The stakeholder arena is an event that can be organized in the beginning of a module in which you invite community/societal partners to share their experiences and/or perspective on a certain topic. This topic can be a challenge, SDG, societal concern, research initiative, an overarching question relating to a theme, or a dilemma in which there is no single best approach towards a solution.
Key to a meaningful arena is to give the stage to various citizen initiatives, (type of) organizations, business or NGO that have different perspectives so that students and other participants get a rich understanding on how the subject matter can manifest itself.
In preparation, an arena like this is most effective if the different parties can express themselves authentically and unfiltered. Therefore, we advise not to frame, control or steer the arena too much. It works best if student can directly talk with the different actors without having to go through an external moderator. We would however advice to keep clear time-management in place and rules of engagement that include respect and humbleness.
You can organize this in any location/space that accommodates the amount of people you want to invite. The societal partners you invite can act as guest lecturers, co-learners that will work together with the students throughout the module, case-holders or have another role.
Stakeholder Arena Roadshow
A variation to the arena as described above is to take the event to the road, where students take a trip to the different stakeholders in their working or living environment. This way, stakeholders might be able to communicate their work or context in a clearer way. A downside is that the different organizations might not hear other people’s perspectives or experiences, unless they join the roadshow.