Who are facilitators? (5 minutes)

You can read transcript below, or watch it on the following video:

Transcript:

As seen in "What is 'Train the Trainer'?", facilitators are the target audience for TTT workshops. They are the middle man between the citizen science project and the participants, who will be engaging with the project. Facilitators are often volunteers, but can also be people affiliated with the project or project partners. There is often an aspect of recruitment in order to acquire enough facilitators to meet the demands of the project.

When recruiting, and if resources allow it, it is useful to hold interviews for facilitators, particularly on larger projects or projects with lots of interest. This will help you to establish more about the person, what their strengths and expertise are, what support they may need to conduct the role and what their motivation is. Addressing these questions will help in assessing the suitability of the person to the role and vice versa and whether they align with the target audience and can support the aims of the project. If interviews are unable to take place, asking potential participants to fill in a questionnaire when expressing interest can be helpful; tailored questions could be provided to ensure the role is well suited to their needs and the projects.

When recruiting, it is crucial to be clear about the requirements of the project and assess the capacity of the person to adhere to this. Address your expectations and consider theirs; transparency and clarity avoids confusion and ensures objectives are met. Use this stage as an opportunity to learn more about the facilitators. Ultimately, they are contributing a unique set of expertise; whether it be scientific knowledge, administration skills or learning experience, each facilitator has something to offer, and it is important to understand and acknowledge what their strengths are.

Once facilitators are recruited, it is important to sustain the professional relationship. Retention of facilitators is imperative to the continued dissemination of knowledge and uptake of participants. It is important to consider how you will support facilitators in their work, providing professional development, resources and continued training to reflect updates in the project. Ensure you have outlined support for volunteers when considering time and funding allocations. Enforce the ways of working surrounding inclusivity, diversity and ethics, embracing the varying skills and knowledge that facilitators will provide. Recognise contributions to the project, rewarding and citing them wherever possible, and provide facilitators with opportunities to get involved in the wider scope of the project, should they wish. 

Consistent monitoring is important – gather feedback from your facilitators and their participants about the training and the project methodology. Adapt in response to concerns. Following the project’s completion, or the end of the data collection period, ensure you review the process. Provide facilitators with feedback form, assess what was done well and what was more challenging. Ensure that feedback is acknowledged, considered and utilised in the project.