6.2 Setting up an Evidence Café

An Evidence Café is usually initiated by the host organisation and is coordinated by the evidence café champion who acts as the main point of contact between the host organisation and academic(s). In the video in Unit 2.1 of the course this was Sophie, however Evidence Cafés have been adapted to be developed by multiple organisations. The key driver should be to incorporate equity in the exchange. Evidence Cafés depend on academic and practitioners’ availability, so plan as far in advance as possible. Ideally you should try to give at least two to three months’ notice, but if that’s not possible, three weeks minimum. Finally, it is important to ensure that the process supports informal communication, which often means hosting the event in a café space or informal community area.

For more specific guidance around the whole Evidence Café process download the free brochure. [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]

Activity 6.1 Setting up an Evidence Café

Timing: Allow 30 minutes

  1. When writing an invite to an Evidence Café list the details that you should include
  2. Now write an invitation for an Evidence (it should be no more than 200–500 words)

An invitation letter should include briefly what an Evidence Café is, why the participant has been invited, the venue for the café, and how much time it will take.

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One of the first things to do when planning an Evidence Café is to work out who the key stakeholders are and what their interests are and what types of evidence they may use. It is important that you get the right voices together to make the knowledge exchange productive. This is what we saw happening in the video in Section 2.1, to which we now return.

6.1 Understanding Evidence Cafés: migration, stakeholders and evidence

6.3 Actors and scenarios