Opportunities and Difficulties

Planning a Healthnic Workshop Series

#1 How do you intend to face the communication strategy?

Consider some participants might have low education or even be illiterate: be prepared to invent linguistic strategies (i.e. the use of drawings, pictures, simplified schemes) and to provide communicative support (i.e. to read and write on behalf of participants, or organize them in subgroups that are able to fulfil the process).

Ask the participants if there are any communication barriers (linguistic or illiteracy) as it is important to hear it from them.

#2 How do you intend to cope with potential parental needs?

Be polite but firm while considering mother or father attending the workshop with their children to avoid unpleasant experiences.

Organize a nursery support for young parents and some dedicated side-activities with an educator to entertain older children while their parents attend the workshop.

#3 What are you expecting from your participants?

Attend most of the workshops and trying their best to prepare as they have other commitments; for example, jobs and/or family.

Attend all workshops and do their assignments/preparation for the next workshop.

#4 Will participants automatically increase their language acquisition?

Participants need to be encouraged by the facilitator to communicate as much as possible in the target language of the workshop and the worksheets from the guidebook should be used as a tool.

Participants are cooking together therefore they will also communicate together.

#5 Do the Healthnic Diet workshops prepare participants to become cooks?

Healthnic Diet workshops are cook vocational training seminars.

Healthnic Diet workshops enable participants to acquire basic skills such as home economics and healthy eating education, supported with food and nutrition glossaries and food preparation methods in an intercultural environment. It`s not a vocational training seminar but can motivate participants to attend one.

#6 Do the Healthnic Diet workshops also address participants that don`t know how to cook?

On Healthnic Diet workshops someone can learn how to prepare simple, affordable, tasty and nutritious meals; can understand about the use of local and seasonal produce; can share food culture and nutrition; can create and share digital stories and knowledge.

Healthnic Diet workshops are only for participants who know how to cook.

#7 Can I run a Healthnic Diet workshop without having a proper kitchen?

It`s important to have a sink, at least two induction cookers and some basic utensils. See more on the Guide, on Implementation Part.

You can organise it without special requirements.

#8 Does the facilitator have to follow the activities exactly as she/he has planned and according to the Guide?

It is very important to consider the group of participants as a small community of humans, and to adapt the activities to the specific composition of the group, in order to encourage participation and sharing instead of competition.

The facilitator must follow the lesson plan and the Guide`s instructions without any changes in order to achieve the expected results.

#9 How do you intend to assure that the participants freely express themselves?

Do not judge or criticise any views or opinions, but it is acceptable to demonstrate your disagreement by non-verbal communication.

Encourage participants to share their experiences, allow them to talk openly regardless of the subject. Facilitate the discussion and ask supportive questions. Make sure that when someone is speaking, the rest of the group is able to listen and is not engaged with other tasks.

#10 How do you plan to encourage equal engagement among participants?

Identify participants that are less active and try to engage them in different activities. Make sure that your actions do not make these participants feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable.

Encourage the less active participants by asking them many questions and try to slow down the most active participants to balance the group engagement.

#11 How do you plan to solve conflicts that might arise among participants?

Make sure that you listen to all arguments of the conflicting parties (groups or individuals). Try not to make the decision. Instead, mediate the conflict so that it can be solved in the least invasive way, possibly through some compromises.

Try to gently force your own idea on solving the conflict. Say it out loud if you do not agree with the solution that is proposed by the conflicted parties.

#12 How do you intend to follow the time agenda so that the workshop can be fully delivered?

The agenda guarantees that the whole workshop is delivered successfully. Politely interrupt participants if they are engaged in a task that should have been finished, and rush them if such need emerges.

Make it very clear at the beginning what the agenda of the workshop is and make sure all participants agree with it. Be flexible and accommodate all relevant suggestions that might fit better to the specific group. Act smart and find ways to earn some time if specific tasks take longer than expected.