Workshop 2: The Year Ahead

Please Note: This opening is different due to introducing some activities for the first time. 

Getting to Know Each Other | 8 mins

‘Find Someone Who’ game (aka ‘Human Bingo’) 

As the young people enter the room, ask them to pick up a bingo sheet. Explain the rules and basically leave them to wander around the room connecting. 

Say: “Last week we started getting to know each other. But you're going to be sharing this journey for a whole year, so let's discover a little more about who we've got in the room.”

Hand out ‘Find Someone Who…’ sheets or display the challenges. 

Their mission is to find different people who:

• Love the same food as them

• Enjoy being outdoors

• Love music

• Have a hobby they don't have

• Are good at something they'd like to learn

• Care about something they care about

• Have been somewhere they'd like to visit

• Can make them laugh

• Have something surprising in common with them

Rule: They cannot use the same person for every answer.

Encourage them to speak to as many different people as possible.

Give them around a few minutes to circulate, then gather everyone together.

Ask: 

1. “What did you discover about someone that you didn't know before?”

2. “Did you discover anything you had in common with someone you didn't expect?”

Draw out some of the different interests, experiences, strengths, and personalities within the room.

Highlight: “Over this year, we're going to discover much more about each other and how we're not all the same and that  our differences can be our strength. This  is a good thing. Later in the programme we're also going to explore what can happen when different people, ideas, and strengths come together.”

Note: This plants the seed for what you will be covering in Workshop 4 - Ubuntu. 

Welcome Back & Energy Check-In | 6 mins

Properly welcome the Ambassadors as a group back into the space. Explain to them that today, alongside getting to know each other, we are going to experience some of the regular practices/activities and things we will be doing every week as a part of our weekly workshops. 

The first thing is our Check-in. See what they remember for last week and reinforce why we do this at the beginning and end of most of our workshops.

Ask: “Why do you think we check-in on our energy? Why might it matter?”

Take a few responses.

Share: “There are a couple of reasons. Firstly, it helps us as Facilitators get a sense of how everyone is feeling, almost like a temperature check of the people in the room. If everyone's energy is low, we might need to get it moving and lift people up a bit. If everyone's really buzzy and finding it hard to focus, we might need to do something that helps us settle a little.

“But there's a couple of additional important reasons why we do this. Can anyone guess why?”

Take a few answers, stay curious. Respond: “It also gives you a chance to check in with yourself.”

Ask: “How often during a busy day do you actually stop and ask yourself: ‘How am I doing? How am I feeling? What do I need?’”

Explain: “Sometimes we're full of energy. Sometimes our internal battery is running pretty low. Sometimes we might be feeling good but are not in the mood to chat. Sometimes we've got loads of physical energy but we're feeling worried, grumpy, excited or distracted.

“The third reason is when we know how we are feeling, we can also become more aware of how our feelings are affecting others in the class or room. What might we mean by this?”

Open up the space to a few responses.

Ask these questions, taking a couple of responses as you go:

• “If we were in a really bad mood when we started your workshop, can that affect the room?”

• “And what if someone walks into the room calm, smiling and really pleased to see everyone?”

• “Have you ever walked into a room where something didn’t feel right? Or have you met up with a group of friends and it felt good. Often we relate to the word as a good or bad vibe?”
  
  

Ask: “How many of you have heard of this term? Our mood, behaviour, body language, tone of voice, and energy levels can all contribute to the experience we create together.”

“One of the things we'll explore this year is how to understand and look after ourselves, our energy, and also explore how the way we show up can sometimes affect the vibe/people around us.”

Why Does This Matter? | 2 mins

“We don't just bring ourselves into a room. We also bring our own vibe. Everyone’s vibe helps create and impacts the mood and energy in the  room.”

Now move quickly into the Energy Check-In.

Standard Check-In

Ask the Ambassadors to stand up and imagine that one side of the room is 0 and the opposite side is 10.

• 0 = I'm not feeling great today. I'd rather be under a duvet.

• 5 = I'm feeling okay, somewhere in the middle.

• 10 = I'm full of energy and feeling amazing.

Invite everyone to move to the place that best represents how they are feeling right now. They can stand anywhere between 0 and 10.

Ask afterwards: “Looking around the room, what do you notice about our energy today?”

Highlight: “There's no right or wrong energy to have. We're simply learning to notice where we are. Once we notice, we have a choice about what we might need. Say: "Everyone arrives differently, and that's okay. Whatever number you're showing today is welcome."

Recap & Overview | 1 min
Say: “Last week, we discovered what it means to be a Bertha Earth Ambassador. You also began creating your Ambassador Agreement. This week, we will explore what you will be doing on the programme this year and introduce some of the things we will do every single week.”

A Taste of What's to Come | 12 mins

Say: “So… how many of you are curious about what we will be doing this year? We're not going to tell you everything that's coming this year because where's the fun in that? Some things should be a surprise. But we do want to give you a little taste of some of the things you'll experience, explore and learn about along the way.”

The programme is going to be split into three parts. Part 1 is all about connection. Part 2 is about storytelling and what is happening environmentally, and Part 3 is all about our Project Planet Love. Very soon we are going to invite you to have a look at different parts of the programme and let us know which bits sound interesting to you. Obviously there will be lots more to the programme we can’t go through now, like the week away on a farm, but this should give you a taster. 

Place laminated images, objects or A4 word cards around the space representing different parts of their year (see slide and wider context)

Invite Ambassadors to move around and explore the different cards/images.

Rather than explaining each one immediately, say: “Which ones are you most curious about?” Invite them to put coloured stickers on the ones they are most excited about. 

Then ask a few questions:

• “What made you choose this one?”

• “What do you imagine we might do or learn?”

• “And questions about the programme?”

Note: Explore the ones they are most curious about and offer them the opportunity to ask any questions or concerns they might have about the programme and the year ahead. 

YOUR YEAR. YOUR VOICE. YOUR IDEAS.

You can share: “Over this year you'll explore yourselves, each other, and the planet. You'll spend time outdoors, hear and tell stories, play games, debate, create, meet inspiring people, spend a day outdoors at one of our Nature centres, visit maybe stay for a week at one of our partner farms, and explore how change happens. And eventually, you'll bring your interests, ideas, and strengths together to create your own Project Planet Love.”

Highlight: “You don't need to remember all of this. You'll discover it as we go. Your ideas, questions, reflections, and participation will help shape your experience of it.”

WEEKLY SESSIONS: | 5 mins

Briefly explain how the format will work 

Each session we will set up the room for the activities, some will be inside, some might be outside. Go through the format, and explain why it is important to arrive on time. 

Slide. They will be jumbled up, they need to try and guess what order we will do this in most weeks.

1. Awe & Wonder – What is the picture on the screen telling us?

2. Energy Check-In – How are you feeling right now?

3. BE Here Now – A moment to pause and feel calm.

4. Designated Photographer – Capture our journey through pictures.

5. Recap – What did we discover last week?

6. Main Activity – Explore, discover and get involved.

7. Reflection – Pause, connect, and reflect on what we have just done and what we think.

8. Invitation – Something to try during the week.

9. Energy Check-Out – How are you feeling at the end of today’s workshop?

Our Ambassador Agreement | 10 mins

Bring back the Ambassador Agreement started in Session 1.

Say: “Last week you began deciding how you wanted to work together as Ambassadors.”

Reveal the agreement created from their contributions. 

Ask: “Looking at it now, is there anything important missing?”

If the list is long, find ways to whittle it down, like they vote or put an asterix or star next to their top ten.

Then when they are happy with it, invite everyone to sign the Ambassador Agreement.

Say: “By signing this, we're not saying we'll get everything right all year. We're agreeing that this is how we're going to try to show up for ourselves and each other.”

Energiser | 5 mins (Optional if you have time)

The Human Knot Energiser: 

Check everyone in your group is ok with holding hands and being this close to others in the team.

1. Gather everyone in a circle 

2. Everyone reaches into the middle with their right hand and grabs the hand of someone across the circle - not the person directly next to them.

3. Now reach in with your left hand and grab a different person's hand. again, not someone already holding your other hand, and not the same person twice.

4. Check: everyone should be holding two different hands, belonging to two different people, and nobody is holding both hands of the same partner.

5. Without letting go of any hands, the group must untangle itself back into a single circle. You can duck under arms, step over, twist, and rotate. Just don't unclasp your hands.

6. Success = when everyone ends up in one connected circle (occasionally it splits into two interlocking circles, which also counts as a win).

Tips

• Talk it through; figure out one link at a time rather than everyone pulling at once.

• It's fine to end up facing outward or with crossed arms mid-solve; keep working through it.

Why Do We Reflect?

Ask: “Why do you think we take time to reflect at the end of our workshops?”

Take a couple of responses.

Share: “We experience lots of things every day, but we don't always stop to notice what we've learned from them. Reflection gives us a chance to pause, think about what we've experienced, and notice what we might want to take with us. Throughout the year, we'll reflect in lots of different ways. Sometimes we'll write, talk, draw, move or simply take a moment to think.”

Invite everyone to find a comfortable position and open their Storybooks.

Introduce 3-2-1 Reflect

Explain: “At the end of most workshops, we'll do something called 3-2-1 Reflect. It's a chance to pause and think about three things.”

SLIDE: Display the three questions:

1. ENJOYED - What did you enjoy most about today's session?

2. TAKE AWAY - What are you taking away from today that you could bring into your everyday life?

3. CELEBRATE - What would you like to celebrate about yourself today, and why?

Explain: “That last question is really important. We're often much better at noticing what we've done wrong, what we could have done better, or what somebody else has done better than we are at recognising ourselves. Celebrating yourself isn't about showing off. It's about learning to notice the things you're proud of, the things you've tried and the ways you're growing.”

As they have covered a lot of ground today, simply ask them what they are going to be taking away from today’s session. 

Then ask a few people who are comfortable to share.

End on: “Next week you are going to spend a little more time getting to know the person who will be with them the entire time. Themselves.”

Move onto the Invitation and Check out.