Choosing a suitable location and place for hosting societal engagement activities is important and can affect the level or participation and the outcome. When choosing a physical location, make sure that it is easily accessible by public transport. In choosing the right place, there are various criteria to consider, which we set out below. Above all, however, it should create an atmosphere of trust, empathy and collaboration which is about finding the right balance between facilitation, approach and spatial conditions.

In this picture, you can see that the space has ample daylight. It is good to provide as much daylight as possible to keep participants energised. Furthermore:

• Check if the space has black-out curtains if a projector or large screen is required.
• Make sure to provide enough fresh air during longer events and to keep the temperature comfortable.

In this space, there is a machine in the background which might be disturbing for the event. Check if:

• the space is neutral, without political or business connotations, so that all participants feel included and accepted.
• there is no background noise and there is a good acoustic for discussions to take place at plenary level, in groups and amongst individuals, without any disturbance.

In this space, the round tables make it possible to work well in small groups, but it should be possible to adjust the furniture to the requirements of the chosen facilitation method. Consider the following:

• The room should be able to accommodate all participants comfortably.
• The room should allow modularity so that tables and chairs can be moved.

In this room, there is limited space to move around the tables, so consider the following:

• The space should allow for group work and plenary sessions, and have enough room to stand, walk around and mingle.
• The perfect space provides a sense of cosiness, where people feel at ease and can be themselves.

Finally, there should be WIFI internet available for everyone, with details provided in advance or at the start of the meeting.

• The location is easy to reach by public transport.
• The space is neutral.
• The room has windows for daylight and fresh air.
• It is possible to darken the space.
• There is a projector and large screen available.
• The space is exactly the right size for the number of participants.
• There is a space for breaks and for catering.
• The furniture is modular.
• The space feels cosy and comfortable.
• Internet is available for all, free of charge.

Our project partner in Estonia, the Science Centre AHHAA, faced a diversity of challenges in the organisation of their stakeholder engagement event. Initially, the first event was designed as a face-to-face meeting lasting an entire business day in the Science Centre’s office in Tartu. However, the first invitation which was sent out to 28 potential participants generated only three responses, one of which was a refusal. Reminders and phone calls did not revert the situation and AHHAA decided to change the date of the event. However, this strategy did not result in more responses since many of the stakeholders were in the capital of Tallinn, hundreds of kilometres away from Tartu, and found it inconvenient to travel to Tartu for the event. For this reason, the AHHAA team decided to turn it into an online event. The duration of the event was reduced to 4 hours to reduce Zoom fatigue.

The agenda initially included both group activities in breakout rooms and individual activities. As a result of the low turnout, just 5 participants, the agenda was changed to primarily include individual activities and joint discussions rather than breakout rooms. The virtual tools used were both online (such as Zoom Annotations, Mural and Mentimeter apps), as well as offline (such as MS Office tools). It was envisioned that the participants would be skilled computer users and that they would be able to easily understand the different online tools. This assumption was based on two factors:

1. the fact that Estonia (sometimes referred to as e-stonia) is a country with very high digital proficiency levels across all age groups and walks of life,
2. the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has made people more aware of various online tools and many have mastered new skills in using such tools.

To make sure that everything was technically set up for the event, it was decided to use AHHAA’s small conference room which is equipped with a conference microphone, a high-resolution camera and other presentation equipment.

This example shows how unforeseen outcomes from the participant recruitment can affect the decisions that have to be made in regards to the location, space, room, time, method, activities and tools.