15. Your voice matters: freedom of expression in an ever-changing world

Activity objective

• To help participants experience how meaning changes across different contexts and perspectives;
• to strengthen skills related to dialogue, empathy, and collective sense-making;
• to support active citizenship by practising respectful dialogue on societal challenges and foster engagement.

Expected learning results

By the end of the activity, participants will be able to:

• listen to and engage with multiple perspectives without the need to debate or convince;

• reflect on how complex issues are interconnected across social, cultural, and personal contexts, and how complex systems thinking can guide civic engagement;
• recognise dialogue and listening as key competencies for democratic participation;
• reflect on their own role as active citizens within complex democratic systems.

Description of the activity

This is a facilitated group dialogue on the topic of democratic citizenship and freedom of expression, using the Warm Data Lab method. 

Preparation (10 minutes)

Introduce the concept of Warm Data. Warm Data is a concept developed by Nora Bateson that refers to information about relationships, contexts, and interactions – the connections between things – rather than isolated facts or numbers. Unlike “cold data,” which is quantitative, objective, and separated from context (like statistics or measurements), warm data focuses on how elements in a system influence each other, including human, social, cultural, and emotional aspects.

The purpose of the activity is not to solve problems, but to explore how people experience a complex issue from different perspectives. Therefore, before starting, the facilitator must explain the “rules” of dialogue: listening with curiosity, speaking from personal experience, and avoiding debate or judgment. We recommend spending some time on creating a common ground for what dialogue is. (5 minutes).

Introduce the topic of democratic citizenship and freedom of expression. Explain that democratic citizenship is not just about voting or laws, it is about relationships, responsibilities, and participation in a community, as well as democratic values such as equality, justice and participation. In many ways, it is about who you are in society – your freedoms, responsibilities and opportunities, and how you interact with others. In this activity, participants will explore how different parts of society interact to shape what it means to be a democratic citizen, with a focus on freedom of expression. (up to 5 minutes).

Ask the participants to name the different “elements” that affect democratic participation and  freedom of expression. These could include:

• Government and laws
• Education 
• Media and information
• Family 
• Friends
• Religion, spirituality and life-stance
• Traditions
• Technology 
• Youth

Encourage the participants to think broadly – anything that influences how people participate in democracy and anything that affects their freedom of speech is relevant to talk about. (You can skip this part and introduce topics of your choice without the group participating if nessecary.)

Write each context legibly down on a separate sheet of paper and put them around the room. It can be on the floor or on tables. The participants will move around the room and join conversations about the different contexts.

Dialogue round 1 (45 – 60 minutes)

For the first round, ask the participants to move freely between the stations / contexts and join and leave conversations as they wish. When they are at the stations, encourage them to speak from experience (more stories, less theory and research -> warm data). 

There should be minimal facilitation in this part, but the facilitator can participate, ask questions, and provide other perspectives in the conversation (inject warmth). There should be no planned outcomes, no conclusion and therefore there are no need for notes along the way. It is also useful to let the participants know that there is no need for them to be experts on the contexts, it is the sharing of experience, thought and opinions that are central to the dialogues. 

In the dialogues, the starting point of conversation could be questions such as “How might freedom of speech and participation be experienced or shaped in this context”. You can choose another wording, but the question should be open and allow for the dialogues to move in a direction that is based on the experience of the participants, as well as their field of interest. 

First round of reflections (check-in)  (10–15 minutes)

After the first round of dialogue, the participants come back to the plenary for reflections. Instead of summarizing or debating, participants are invited to share observations, insights, or shifts in perspective that emerged during the dialogues. What are they noticing? How did the activity make us feel? Did you get any new perspectives? You can use some of the points listed in the “reflection session” if needed. 

Dialogue round 2: Let’s talk solution (action oriented / goal oriented) (20 – 30 minutes) 

Go back to smaller, set groups (4-5 per group) with the question “How do you want to contribute?”. Ask the groups to talk about their role as democratic citizens: what possibilities they have? What experiences do they have with engaging in different topics in society? Is there anything they want to do, but haven’t done yet? How can they do it?

Final reflections (see “reflection session”)

Gather participants together and let them share some final reflection and take aways. You can use the “reflection session” if needed. The focus should be on “what do we do about it”- what are the next steps?

Reflection

Required materials

• Chairs and small tables or floor spaces
• Signs or cards naming each topic
• Board to write questions/ reflections

Authors/Copyright

Warm Data Lab method is inspired by the work of Nora Bateson. Topic and activity description are edited, adapted and written by Utøya to the topic of democratic citizenship and freedom of speech.