3.2 Evidence Cafés and discussion objects

As you will have learned in Unit 1, Evidence Cafés are an effective way of collecting different views on a variety of evidence types for a complex topic.

When stakeholders share evidence as part of a migration Evidence Café, they often talk about evidence that has been analysed at different levels, providing different levels of insight. One person may be discussing an issue evidenced with research knowledge, underpinned by a well-structured framework. Another person could be discussing quotes from migrants that they’ve recently heard. Whilst these are both valuable types of evidence, the former knowledge has been analysed to a greater depth and is more effectively turned into actions than the latter data. The knowledge exchange process within Evidence Cafés should help to identify these differences and support the development of further types of evidence. This creates and encourages stakeholders to work together to find migration solutions, rather than believing that one piece of evidence has all the answers.