Engagement Workshop Summary
On 14 May we held an Engagement Workshop to talk through our approach to engaging more experts and organisations in the Lab. We covered a lot of ground, here's a short update on where things landed.
Where we're at
The central challenge we worked through was who should be in the Lab, the 12-month design process for the National Conversation, and how to invite people into it in a way that feels clear, supported, and genuinely worth their time. The session focused on designing the process for the design itself, not on track content.
Key discussions
Layered engagement. The Lab is structured in tiers: FFT as secretariat, Governance Council, Core Partners, Advisory Networks. The layering is intentional, allowing people to contribute in the way that best fits their capacity.
Inviting people in. Current materials are good but need a lighter on-ramp. We're developing a revised email template, and an updated slide showing current participants, so anyone inviting others has a clear, credible starting point.
Satellite engagement. For groups whose involvement carries particular sensitivities, business, philanthropy, and government public servants, we're exploring touch points that sit alongside the core design rather than inside it. Close enough to inform, far enough to protect the integrity of the work.
The risks we're designing against
We named several real risks: legitimacy and eventual uptake of the output, gaps in representation, accessibility for participants without the time or resources to engage unsupported, and the logistical scale of the undertaking.
The structural responses we are exploring:
Prioritising conservative representation as mission-critical
A transparent conversation about resource trade-offs
A prototype-and-review model for business engagement, presenting design work for feedback rather than inviting direct contribution to development.
Underpinning all of this is a commitment to transparency: clear articulation of who decides what, how those decisions are justified, and where the trade-offs sit.
Next steps
We will be updating materials and resources and sharing with the wider group.
Thank you to those who have already shared organisations and contacts. If you were unable to attend but would like to contribute names or thoughts you can add them to our whiteboard here.