Preparation

A six month preparatory phase is leading up to the workshop. This includes: collating existing case studies and experiences; interviews with leading figures in the sector; creating an overview of change in a number of commodity chains; synthesis of key findings from existing reports. The workshop will be designed to thoughtfully build on what has gone before.

International learning workshop

Business, government, knowledge institutes and NGO players are all involved in preparations and join the workshop. A number of partners are helping shape the workshop and preparations, collaboration with others evolve during the preparation phase.

Four overall questions will guide workshop preparations and design:

• What approaches and models are being tried, which are working in what contexts?
• What is the scale of change being achieved versus the scale considered necessary?
• What key hindrances and supporting factors are shaping successful efforts?
• What are roles and responsibilities of business, knowledge institutes, NGOs and policy makers that allow others to operate optimally?

Follow-up

The workshop itself will lead to a follow-up agenda of partnerships and joint action. As necessary this will be followed through to the point where decisions and responsibility for next steps have been taken. It is expected that participating businesses and organisations will also be able to take away valuable insights that they can themselves directly follow up.