Practical tools

Catalyst Group - Conversation Host Handbook

on this page
  1. Introduction
  2. Key Messaging
  3. Accessibility and Inclusion
  4. Managing information
  5. Event Design
  6. Post Event
  7. Logo use and guidance
  8. Download Conversation Resources

This handbook/guide is for Catalyst Group members who are hosting a conversation event

updated on 20 May 2025
12 minutes read

Introduction

What is this handbook for?  

This handbook will guide you through how to design, deliver, and capture outputs for your consultation conversation which will contribute to the Consultation Phase of the Engaged Futures project. It will provide you with access to resources and materials to run your activities and provide guidelines to ensure your activity can feed into the wider project.  

There are two recommended conversation formats that you can use depending on the groups you are bringing together for the conversation, and the approach you want to take: 

  • Conversation 1:  
    These conversations bring together public, community, cultural and business organisations to create future visions for the higher education sector and its relationship with society, and to share examples of practices that are taking us towards these visions.
  • Conversation 2: 
    These conversations review potential futures for the HE sector and its relationship with society and share examples of practices that are taking us towards these visions.  

Please see the section below on Event Design for more detail on the process you can follow for each of the above conversation formats.  

Who is this handbook for? 

This handbook is intended for any Engaged Futures Catalyst Group members, who plan to host their own consultation conversations with their networks and communities. This handbook will hopefully answer any questions you may have about how to design and facilitate your activity and serve as a toolkit with Engaged Futures branded resources which can be accessed below. 

Working with the NCCPE 

When you are designing, recruiting for and delivering your activity, it is important for you to clearly communicate that you are running this activity as part of the Engaged Futures Initiative. The event is your event, and you are responsible for running it. This guide will advise on how to explain to participants the purpose of the activity and the wider project and how their contributions will be used.  

Key Messaging

About Engaged Futures

Engaged Futures is an opportunity to reimagine how universities will be engaged with society in 2045, and determine helpful actions to get us there. 

The Catalysts

Catalysts are people committed to seeing change in the Higher Education sector to become more inclusively engaged in society. Catalysts are working with their networks to bring in additional perspectives on the future of universities and research organisations and how to get there. 

The NCCPE 

The NCCPE is working to build an inclusive higher education sector where communities can contribute to and benefit from knowledge, teaching and research. It supports and advocates for public engagement within Higher Education Institutes and Research Organisations. You can find out more about our work here: www.publicengagement.ac.uk

Template email for recruiting to your event

Dear [Name],

We are delighted to invite you to take part in an upcoming Engaged Futures consultation event, hosted by [insert your name / organisation] as part of a wider national initiative led by the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE).

This consultation is one of a series of Catalyst Conversations being held across the UK which will contribute towards the NCCPE's Engaged Futures Project. As a Catalyst group member, I am convening this session to bring together diverse perspectives to help envision and shape the future we want for our institutions and communities, with a particular focus on [insert chosen focus / theme(s)].

The outputs from this consultation event will be shared amongst participants and will also be fed back to the NCCPE as part of their consultation activities.

Event Details
[Insert date]
[Insert time]
[Insert location/online link]
Please RSVP by [Insert RSVP deadline and link / means to register] 

What to Expect
Using the Three Horizons framework—a powerful tool for systems change—we will explore:

  • Challenges within the current higher education and knowledge production system
  • Our shared vision for an engaged and inclusive future
  • Inspirational practices already underway that are making space for change

This is an opportunity to contribute your insights and experiences, learn from others, and play a part in building a more inclusive and impactful higher education sector.

What is Engaged Futures?
Engaged Futures is a bold, collaborative initiative aimed at reshaping the higher education sector, and how universities and research organisations support inclusive knowledge creation and societal engagement. At the heart of this work is a commitment to co-creating more just, inclusive, and responsive futures for higher education.

Why Your Voice Matters
Engaged Futures needs to be informed by anyone with a passion for transforming higher education—students, academics, professional services staff, community partners, policy makers, artists, cultural organisations and beyond. Your perspective is vital in shaping futures that truly serve our society.

The NCCPE are continuously recruiting Catalyst Group Members, so if you or people within your networks are interested to find out more and become a catalyst group member, please share this information about the Engaged Futures project where you can sign up today.

We hope you can join us for what promises to be an engaging and impactful conversation.

Warm regards,
[Your Full Name]
[Your Role or Affiliation]
[Contact Information]

Accessibility and Inclusion

By participating in any NCCPE activity, you are agreeing to abide by a code of conduct in your practice. This includes: acting respectfully, behaving professionally, communicating appropriately and working inclusively. 

When planning your conversation, please consider accessibility and inclusion at all stages

  • Promoting and recruiting
  • Presenting and facilitating
  • Resources and materials
Read our guidance on accessible and inclusive events
Read our guidance on accessible and inclusive practice

Managing information

When you are planning your conversation events, it's important to follow principles of responsible management of information about people. Click on the button below to review the NCCPE’s data management guidelines, which follow the requirement of the UK’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

When inviting people to your event, if you intend to collect information that could be used to identify a person (such as their name, email address, phone number, etc.), you must ask them to give you permission to use and store that information.

If you intend to use people’s information for a particular purpose (such as sending a follow-up email after the conversation event) you must tell them what you intend to do. It is also important to tell people where you will store the information (for example, on your personal computer) and for how long you will keep it (for example, until a month after the event).

You should not share people’s information with anyone else, including the NCCPE. If anyone who attends would like to contribute to the Catalyst programme, they should join using the webform.

Read out privacy notice for GDPR guidance

Event Design

We ask that your conversations centre around the themes which have been already identified as part of the Engaged Futures Phase 1 exploration. You can choose to lead a high-level conversation several topics, or delve deeper into a specific theme which is of interest to you and your networks.

We have been using the 3 Horizons methodology to deliver the NCCPE-Led conversations so far in Phase 2. 

We are offering you the choice of 2 different conversation formats to follow which both follow the 3 Horizons process in some way, so that we can compile and contrast the findings of each consultation with some level of continuity.

Conversation Type 1

Purpose

To bring together public, community, cultural and/or business organisations to create future visions for the higher education sector and its relationship with society, and to share examples of practices that are taking us towards these visions.

 

Approach / Format

  • In-person or online workshop(s)
  • Up to 20 people
  • 3 hours facilitated space
  • Facilitation guide and resources provided, with the potential to amend according to needs and interests of potential participants

Process

The workshop has 4 main sections

  1. Creating a thoughtful and inclusive space to work together
  2. Reviewing and building horizon 1
  3. Imagining the future horizon 3
  4. Considering individuals and organisations and activities that are helping to realise the future

Top Tips

  1. We are not working to one unified vision that we all agree with – we can hold tensions and differences in the futures we imagine
     
  2. We are seeking inspirational visions for the future, trying to help people to look beyond the immediate ‘fixes’ to a different paradigm for research and learning, and the role of universities within that.
     
  3. The 3H process uses this vision to identify some of the principles and worldview differences between the now and the not yet, which helps us to identify organisations and practices that are working towards the future. You may want to do this as part of your event, if you have longer than 3 hours.
     
  4. Use a process that can capture the different perspectives of those involved. Whilst in some of the group work we will prioritise key aspects together, we don’t want to lose the insights of those whose ideas are not prioritised in the meeting. This might include offering post-its for people to capture their ideas and stick them onto the H1, H2, H3 map you have created.
     
  5. The 3H process is just one process that can help scaffold useful conversations, encourage people to try it out, rather than critique it as an approach. You can then critique it once you have tried it out.
     
  6. Inclusive facilitation is a core part of holding the conversation. This will mean attending to who you invite to speak first; offering different ways to contribute that don’t rely on presenting ideas verbally to the whole room; managing those who find it easier to contribute by putting up their hand, encouraging them to maintain space for others to participate. It will also mean holding back your own perspectives and ideas as a facilitator as you seek to support participants to contribute to the conversation.
     
  7. The facilitation guide suggests a guided exercise that helps people locate themselves in the future and consider what it could be like. For most people this provides a really useful scaffold to leave behind the current context with its constraints and frustrations – however some people don’t find it useful. Offer the option to not engage in this, so people feel able to use the time as they will to imagine the future.
     
  8. Drawing the future is helpful for people to express their thoughts, mind-mapping, creative visioning – but participants can use words too.

Conversation Type 2

Purpose

To review potential futures for the HE sector and its relationship with society and share examples of practices that are taking us towards these visions.  

Approach / Format

  • In-person or online workshop(s)
  • Up to 20 people
  • 3 hours facilitated space
  • Facilitation guide and resources provided, with the potential to amend according to needs and interests of potential participants

Process

This workshop has 3 main sections:

  • Creating a thoughtful and inclusive space to work together
  • Reviewing the current H1 H3 map adding additional insights
  • Identifying organisations and activities which are H2+

Top Tips

  1. We are not working to one unified vision that we all agree with – we can hold tensions and differences in the futures we imagine.
     
  2. We are seeking inspirational visions for the future, trying to help people to look beyond the immediate ‘fixes’ to a different paradigm for research and learning, and the role of universities within that.
     
  3. The 3H process uses this vision to identify some of the principles and worldview differences between the now and the not yet, which helps us to identify organisations and practices that are working towards the future.
     
  4. Use a process that can capture the different perspectives of those involved. Whilst in some of the group work we will prioritise key aspects together, we don’t want to lose the insights of those whose ideas are not prioritised in the meeting. This might include having an online Padlet, using chat, or offering post-its for people to capture their ideas.
     
  5. The 3H process is just one process that can help scaffold useful conversations, encourage people to try it out, rather than critique it as an approach. You can then critique it once you have tried it out.
     
  6. Inclusive facilitation is a core part of holding the conversation. This will mean attending to how you invite to speak first; offering different ways to contribute that don’t rely on presenting ideas verbally to the whole room; to manage those who find it easier to contribute by putting up their hand, encouraging them to maintain space for others to participate. It will also mean holding back your own perspectives and ideas, as a facilitator you are seeking to support participants to contribute to the conversation.
     
  7. If you are doing group work then you may want to create a quiet room for people who would prefer to work alone, providing a separate Padlet link for people to contribute to.
     
  8. People often prefer to explore H1 and what is currently not working as it could, so make sure you encourage people to reflect on H3 as well.
     
  9. When identifying organsations and practices that are helping move us towards the desired future, i.e. H2+ encourage people to think about organisations that are disrupting H1 and opening up a space to work differently. These can be within or outside of the HE sector. 

Post Event

Please capture all the ideas and suggestions people made at the event. You may want to summarise this into a report for delegates. 

To contribute your findings, we will ask you to capture the following things:

  • A list of the things people you consulted felt were no longer fit for purpose. Please highlight the top 3-5 that people felt were really important, but include all the suggestions in the list. This can include responses to any material you chose to share at the event).
  • A list of the things that the people you consulted would like to see in 2045. Again please highlight 3-5 things that people felt were really important, but include all the suggestions in the list.
  • A copy of any stimulus material you shared e.g. the horizon map you shared for feedback if you chose to do this
  • A list of H2+ and H3 today ideas. Please include the following information: name or organisation; type of organisation; activities; why H2+ or H3 today; url. If you can’t complete all the fields for each suggestion, please do not worry – just include what you have

You will be invited to share your findings via a webform at the end of the event.

We will also ask you for:

  • A description of the activity you conducted: who you engaged with; the theme you chose; activity you did
  • Your findings
  • Any other reflections you would like to share e.g. any sources of disagreement amongst the people you consulted, or any ideas that emerged about people we could engage
  • If you received a bursary, we will ask you for a spend report to show how you used the funding for your activity. 

Download Conversation Resources

Core Slide Deck Template

Please download and edit this Core Slide deck for your conversations. It includes unbranded, white slides with instructions on what you need to do to tailor these to your individual scenario.

Additional Themed Slide Deck Template

If you are looking at particular themes, we have 3H Maps which you can use on The role of Intermediaries, Inclusion and Research and Researchers. You can use these to supplement your Core Slide Deck.

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