The document provides a summary of the Mission2062 workshop, which took place from March 22-24, 2012 in Paris. The workshop brought together 35 creative professionals from different countries to discuss the role of culture in a vibrant future. Using storytelling and "missions," the workshop was designed to get participants to think creatively about challenges facing the world from 2012 to 2062 in a playful and collaborative way. The document outlines the origins, design, activities, and outcomes of the innovative three-day workshop.

1. EVENTREPORT v1

2. THISDOCUMENT
Mission2062 was a playful three day workshop which took place March 22-24 2012 in
Paris. Convened by the British Council and held at La Gaîté Lyrique, it saw thirty five
creative professionals from North America, the Middle East and Europe take part in a
progressive conversation about the role of culture in a vibrant future.
is report provides a summary of the origin of the workshop, the design decisions
that led to its innovative structure, the process of the event itself and the learning
that it provided. It is the intention of this document and the wider materials at
www.mission2062.com to share as much of the process and thinking as possible since
given the challenges we face, we require new creative productive ways of moving
forward and Mission2062 provided many new insights about what works.
DOCUMENTCONTENTS
1. Key Personnel
10. Outputs & Outcomes
11. ree Highlights
2. Event Commissioning
12. Participant Feedback
3. Research Phase
13. Success Factors
4. e Story
14. Areas for Development
5. Story Design
15. Replicating the Model
6. Facilitation Style
16. Lessons For Policy
7. Missions & Strands
17. Recommendations
8. Event Format
18. Document Illustrations
9. Event Participants
19. Contact Details
is document is written by Mission2062‘s lead producer Rohan Gunatillake with input
from Shelagh Wright and Suzy Glass. He would like to thank them and above all Laëtitia
Manach and her colleagues at British Council Paris without whose contribution this
innovative event would not have been possible. 2

3. 1. KEYPERSONNEL
Name Organisation Primary Role
Laëtitia Manach British Council (Paris) Convenor & Commissioner
Rohan Gunatillake Innovation producer Lead designer, producer & facilitator
Shelagh Wright Mission Models Money Co-producer
Suzy Glass Producer Facilitator
Participants Various Participants
Sandrine Mahieu British Council (Paris) Production & Administration
Sarah Bagshaw British Council (Paris) Production & Administration
Beatrice Pembroke British Council (UK) Commissioning
Jérôme Delormas Le Gaite Lyrique Venue host
Clemence Saurat Le Gaite Lyrique Venue liaison
3

4. 2. EVENTCOMMISSIONING
La Gaîté Lyrique (GL) is multi-purpose venue in the 3rd Arrondissement in Paris
which opened in Spring 2011. Having already supported a small number of
exhibitions featuring British Artists, British Council France enjoyed a good
relationship with GL and its director Jérôme Delormas and both parties were
interested in future collaboration opportunities. erefore when GL announced
that their Spring 2012 programme was to be themed around the year 2062,
British Council France recognised it as the ideal opportunity – with the initial
concept was that the British Council convene an event inspired by and occurring
alongside the 2062 exhibition and programme. A central walkway at the Gaite Lyrique
Recognising that the innovative and progressive nature of La Gaîté Lyrique and its
2062 season enabled the British Council event to be innovative and future-
focussed, BC France invited Rohan Gunatillake and Shelagh Wright to Paris to
visit the GL and explore the opportunity. Rohan Gunatillake was invited for his
background in producing progressive events and programmes related to digital
innovation in the cultural sector as well as being a participant on the current
Cultural Leadership International programme. Shelagh Wright was already
collaborating with the British Council on the Innovator’s Studio programme of
events and has significant cultural policy expertise.
A United Visual Artists installation at the venue launch
Following that meeting, Rohan and Shelagh were commissioned to design and run
an event called Mission2062 which had the following elements:
• play and narrative used to engage participants
• inspired by La Gaîté Lyrique’s articulation of digital culture
• emphasis on self-organisation, collaboration and making
• used the device of the future to help develop strategies for the present
• licence to be different and experimental
4 e main image of the 2062 exhibition at LGL

5. 3. RESEARCHPHASE
ere are four common problems with traditional futures work:
1. Projection. We take what is happening right now in our experience and simply
extrapolate and project it forward rather than think differently
2. Abstraction. We frame the future as a high-level idea and thus are unable to
directly connect to it as a human experience
3. Monolithification. We think of the future as just one thing rather than a
diversity of experiences
4. Extremification. We make the future polar, either all about doom and gloom
or conversely as an over idealised paradise Superstruct by Jane McGonigal/IFTF
With these risks in mind, four central design principles were identified:
1. Play. Using game mechanics to increase engagement in the process and
creativity of the outputs
2. Story. Placing the event within a very specific story which framed all the
workshop activities, further increasing engagement and creative thinking
3. Making. Ensuring all workshop elements resulted in an output which
encouraged collaboration and resulted in tangibility of all effort
4. Self-organisation: A format which allowed participants to direct the depth of
their experience A Small Town Anywhere by Coney
And three different projects directly inspired and influenced the event design:
1. Superstruct. 2008 forecasting game from Institute for the Future & Jane
McGonigal which used story to explore creative solutions to major social issues.
2. A Small Town Anywhere. A play produced by Coney where the audience
members perform all the roles by self-organising within a narrative structure
3. Culture Hack Scotland. An intense event where digital talent works with
cultural professional to create new projects in just 24 hours
5 Culture Hack Scotland

6. 4. THESTORY
e central story used for Mission2062 was as follows:
e Setup
Paris, March 22nd 2062. e Simorg has been stolen from La Gaîté Lyrique and it
could mean the end of the world as we know it. Unless this prized object is
recovered in the next fifty hours all the amazing work which took place from 2012
to 2062 which has led to a world where culture and creativity has never been more
vibrant, prized and celebrated, will be lost. With the clock ticking down, the Gaîté
Lyrique director Germaine Roger has called back in time to 2012, inviting a global
group of forward looking creative practitioners and cultural leaders to help
retrieve it. Why the Simorg taken and where it is hidden? What on earth is it
anyway? And why does 2062 need help from 2012 to get it back? Working An illustrated version of e Conference Of e Birds
together the participants have to find out the answers to these questions and
more much more. At least let’s hope so because if not, a vibrant and creative
future for the entire world is at risk of being lost forever.
During e Workshop Mission2062’s story of saving the world was not dis-similar
Working under the instruction of Germaine Roger and the Gaîté Lyrique Archivist to the classic time-travelling sci-fi plots used in Doctor Who
Henri Montjoye, the participants carry out activities where they remember and
document events which happened during 2012-2062. Doing so replaces lost
information from the venue’s archive and reveals more clues about the location of
the Simorg. e participants eventually recover the Simorg which is found
actually to be themselves and their collective knowledge and wisdom - therefore
framing them as catalysts in ensuring a vibrant future. e person who stole the
Simorg in the first place is a shadowy character called Le Corbeau who is also
revealed in the end as the workshop convenor Laëtitia Manach. e final twist is
that since the time travel machine has lost power, only 10 participants can return
back home so the group have to convey to those 10 the key lessons to take back to
2012. 6

7. 5. STORYDESIGN
With play and story central to the workshop design, it was important to create a
narrative within which the participants’ activities would be held. is narrative
was designed through a five-step process.
1. e workshop is set in the future. With La Gaîté Lyrique’s 2062 theme, it was
apparent that it would be useful to use the conceit that the workshop takes place
in the year 2062 itself. is device of time travel would allow participants to look
at the years from 2012-2062 as a factual remembered history rather than as an
ethereal projection.
2. e participants have been brought to 2062 to solve a mystery. If 35 people
from all round the world are to be brought through time to a specific place then
An illustrated version of e Conference Of e Birds
there has to be a good reason! e second piece of the story is therefore the
classic narrative device that the group have to solve a mystery together.
3. An inspirational central mystery. e central mystery of Mission2062 was
that an object called the Simorg had been stolen. is device is borrowed from a
classic Sufi poem called the Conference of the Birds by Attar - in which thirty very
different birds join together to search for the Simorg. e Simorg is a metaphor
for Sufi enlightenment and the use of it in Mission2062 is itself a metaphor for
the way the workshop participants have come together to explore the future.
4. e need for jeopardy. Without jeopardy, the story would lack urgency and so
it was added by the idea that the loss of the Simorg had made the vibrancy of the
the future at risk and so it had to be recovered so as to save the future.
5. Anchoring the story in the place where it is held
With the centrality of the La Gaîté Lyrique in the workshop, the facilitators acted
as the story’s central two characters called Henri Montjoye and Germaine Roger -
7
the names of two key figures in the history of the venue in the 1950s. Actress Germaine Roger was LGL director after WW2

8. 6. FACILITATIONSTYLE
Central to the workshop were the particular ways in which the event was
facilitated:
1. Lead facilitators playing characters in the story. ere are three fictional
characters in the story, La Gaîté Lyrique Director Germaine Roger, its archivist
Henri Montjoye and the stealer of the Simorg, Le Corbeau. Given that Le Corbeau
was not revealed until the very end, the primary characters were Henri and
Germaine who were played by lead facilitators Rohan Gunatillake and Suzy Glass.
ey signified that they were in character by wearing hats so that when their hats
were not on, they were themselves and would switch between the two depending Rohan Gunatillake doubles as Henri Montjoye
on what information was being given. is proved to be a very effective device
and required the facilitators to be able to improvise. And recognised that there Caption 1 blah blah lorem ipsum blah to the end
isn't always a scripted solution and that improvisation is critical due to the
unravelling, unpredictable nature of group story-telling.
2. Designing the detail of activities in response to the group. While the high
level structure of each of the workshop elements were known, the details were
only finalised shortly before they were to begin. is was to allow the most
natural progression of the story as well as being as responsive as possible to the
modes of activity that participants were finding most fruitful. is too required
considerable agility and flexibility on behalf of the facilitators.
3. Self-organisation of participants. Inspired by open facilitation techniques
such as open space, all of the activities had a level of autonomy where participants
could choose which topics they explored according to their interest.
8 Suzy Glass doubles as Germaine Roger

9. 7. MISSIONS&STRANDS
Alongside the overall story, these two elements formed the architecture of the
workshop.
Missions. While the overall mission was to recover the Simorg, every activity that
comprised the workshop was called a Mission. Each mission had a description and
a suggested output - be that written, drawn or photographed.
Strands. ese were the themes for the workshop. Since Gaîté Lyrique is a venue
Superstruct by Jane McGonigal/IFTF
dedicated to exploring the impact on society and culture by digital technology and
so inspired by this, the Mission 2062 strands, while related to wider society in
general, are especially related to and amplified by digital culture.
At the end of each mission, participants would attach a physical
ey were: output to the timeline and relevant strand of wool
• making | low barriers to entry for everyone to make creative outputs
• identity | different forms of presenting self for different contexts
• open | transparent and widespread access to information
• networks | the social and creative power of communities of all types
• activism | individuals and groups empowered in human-scale politics
• acceleration | rate of change often outpacing our ability to make sense of it
• generosity | economies based on sharing and free or low-cost
ese strands were made physical by having seven woollen strands across the
workshop space in a timeline symbolising 2012-2062. ereby when participants
attached mission outputs to the timeline, they would also choose the strand for
which it was most relevant. With a group involving creative people, it was decided
to use creativity as key elements of methodologies, borrowing tactics & techniques
from our own worlds of art & culture rather than elsewhere.
A significant and visually striking collection of outputs
9 was made over the course of the workshop

10. POST-EVENT
• Sharing of contacts
• Putting all workshop materials and outputs online
• Discussion of best ways forward
• Feedback session on event format and process
• Closing session with Jérôme Delormas
10am-3pm
DAY 3
• First key story resolution
• Groups to discuss individual & organisational capacities required to thrive
• Second key story resolution and formal close of event narrative
10
• Re-orientation to format
•
10am-5pm
Mission RemembereFarFuture - discussing future scenarios
DAY 2
• Mission ParisCollection - (see later description)
• Mission RemembereNearFuture - open sessions on topics of their choice
OVERALL NARRATIVE
• Clues related to the resolution of the narrative given throughout day
• Free evening with optional concert tickets
8. EVENTFORMAT
• Welcome
• Introduction to event format, narrative and design
3-7pm
•
DAY 1
Exploration of 1962 to help understand challenges of 50 year time horizon
• Mission BringMeaning (see later description)
• Mission Explore2062 where participants visited the 2062 exhibition at LGL
• Drinks reception with Jérôme Delormas and head of BC France
•
PRE-EVENT
Logistical arrangements through British Council office
• Contact with participants in character of Henri to introduce narrative
• Introduction of four initial missions to capture useful information
• Resulted in pre-event engagement and anticipation

11. 9. EVENTPARTICIPANTS
ere were 30 invited participants who were all part of existing British Council programmes including the TN2020
network, the Innovator’s Studio and alumni from the Young Creative Entrepreneur and Cultural Leadership
International programmes as well as some BC staff members. Most were 30-40 years old with the nations represented
including Syria, Lebanon, UK, France, Denmark, US, Canada, Italy, UAE, Turkey, Georgia and Poland. In their
different ways, they shared an interest in change and new ways of thinking and doing.
11

12. 10. OUTPUTS&OUTCOMES
Outputs Outcomes
- Participant-created future scenarios - Set up a network of creative leaders who
- Curated realtime report via Storify have shared values for the future
- Visual record by Ella Britton (participant) - Provided an enormous information bank/
- Large photo archive of event resource of projects, ideas, cultural players
- Event review for Guardian website written and networks
by Canan Marsigilia (participant) - Inspired creative thinking and proposed
- Collection of references and resources action plans for cultural leaders about what
sourced from participants needs to be done for the different future
- Feedback responses scenarios
- Provided space for discussion and learning
ese materials will be available on about different cultural perspectives
www.mission2062.com in due course - Demonstrated new innovative techniques
for hosting group events
12

13. 11. HIGHLIGHTBRINGMEANING
Full Mission2062 materials and mission descriptions are available in the appendices.
Here is this first of three detailed descriptions of key Mission2062 activities which were
particularly productive.
Mission BringMeaning was the fourth of four pre-event missions that the
participants were invited to complete. e simple instruction was for everyone to e table where items were left
bring an object to the workshop that somehow symbolised their personal hopes
for what the future might be like. e only conditions were that the object be
physical and that it also be something that they would be happy to leave behind.
At the opening session, these objects were used as the primary device to get
people talking through offering insights into beliefs and tastes. Having asked for
them all to be placed on a special platform, the mechanic was that one object was
chosen at random and the bringer of that object was asked to describe what it was
and why it was meaningful. is person then chose another object that interested
them and the cycle continued until all objects were described. e objects were
then kept in the room for the duration of the event and at the close, participants
Caption 1 blah blah lorem ipsum blah to the end
were able to take home another’s hope-imbued object that had most meaning with
them as a souvenir and inspiration.
People started tagging their stories to the objects
is exercise was incredibly effective since it allowed everyone to learn about each
other’s personal hopes for the future - quite an intimate piece of information - in a
way that was tangible, expressive and safe. As it was done very early on in the
THREE TAKEAWAYS
workshop, it allowed the group to meet each other in a much more personal and
Make activities physical, tangible
evocative way and therefore very quickly formed connections between strangers. Allow for deeply personal stories
Design activities that open doors
Having the objects on the pseudo-altar during the whole event also meant that
these personal objects were always in view and many people continued to explore
them as the main activities took place.
13

14. HIGHLIGHTPARISCOLLECTION
Full Mission2062 materials and mission descriptions are available in the appendices.
Here is this second of three detailed descriptions of key Mission2062 activities which
were particularly productive.
Mission ParisCollection took place in the mid-morning and lunchtime of the
Friday session. e instruction was that participants were to explore Paris in
small groups on the premise that La Gaîté Lyrique in 2062 had a collection of
objects from 2022-2062 on the streets but could not remember what they were -
this was of course a playful device since no actual objects had been left...people
just had to look at the city as if they were there. Participants therefore had to take
Caption 1 blah blah lorem ipsum blah to the end
photos of objects and tell the story of what the objects were and why they were A while-you-wait plastic-surgery booth from 2030
important. In other words the task was to walk the streets of today’s Paris but
wear the imaginary lenses of someone from the far future.
Groups then had to send in photos of up to five objects with a description of what
they meant and the group that sent the best items would receive additional clues
as to the conclusion of the overall event story. e groups were given 2.5 hours
which included their lunchtime and were allowed to complete the task in whatever
way they wished.
e creative response to this Mission exceeded expectations. Empowered by the
ability to be out in the city and inspired by their instruction to look at Paris as if it e last security camera from 2052
contained objects from the future that they had to discover, the groups returned
dozens of objects and stories which were immediately shown back to them on the
venue screens and were a source of great pride, amusement and insight.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Include the city streets as a venue
Create competition between groups
Showcase outputs as soon as you can
14

15. HIGHLIGHTCLOSINGDISCUSSION
Full Mission2062 materials and mission descriptions are available in the appendices.
Here is this third of three detailed descriptions of key Mission2062 activities which were
particularly productive.
e very final activity was a discussion held in the beautiful Gaite Lyrique bar
where the participants were joined by the GL Director Jerôme Delormas and some
members of the public.
Continuing to use the device of the story, it was held as a conversation between
Germaine Roger the director of the venue in 2062 and the current director. After
Daniel Latorre talking openly at the closing discussion
Germaine shared details of the series of actions and events that the group felt
need to take place in the next fifty years, such as strategies for avoiding
homogenisation of cultural references and the need to embed cultural activity
across society and not ghettoised in a demarcated sector. is was followed by a
response by Jerome who then also spoke about his plans and activities which he
felt were aligned with the future that Germaine had described. e group were
then invited to share more reflections on the future that they had seen and also
ask specific questions to Jerome about the Gaite Lyrique and its operations and
ambitions.
is was an excellent finale to the workshop and allowed a direct way for the
participants to connect the work they had done in the previous three days with Germaine getting ready to talk to her 2012 counterpart
the activities and vision of the host venue. e session hinted at a model where a
team of global talent as was assembled by Mission2062 could usefully provide
powerful and new insights to a forward-looking and open-minded cultural
organisation. THREE TAKEAWAYS
Create a public showcase moment
Share learnings with local leaders
e engagement of Jerome Delormas in the process was highly appreciated by the Engage deeply with at least one
participants and made the holding of the workshop at the Gaite Lyrique
meaningful. Holding it as a public session also gave it additional import.

16. 12. PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK
ere were two ways in which feedback was sought. Firstly participants were invited to fill out blank feedback cards four of
which are are displayed here with a full set available as an appendix.
16

17. PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (2)
17

18. PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (3)
18

19. PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (4)
19

20. PARTICIPANTFEEDBACK (5)
e second mechanism was a conventional paper feedback form which returned the following feedback and the full data
available as an appendix:
100% Other comments
of participants agreed that
Mission2062 was a high quality
- Very professional leading team, challenging ideas and
workshop
ways of thinking, high level of conversation with peers
- Well organised; and freedom was respected
96% - Everything was so well organised
- Amazing experience! It was a lab, a successful lab
of participants agreed that
British Council was a leading - I was not sure what to expect or to gain but am very
organisation in its field happy
- It was what I hoped for, and more
84%
felt that their understanding of
the future role of culture had
increased a great deal
20

21. 21

22. 13. SUCCESSFACTORS
Mission2062 was considered a success by all stakeholders. To help understand
the elements which contributed towards this event, we have classified several
success factors in six areas. ese six areas are:
1. Workshop design
2. Content
3. Look & feel
4. Facilitation
5. Hosting
6. People
While the documentation of these success factors can be used as principles for the
design and production of future workshops, replicability will be explicitly
discussed in a later section of this document
22

23. SUCCESSFACTORS // WORKSHOP DESIGN
Use of narrative
Having a story within which the workshop was structured resulted in high levels of
engagement and created a space for participants to think genuinely creatively.
Use of game mechanics
Game mechanics such as creating competitive elements where successful teams gained
more information towards resolution of the narrative further increased engagement and
team-bonding
Emergent narrative within known story arc
e narrative was such that the overall story was known but the episodic details were
adapted according to how participants responded, this allowed the pace of the narrative
to be at just the right pace for the levels of engagement.
Participant as a creative force
e participants were recognised as the creative professionals that they are with the
workshop containing elements such as uncertainty, risk, storytelling and making which
they would be familiar with in their conventional work.
Allowing for choice and options
Many workshops are very highly structured and do not allow for emergent behaviour and
diversity of activities. is event was designed to support participants to make choices
as to what activities they did and how they did them - again increasing engagement
Lots of free time
Recognising the risks of over-scheduling and burn-out, workshop times were kept
relatively short 10-4:30 to allow participants to balance the intensity of activities with
time to themselves.
23

24. SUCCESSFACTORS // WORKSHOP DESIGN (2)
Avoiding conference cliches
By not using tables or flip-charts or limiting the activities to one space, Mission2062
avoided the worst elements of conventional workshops events to support inspiration and
new thinking
Using outside space as core space
Many traditional workshops limit themselves to one closed venue with the only
engagement with the location coming out of hours. By making participants engage with
the city as part of its core activity, La Gaîté Lyrique and its relationship to Paris became
central to the narrative and experience of the workshop.
Limited use of social media
Since social media does not always support presence nor bonding to a group in the same
physical location, despite it being a current trend to ensure people captured as much
content through digital devices as possible, Mission2062 did not emphasise this so as to
ensure that face to face connections were primary.
Immediate showcasing of outputs
By showing the outputs of participant activity as soon as possible on the venue screens,
there was a growth in the sense of pride in their thinking and creativity.
Pre-event actions
Engaging participants before the event via preliminary missions were very effective in
introducing the event themes. Only 2 of the 35 participants did not complete the four
preliminary missions indicating very high engagement despite them all being busy people
Meeting through objects and personal stories and not just bios
While participants biographies were available before the event, the primary device used to
socialise the group was the mission called BringMeaning described above. is technique
allowed the group to form very quickly. 24

25. SUCCESSFACTORS // WORKSHOP DESIGN (3)
Genuinely no agenda around community post event
e event was designed for its own sake with no stipulation on what the participant
community might do next. is allowed space for the participants to explore future
actions openly and assess which follow-on activities are more appropriate.
Space for reflections and debrief
After the close of the main activities, a session was included to allow participants to
reflect upon and discuss their experience as well as share feedback on the process.
Trusted by the commissioners
Mission2062 was an experimental event whose creative design process involved relatively
high levels of emergence, risk. By trusting the lead producer to deliver a high quality
event even though some detailed elements were designed to be responsive in real-time to
the participant’s engagement levels, the British Council demonstrated a progressive level
of willingness to work in new ways.
25

26. SUCCESSFACTORS // CONTENT
Not utopian or dystopian
When exploring the future, there is a risk that the future is framed exclusively as a
paradise or as a hell. Participants were warned as to this risk and it allowed them to
explore diverse scenarios without falling into either of these two traps.
Allowing for dissent and difference
Another risk for a workshop of this type is that there is an explicit or implicit
requirement for everyone to agree. Mission2062 allowed participants to hold different
views - often radically so - and for that to be a necessary creative force of the event.
Not about culture or digital but all about it
Mission2062 was commissioned as an event which had the future roles of digital
technology and the cultural sector at its heart. It quickly became evident that the
participants felt that in the future there was no need to label anything as digital or to
segregate the cultural sector since both these would be immersed in wider society.
Out of the immediacy of current context
e skilful use of play and the future as a theme allowed participants to step outside of
their daily issues and contexts to engage in wider thinking that was not clouded with
short-term issues.
Website legacy
Using the Mission2062 website both before and after the event as a repository for
content encouraged the participants that their experience would also have a public-
facing legacy
26

27. SUCCESSFACTORS // LOOK & FEEL
Crafted aesthetic
From the website design to the use of woollen and paper structures during the
event, Mission2062 had a very stylised and beautiful aesthetic. is is very rare in
equivalent workshops and the unusually high production quality most probably
resulted in participants engaging with the overall process in a deeper way than if it
had not been employed.
Tangible and personal
Despite involving much intellectual effort, Mission2062 was designed to ensure
that participants used their hands and engaged with physical objects as much as
possible to allow the event to be as embodied as possible. Since it involved the
tactile sense so strongly, it also resulted in participants engaging with the process
in a personal sense.
27

28. SUCCESSFACTORS // FACILITATION
Team facilitation
Having three facilitators who worked in partnership allowed responsibilities to be
shared,energy levels to be maintained and all activities to enjoy a high level of
visibility
Peer status of facilitators
With Rohan and Suzy as primary facilitators and being the same age and career
level of the participants, there was a strong peer dynamic which minimised any
intergenerational or authoritarian issues.
Design decisions explained
By Rohan explaining why key design and narrative decisions were made to the
group as they were introduced, this helped participants understand the design
from a practical perspective as well as a learning one.
Trusting the group to get to know each other
e participants were treated very much as adults and the facilitators did not feel
it necessary to do any “hand-holding” which can create a distant dynamic between
participant and facilitator
Honesty and integrity
anks to the facilitators always looking to use open-ended questions and not
pretending to know all the answers, the participants felt empowered and in
control
28

29. SUCCESSFACTORS // FACILITATION
Skill of the facilitator team
e facilitator team was highly skilled and able to react responsively to the
workshop as it developed.
Keep it risky
By allowing for parts of the process to be emergent, it ensured the facilitators
were vigilant and working hard to maximise the potential of the event
Real time check-ins
is emergent approach was enabled by regular check-in meetings between the
facilitator team to review and plan in real-time
Strong local BC team
Having such a strong British Council team as there is in Paris allowed the
facilitators to focus on their role since many of the core production activities were
so well executed
29

30. SUCCESSFACTORS // HOSTING
La Gaîté Lyrique as venue
Having such an exciting new space as the workshop venue was inspiring and
attractive to the participants
Jerome’s involvement
With the GL’s Director actively involved at the beginning and end of the
workshop, it meant that all activities were firmly connected to the venue and
allowed a direct and meaningful route for sharing the learnings
2062 exhibition
e 2062 exhibition and programme was central to the theming of the workshop
and provided a different but related curated space for the participants to engage
with the topics
Walkable city
With Paris being such a walkable city it allowed the outside space to be directly
used for workshop activities
30

31. SUCCESSFACTORS // PEOPLE
Participant type
Having all the participants engaged in the agendas of change and innovation led
to the group being biased towards engaging with the theme of the future. is
would be more difficult if the participants had been more traditional.
BC staff as normal participants
Having the British Council staff considered just as the other participants were
allowed them to enjoy that role and engage in the full participant experience
without feeling they had to be one step removed.
Global group brought to a new place
Having participants from several and often distant parts of the world gave a sense
of a group coming together to do something special in a different city to the one
they know the best and use the relatively unknown city as a way to allow new ways
of seeing and thinking.
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33. 14. AREASFORDEVELOPMENT
ere were two main areas in which the Mission2062 production team felt the
process can be improved:
Creating an output for a wider public audience
While the closing session of the workshop in Paris was a public event and all
worksop materials will be openly available online, there is potential in future
similar events to create a more direct tangible output for a general audience. An
inspiration for this is boat magazine (pictured right) where an editorial team is
based in one location and creates a specific issue based on stories and issue from
that location.
Creating a practical solution to a shared problem
Despite the strong emphasis on making and tangible outputs, the workshop was e Detroit issue of Boat Magazine
not designed to explicitly result in practical solutions. ere is however the
potential for future events to use the conversations as inputs for the practical
development of relevant projects.
Both of these development areas are similar in that they are both tangible outputs
for key audiences. Incorporating these into a Mission2062 type event would be
possible with sufficient resources. is would best be done as a second follow-up
event rather than including it all in one single event so that there is time to
prepare and bring in more skills.
33 A planning session from Culture Shift Nairobi

34. 15. REPLICATINGTHEMODEL
Mission2062 was designed as a site-specific workshop. erefore while exact
like-for-like replication may not work in a different context and location, there are
some key principles which would result in effective replication elsewhere.
Local Story. Local Host. Walkable City. Diverse Group. Inspiring Space
Create a narrative that is Connect the activities to the Expand the boundaries of the Invite enough non-local Create a workshop space that
meaningful to context of the host venue’s agenda and workshop and use the city participants so location can will inspire the level of
event location involve the local leadership for inspiration & content be seen with fresh eyes thinking that you want
Research Phase. Strong Facilitators. Local Knowledge. Commissioning. Realistic Budget.
Having a clear objective for
Give sufficient time for the Employ facilitators who are Allow the local British Allocate a budget to allow for
the event, knowing what a
designer to research the best skilled in processes which are Council team to be actively a high production quality and
learning opportunity in the
solution for the context open, dynamic and uncertain involved in the process. detailed design process
process which involves
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35. 16. LESSONSFORPOLICY
e design of the event itself provides some learning that is of value in policy
development.
Moving from ‘policy discussions’ to developing narrative
Policy roundtables are often sterile and repetitive of the same issues. Creating a
story within which policy can be imaginatively constructed through engagement
and genuinely creativity could be a more valuable way to approach engagement.
People as a creative force rather than as ‘recipients’ of policy
Policy is often constructed in isolation by policy makers. Involving creative
professionals with elements such as uncertainty, risk, storytelling and making
which they would be familiar with in their conventional work could forge more
engagement.
Allowing for creative solutions, choice and options
Policy is currently often stuck in old paradigms and does not allow for emergent
behaviour and diversity of activities. Designing processes to support choice-
making and emergence would support more innovative policy-making.
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36. 17. SOMERECOMMENDATIONS
Mission2062 and the recent Culture Shift series of events reflect the British
Council’s ambition of convening and curating innovative events which create new
conversations, new collaborations and new projects. Based on the experience of
Mission2062, the design team have five recommendations to the British Council
for future work:
1. Include the core design principles of play, narrative, making and place in
future events, especially those which include a global group (e.g. CLI)
2. Frame events with big, inspirational questions or calls-to-action
3. When participants come from creative backgrounds, use techniques from
art & culture to design the events and draw on the creative skills of the
participants
4. Design events specific to and inspired by location they are hosted in
5. Convene further Mission2062-type events and ensure they are being
continually refreshed and improved
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37. 18. DOCUMENTILLUSTRATIONS
e illustrations in this
document were done by Ella
Britton, a UK participant. A
full set of her visual record
will be available on the
Mission2062 website.
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39. 19. CONTACTDETAILS
For more information about Mission2062 please contact
either Laëtitia Manach (convenor and commissioner, British
Council) or Rohan Gunatillake (independent designer,
producer & facilitator)
laëtitia.manach@britishcouncil.fr
rohan.gunatillake@gmail.com
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