS3)