Inquiry Workshop

The Inquiry Workshop is a participatory activity designed to identify key questions that guide a research project, initiative, or exploration. Participants collectively reflect on the topic, formulating questions that address their main interests, challenges, or uncertainties. This approach fosters curiosity, critical analysis, and co-creation of knowledge.

Preparation

1. Define the purpose: Clarify the workshop's goal, such as guiding research, designing a project, or analyzing a problem.
2. Prepare materials:
   • Large paper, sticky notes, or whiteboards.
   • Markers and templates to organize questions.
   • Optional: digital tools for online collaboration.
3. Establish the topic: Define the central theme of the workshop to ensure participants understand it clearly.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Introduction to the purpose
   • Explain the workshop's objective: generating key questions to guide research or a project.
   • Highlight the importance of formulating clear, relevant, and exploratory questions.
2. Initial brainstorming
   • Invite participants to reflect on the topic and write down any questions that come to mind.
   • Provide examples of questions (see below) to inspire them.
   • Encourage open-ended questions that promote deeper exploration.
3. Organizing the questions
   • Group the generated questions into categories (e.g., causes, impacts, solutions).
   • Use colors or symbols to differentiate key themes.
4. Selecting key questions
   • Work as a group to select the most relevant, interesting, or priority questions.
   • Use criteria such as impact, feasibility, or alignment with project goals.
5. Deepening the selected questions
   • Discuss the chosen key questions to clarify their scope and relevance.
   • Refine the questions if necessary to make them more precise or useful.
6. Closure and documentation
   • Summarize the final questions and organize key ideas in a visual or written format.
   • Share the key questions with the group to guide the next steps.

Purpose

The purpose of the Inquiry Workshop is to generate key questions that guide reflection, research, or project design, ensuring they address the real interests and needs of the participants.

Required materials

• Large paper, whiteboards, or digital boards.
• Colored markers, sticky notes, or digital tools.
• Optional: templates for categorizing questions or grouping ideas.

Platforms

• Questiory
• Google Forms
• Padlet
• Canva

Practical recommendations

• Emphasize open-ended questions: Avoid closed questions that limit exploration.
• Facilitate discussion: Ensure that all participants have the opportunity to contribute.
• Document ideas: Record all questions, even those not selected, for future reference.
• Encourage reflection: Motivate participants to consider which questions are most relevant to the objective.

Inspiration

Examples of Key Questions

1. What factors are contributing to the problem we aim to solve?
2. How does this problem affect different groups of people?
3. What solutions have been implemented previously, and what were the results?
4. What resources are available to address this situation?
5. What obstacles could hinder the implementation of solutions?
6. What opportunities exist for collaboration with other stakeholders?
7. How can we measure the impact of our actions?
8. What changes do we want to achieve in the short, medium, and long term?
9. What lessons can we learn from similar experiences?
10. How can we ensure the sustainability of our solutions?