Find Your Focus
An important part of moving ‘from plan, to do’ is narrowing down the area you would like to tackle first as an SEC. Decarbonisation is a huge topic, so let’s not try and boil the ocean. In this section, we dive deeper into three methodologies that can help you find your focus. Use these activities to help figure out the topics your community are most passionate about, and the tangible goals that you’d like to set for your SEC.
Visioning Session
What is a visioning workshop, and why would I run one?
A visioning workshop is a structured activity that helps groups align around shared goals and aspirations while mapping out future possibilities. It’s an opportunity to reflect on past achievements, assess current efforts, and imagine what the future could look like. By encouraging creativity and collaboration, these workshops help participants break free from traditional planning approaches and see their projects in fresh, inspiring ways.
For Connecting Cabra’s Sustainable Energy Community (SEC), running a visioning workshop was key to creating a unified plan for their energy and community engagement goals. These sessions are particularly effective for teams or communities working on long-term projects, as they foster clarity, motivation, and a sense of collective purpose. They also provide a chance to prioritise initiatives and ensure efforts resonate with community needs.
Whether you’re working on a community project, a business, or a creative endeavour, a visioning workshop can bring people together, spark new ideas, and set a clear direction for the road ahead.
How Connecting Cabra ran a visioning workshop
Connecting Cabra held a refresher visioning workshop for their core group, to tweak their unified plan for their Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) as they had a lot of new members join since they did their initial one. Held online to increase accessibility, the session used the creative metaphor of a local shop to inspire participants to think beyond traditional models.
The workshop began with a Stock Inventory, where participants listed previous and ongoing projects as metaphorical “stock” in their shop. This exercise prompted reflection on successes, areas for improvement, and untapped opportunities.
Next, the group engaged in Aisle Structuring, organising all of their current and past projects into thematic categories like energy-saving initiatives, outreach efforts, and educational programs. This helped the team visually understand how their work was distributed and identify gaps.
Finally, the group moved to the Front Window Display activity. Here, they discussed which projects should be most visible to the community and considered how to highlight initiatives that best represent the SEC’s mission. This sparked valuable conversations about public perception and community engagement.
The workshop outcomes included enhanced strategic clarity, a focus on projects with the highest impact, and an understanding of where the gaps in serving the community were.
Tips for running your own visioning workshop
Choose a theme or metaphor: Use creative prompts (like a shop or garden) to inspire out-of-the-box thinking.
Involve everyone: Make sure all voices are heard to build a truly collaborative vision.
Start with reflection: Begin by reviewing all past projects, and any past successes and challenges to ground the discussion.
Organise your project examples and ideas visually: Group projects or concepts into categories to identify patterns and gaps.
Prioritise visibility: Discuss which initiatives should be most prominent to your audience.
Keep it flexible: Allow space for unexpected ideas and shifts in direction.
Follow up: Document the outcomes and tweak them as you go.
Persona Workshop
What is a persona workshop, and why would I run one?
A persona workshop is a collaborative activity designed to help teams deeply understand the people they want to serve or engage. It involves creating fictional yet realistic characters—personas—based on research or local insights. These personas represent key groups within a target audience and provide a framework for designing tailored strategies, programs, or services.
By humanising abstract demographics into relatable characters, persona workshops allow teams to empathise with their audience. For community-focused groups like Connecting Cabra, running such a workshop helps ensure that initiatives address the real needs, challenges, and motivations of diverse groups. It’s especially useful for uncovering overlooked perspectives and building more inclusive and effective outreach strategies.
Persona workshops are not just about creativity—they're a powerful tool for grounding ideas in the realities of people's lives. They help teams anticipate challenges, identify opportunities, and refine their approach to connect with their audience in meaningful ways.
Case Study: How Connecting Cabra ran a persona workshop
Connecting Cabra used a persona workshop to gain a deeper understanding of the local community and spot areas of opportunity, where the needs of the community were not currently being served. The session began with an exercise called “Saturday Morning at the Shops,” where participants imagined the people they typically see at the local shops. This sparked lively discussions and the creation of relatable personas, including young families, elderly residents, and renters.
The group then developed these personas further, detailing their daily challenges, attitudes toward sustainability, and potential motivators for engaging with community projects. Participants explored each persona’s pain points and imagined their conversations, helping to identify opportunities for meaningful engagement.
Next came focused brainstorming. The team selected three key personas and brainstormed targeted initiatives to meet their specific needs. Ideas included energy-saving workshops for renters and events fostering intergenerational knowledge-sharing.
The outcomes were significant: Connecting Cabra developed tailored outreach strategies, gained a nuanced understanding of the community, and refined their project designs. This approach not only strengthened their immediate plans but also provided a framework for inclusive, sustainable engagement in the future.
Tips for running your own persona workshop
Start with research: Gather insights about your audience beforehand—surveys, interviews, or local observations.
Keep it relatable: Use everyday scenarios like a trip to the shops to spark creative discussions.
Focus on diversity: Aim to represent a wide range of community members, including often-overlooked groups.
Get detailed: Flesh out each persona with their challenges, motivations, and attitudes.
Prioritise and brainstorm: Choose 2–3 personas to focus on and identify tailored solutions for their needs.
Encourage participation: Make the session interactive to engage everyone in the process.
Document and share: Record the personas and ideas for future reference and team alignment.
Co-Design
What is a co-design workshop, and why would I run one?
A co-design workshop is an interactive session that invites participants to collaborate in designing solutions to shared challenges. By involving those directly affected, these workshops create a sense of ownership and ensure that outcomes reflect real needs and lived experiences. They are particularly effective for addressing issues that may otherwise be overlooked or misunderstood by external decision-makers.
For Connecting Cabra, a co-design workshop specifically for renters provided an opportunity to engage a group often underrepresented in community planning. These workshops are a way to empower participants, foster dialogue, and generate actionable ideas while strengthening community bonds.
If you’re looking to build more inclusive, relevant solutions, a co-design workshop can offer fresh insights and spark creativity. They’re an excellent tool for breaking down barriers, promoting collaboration, and ensuring that diverse voices shape the future of any project.
How Connecting Cabra ran a co-design workshop for Renters
From our visioning session, it was very clear that renters are a significant but often overlooked demographic in Cabra. Connecting Cabra ran a renter-specific co-design workshop called “Climate Chats and Chips.” The event paired casual conversation with chips from the local chipper to create a relaxed, approachable atmosphere that encouraged open participation.
The session began with the Building a Home Exercise, where participants worked in groups to map out typical rental homes on large boards using post-it notes. They highlighted challenges like damp, mould, and drafts, sharing personal stories that connected these issues to broader sustainability themes.
Next, facilitators introduced Wildcard Cards, small prompts with scenarios such as unexpected leaks or rising utility costs. These helped attendees think creatively and brainstorm practical solutions for rental-specific problems.
Then, the Community Helpers activity encouraged participants to explore collaborative solutions. Each group used cutout figures symbolising local tradespeople, volunteer groups, and neighbour collectives to visualise how community networks could help address renters’ challenges.
We then, as a group, collated all of this wisdom in the room, and got each group to set about making a first draft of a renter’s manual for a cosy home. Including tips, advice, sketches and suggestions, this formed the basis of our first prototype for renters, our manual for a cosy home.
The workshop’s outcomes included actionable ideas like retrofitting solutions and energy-efficient home guides, as well as stronger community ties between Connecting Cabra and their community, and the formation of informal support networks among participants.
Tips for running your own co-design workshop
Focus on a specific group: Tailor the workshop to a particular audience, ensuring it addresses their unique needs.
Create a relaxed setting: Use food, music, or informal activities to make participants feel comfortable.
Use hands-on activities: Visual and tactile exercises encourage deeper engagement and discussion.
Introduce creative prompts: Scenarios or challenges keep conversations dynamic and solutions innovative.
Encourage collaboration: Include exercises that highlight the value of working together on shared issues.
Document ideas: Capture all insights and suggestions to guide post-workshop action.
Follow up: Share outcomes with participants to maintain momentum and show their input is valued.