The opening segment is designed to set the tone, demonstrate that their responses shape the panel, and ensure that everyone has considered the Visions in detail. A clear introduction to the plan should help minimise confusion or anxiety, and so better enable conversation. 

A brief explanation of the ground rules for participatory panels could include:

• An emphasis that discussion should be respectful, that all views expressed in a respectful way are welcome. Discussions do not have to be universally positive or supportive of trees, the environment, or the place.

• That people may want to speak more if they are used to hanging back, and moderate themselves if they know themselves to often speak a lot.

• That being visionary is welcome – these are visions of 25-100 years in the future, so the focus of the workshop is not on short term obstacles or political concerns. It is about what future we aspire to.

People are free to disagree, and it is useful - even important - to explain their reasons for doing so. At the same time, there is no need to convince participants to change their views, and it essential that people can agree to differ. Given the whole workshop is centred upon there being four life frames with very different understandings of the importance treescapes, this should be a fertile ground for respectful discussion. 

More detailed supplementary guidance on facilitating panels, such as different techniques for encouraging turn-taking and self-regulating contributions, can be found in the Resources section.

Time	Activity	Resources
0.00 (25m)	Introduction, broad values, and future visions Optional: Ensure recording devices are turned on.  Plenary: Introductory presentation (slides) Introduce the team Fire safety instructions, toilet locations, any other health and safety instructions Workshop objectives Plan for the day Ground rules Broad values results Present the tally Ask participants if the results reflect how they experience the values of their community, or if anything is missing or different. Ask participants to copy the top five values on the broad values sheet in their handout pack Presentation to introduce the visions. Play audio-recording of the Visions (see course Resources) or lead Facilitator to read out each one.  Play or recite each of the recordings for the four visions in turn, and ask participants to read along in their handout pack For each vision, present summary of questionnaire results on likes/dislikes. Do not invite questions/responses, move to next section.	Flipchart Slide deck Handout pack

Notes

The initial presentation of the broad values, as ranked in the pre-workshop questionnaire, does not only provide prompts to conversation or data 'extraction'. It demonstrates that participants' views are taken seriously, as they affect the subsequent stages. It builds a sense that they are contributing both individually and collectively. The presenter may want to confirm that the ‘other’ broad values submitted have been analysed, and that if similar answers were submitted they would have been included.

The reveal of broad values works to reveal and prompt understanding of the workshop mechanics. For example, in the Edinburgh pilot panel the most supported broad value surprised the room, as it was less altruistic than many of the other 'top 5' presented. Subsequent discussion questioned whether people were more candid in the questionnaire, had interpreted the broad values differently, and hinted that the 'most popular' values are not necessarily anyone's highest motivation, but are those a plurality can find positive.

Where the conversation moves towards areas of particular technical importance, such as areas where the facilitator sees a clear link to a statutory responsibility or deliverable idea, there may be opportunities to prompt for further detail. However, the facilitator should be careful to avoid biasing or focusing the panel towards these.

Re-introducing the Visions has multiple foundational aims. If the event starts late, we advise against catching up the time by skipping the re-introduction of the visions. It is likely that many participants will have skim-read the Visions when preparing for the panel, or completed the preparation some days previously, so this allows for a reminder and re-focusing. Presenting the summary of questionnaire results further builds the framework that participation in each stage builds the next one, both individually and collectively.