This ‘Digital Process Design and Facilitation’ course offers a set of emerging good practices that can help you design and deliver mediation activities using online platforms and tools. The course is designed by the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs’ (UN DPPA) Mediation Support Unit, Build Up, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, and Tandemic.

This paper aims to understand the challenges and opportunities arising from this shift to conducting dialogue and peace talks – both formal and informal – to online platforms due to the spread of COVID-19. The paper concludes by proposing a set of facilitation recommendations to those organising and facilitating peacebuilding dialogue to ensure the successful creation of a safe online communicative space suited to conducive peacebuilding dialogue.

Owing to massive digitilization, the pandemic created an infodemic of misinformation,
disinformation and hate speech, including by violent extremist actors. The Partnerships
for Tolerant, Inclusive Bangladesh (PTIB) program, a UNDP-led initiative focused on
preventing violent extremism since 2017, was well-positioned to respond to this spectrum of harms due to its experience with tackling risk factors both on and offline. The program rapidly pivoted to address these evolving challenges. It did so through a combination of highly focused research, monitoring, citizen engagement and targeted outreach. In the process, it created a model for adaptation and replication in other parts of the world.

UNDP Jordan developed 5 training manuals based on the UN SG PoA to PVE. The subject covered are community dialogue, youth empowerment, women empowerment, sports and arts and media and media and information literacy. These 5 manuals were the foundation of PVE training courses that were delivered in Irbid, Mafraq, Tafileh and Zarqa, bringing together all relevant CBOs from the respective governorates to develop their capacities on PVE.

UNDP Jordan developed 5 training manuals based on the UN SG PoA to PVE. The subject covered are community dialogue, youth empowerment, women empowerment, sports and arts and media and media and information literacy. These 5 manuals were the foundation of PVE training courses that were delivered in Irbid, Mafraq, Tafileh and Zarqa, bringing together all relevant CBOs from the respective governorates to develop their capacities on PVE.

When planning an OCEA, it is best practice to understand the sociopolitical topography of the community you’re working in. Where are the loci of power, and who is at the center of them? These individuals can range from government officials and religious leaders to tribal authorities, (un)official armed forces, or community organizers. Some questions to ask yourself are: What is their level and type of influence in the community? What are their positions on the topic of your OCEA? Does it intersect with any of their needs, interests, or values? Do they work at odds with or conjunct with each other? If you are aiming to bring multiple leaders together, is there an online platform or form of communication that they all know how to use? Do they already use the internet to interact with their followers, and if so, how are they using it? If there is some sort of hostile division between different groups, are there any leaders who currently interact with each other in a positive way, or who could provide a good starting point? 

Be prepared for a wide range of digital literacy and access between different actors, and discuss with them what digital tools they will be willing to use. Be cautious of holding communication on a platform or software that creates a power imbalance – for example a dialogue between government actors and activists on a platform that is influenced or surveilled by the government. Act with full transparency, and make trust building a priority.

When you run an OCEA specific to institutional stakeholders you need to take into account what the best format will be. One thing to keep in mind is that all institutional stakeholders bring with them their own institutional expectations. Some organisations see any meeting without an agenda as a clear waste of time, while others can’t function with one. Expectation management is thus of extra importance. Learn what format of OCEA your institutional stakeholders would prefer, and be clear in what it is you are offering and how you would like for them to be involved.

When designing, implementing and evaluating your OCEAs, you will have to take into account that some participants may be at-risk individuals. This category mainly includes people whose socioeconomic grievances are likely to make them vulnerable to influence by VE groups, and those whose identities fall outside the dominant or common cultural, social, and political norms regarding race. Young people are, however, most at risk. They are the main targets of recruitment strategies and often fall victim to extremist violence. In these cases, high sensitivity is recommended. First, you will need to define the criteria which dictate who would be considered ‘at risk’ in your OCEAs. Is legislation in their country used to imprison people without due process, risking promotion of violent extremism by feeding into narratives of grievance? Have you made sure that their participation in your OCEAs will not put them further at risk, either of being victims of VE groups, or of retaliation by the government? Are you safeguarding them enough, should a threat of imminent violence or recruitment arise? Are you ensuring that no personally identifiable data is shared without permission and confidentiality is maintained? Are you able, through your OCEAs, to provide anger and stress management solutions to decrease the chances of radicalization? A best practice when dealing with at-risk individuals would be to engage in open discussions for critical thinking, creating space for alternative narratives to extremist ideas, and promoting tolerance in discussions.

PVE OCEAs that do not take gender into account can end up reinforcing gender inequality and focus PVE work solely on men’s issues and experiences. It is recommended that you integrate an awareness of gender dynamics into every phase of designing, implementing and evaluating your OCEA. Ask yourself: are women and girls from the target communities represented in the design and implementation of this OCEA? Have I conducted a gender-sensitive situational assessment to evaluate the context I’m working in and potential outcomes of my OCEA for women and girls? Have I considered the digital literacy rate of the women and girls from the target communities and whether the technology, platforms, and/or tools to be utilised for the OCEA is accessible and appropriate for them? Am I perceiving women and girls as a diverse group? Do I understand how gender inequality intersects with race, class, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, etc. in my target community? Have I engaged in dialogue with my local stakeholders on what gender sensitivity looks like? Does my OCEA take into consideration the specific vulnerabilities and risks involved in engaging women and girls online in a PVE context? Can the gender equality measures that I have integrated into my OCEA be tracked for progress, i.e through sex-disaggregated data or gender-sensitive indicators?

Youth as a demographic are distinctive in their general level of digital literacy and online engagement. Virtual spaces are often the primary spaces in which they communicate, connect, receive information, influence, and are influenced themselves. Those seeking to engage with youth online must keep the following in mind:

• Engaging youth on social media is not as easy as it may seem. It is important to understand exactly where and how youth are active online, and which populations they represent. Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook might be popular worldwide, but they are not necessarily the most popular with your specific youth audience, and some countries have banned these platforms. You also might find that platform choice in your target audience might vary widely in regards to the background, education level, gender, or political ideology of a young person. It is likely that your intervention will need to involve multiple platforms and approaches in order to approach equal representation. 
• The internet can be positive and supportive for youth, but it can also be a place of harassment, censorship and negative repercussions outside their control. When encouraging certain kinds of online behavior in young people, discuss possible ramifications with them in depth.  
• While digital spaces increasingly have a low-barrier-to-entry due to the expansion of mobile phones and internet infrastructure in rural or under-resourced communities, you should not overestimate the amount of youth who have access to these spaces. It is also important to keep in mind that the internet is not a neutral space, and you still need to be conscientious in your practice in order to avoid reproducing unequal power structures between different youth populations.

‘Hands-on Tips and Tools’ is perhaps the widest category you will encounter in this tool. Here you can find digital tools, online activities, step-by-step guides, toolkits, trainings and more.

In this category you can find research into the evolving relationship between digital technologies and various sectors, foundational knowledge of dialogue, and case studies of interventions and OCEAs. You can use them to gain a wider understanding of trends and developments in the field, learn from basic approaches, and get ideas and insights from practitioners and real-life cases.  

Monitoring and Evaluation is an important part of OCEAs. Evidence-based programming and learning through M&E allows us to improve the engagement of our audience over time. 

If you offer content, it can be of great value to ask, in either surveys or focus groups, the quality of specific content, and any other questions to evaluate whether the objectives of the OCEA has been met. Improving your content is the number one way to improve your engagement, so knowing what works and what doesn’t is vital. 

When running an OCEA you might expect specific change in the target audience, including knowledge/awareness, attitude, and/or behavior change, as a direct impact of your OCEA. If you are, you might want to use pre and post-OCEA surveys. You can see our list of survey tools here. 

Here you are presented with resources that include research on intersections between digital technology and peacebuilding, case studies of virtual exchanges, and reports from various stakeholders on their work in the field.

It may be that you do not have significant experience in facilitating, teaching, or leading trainings/workshops online. Or perhaps you would like to learn more about how to design a community-based dialogue or set up secure communication with your audience. Here you will find up-to-date free and paid courses and trainings that can help you fill in these gaps in your knowledge.

Facilitation resources in this hub include:

Group Process Framework

• This framework presents six stages that a group can go through. This can be a useful tool for facilitators wanting to assess what stage their group is in and what interventions can be made at each stage to move the group forward. It can help you identify the overall process of your group, where you would like them to end up, and specific methods to help them get there. 

Activity Bank

• Linked to the Group Process Framework you can find activities for any type of OCEA. In this section you will find a handful of activities tackling introduction and ice-breakers, relationship building, identity, conflict resolution, critical thinking, forward thinking, youth engagement, reflection, activation, and more.

Context-Specific Resources 

• Facilitation looks different and requires different tools depending on what is being facilitated, whether it is online or offline, and who the participants are. You will notice that there are separate resources for different kinds of facilitation, including dialogue, mediation, interfaith dialogue, and mental health and psychosocial support. 

Facilitation  

• You can also find information specific to designing and implementing online events or facilitating activities online. These can help you determine which facilitation tools to use, what can (or should not) be brought online, opportunities and challenges, and how best to work with your audience.

There is a full suite of digital tools available for your OCEA. These include both free and paid software, applications, and programs. The types of tools that might be of most use to your OCEAs are listed below.

• Communication Systems 

In order to engage people online, you need a good way to communicate with them. Mail Merge systems are highly useful in this regard, as they allow you to easily send out personalized emails to large groups of people and track if emails are read or links are used. 

If emails are not the ideal method of communication for your audience, you may want to use a mobile phone messaging app. Which app to choose highly depends on your audience. 

• Learning Management Systems (LMS)

An LMS will allow you to keep track of participant engagement and commitment. These systems are aimed at education, and so are ideal for OCEAs that aim to deliver a training or workshop.

• Video Conferencing Tools

Many OCEAs will need a video conferencing tool. These vary widely in regards to format, features, and accessibility. It is recommended to assess the needs of your specific audience before making your choice. Factors to take into consideration include: how accessible it is to participants with low bandwidths or tech experience, whether it meets the security requirements of your audience or organization, and what functions you need in order to carry out your planned activities (whiteboard, polls etc.). 

• Online Collaboration Tools

There are two main types of collaboration tools included in the Resource Hub. The first is tools for collaborating online with your participants during your OCEA, which include whiteboard and live polling applications. The second type is tools for designing and implementing your OCEA with your team. Most organisations will already make use of online collaboration software such as Google Workspace or Microsoft Teams. Discuss whether this is meeting all your needs efficiently, and if replacing or supplementing your existing systems would be beneficial. 

• Survey Tools

Survey tools are highly recommended for OCEAs that incorporate monitoring and evaluation. Most are easy to use for both audiences and staff. When selecting a survey tool, keep in mind what your organization’s requirements are for the handling of participant data. 

• Digital Security Tools

There may be security concerns associated with your specific location or audience, including surveillance, censorship or hacking. Digital security tools include collaboration, video conferencing, and communication services that have made digital security a priority, along with some critical assessment of their security claims.

Whether you are interested in a step-by-step guide for facilitated dialogue sessions, instructions on how to keep your data safe, or recommendations for remote activities, you can find illustrative assistance in this category. Here is where to visit if you are looking for concrete toolkits, handbooks, guidance notes, and ‘how-to’ instructions. These include resources relevant to the design, implementation, and evaluation phases of your OCEA.

Here are points to look out for when evaluating OCEAs.

• Survey Tools

The great thing about an OCEA is that your participants are already in a digital environment that can be used to survey them. There is no need to collect their home address and send them a survey in the mail, just send them a link at the end of your OCEA with your survey.

• Pre-OCEA Surveys

For some impact or change measurements, you might want to get a pre-OCEA assessment of your participants. If this is the case, think about combining your pre-OCEA survey with your enrollment procedure, this way you can guarantee that all participants fill it out.

• Net Promoter Score

Net promoter score (NPS) is a measure of satisfaction that has become a standard across multiple industries. Use it to easily gauge how your OCEA compares to others.

Types of resources for use in the implementation phase include:

• How-to guides 

These are resources that provide practical guidance and steps to take when implementing different types of OCEAs or interventions. Keep in mind the information and vision that you gained in the design phase when assessing which are feasible or appropriate for your specific context. 

• Research & reports

Many of the reports in this hub contain detailed examples of implemented activities, the outcomes of those activities, and advice for other practitioners. These can help you follow in the footsteps of successful practitioners while not repeating their mistakes. 

• Digital Tools

Choosing the most suitable digital tool for your OCEA and your audience is a vital step in the design phase. In the implementation phase, you need the know-how to recognize and utilize the different features of these tools and tailor them to your activities. Under this section you can find guides and links to different platforms and digital tools you can use for your OCEAs

• Facilitation Tools 

Facilitation tools include digital tools, activities, design tools, and guides. There are resources on online facilitation and the specific requirements of facilitating in a virtual space. If you have significant experience facilitating in-person activities we still advise looking up resources on online facilitation, as some of the tools and skills required for effective online facilitation may be new to you. 

Consultations and networking activities online usually aim to attract a larger audience than other forms of OCEAs.  Although process matters also for these types of OCEA, they tend to be more result and goal-oriented. Objectives can be to hone in on information gathering, fostering buy-in amongst a larger community, or providing space for relevant stakeholders to connect.  Consultations and networking activities can be done both synchronously and asynchronously online. For instance, there can be a series of consultation meetings organized virtually or consultations through online discussion boards through platforms like SparkBlue. 

Facilitated group interactions and community dialogues are an intensive form of OCEA.  Both of these forms are based on the principles of dialogue, and are meant to be a repeated occurrence, a process that unfolds over time. 

In these types of OCEAs it is important to think about your group’s ‘process,’ i.e. what stages you want your group to progress through over time. A group process framework can be a significant guiding tool in how the sessions are facilitated. Dialogue activities can help you facilitate specific parts of the session. There are specific online dialogue formats (see OCEA Activity Bank) or you can transform offline dialogue activities to online formats. 

It is also important to think about your needs for facilitation. For instance, how many facilitators will you need? This is dependent partly on how many participants you will have. An effective group size for dialogue is between 6 and 13 people. Less, and the diversity of viewpoints is too little; more, and you will not have the space to explore everyone’s points of view.

Trainings and workshops are cornerstones of OCEAs. They bring a unique set of opportunities and challenges. 

One of the first things you will have to decide is whether your online workshop or training will be synchronous – taking place with participants at a specific time and space, live, and direct – or asynchronous – at one’s own time and pace. If you are going to offer synchronous trainings and workshops, you need to consider what platform you are going to use. 

If you are going to offer an asynchronous training or workshop, the space where you do this will also need to be considered. Most practitioners use a Learning Management System (LMS) for this kind of activity. You will find a selection of LMSs under Digital Tools.

Another factor to consider is the length of the activity. Will you have a single session, or will you have multiple? Keep in mind that due to attention spans and screen fatigue it is not advised to plan sessions longer than 2 -4 hours, so consider planning and design accordingly. 

Will you have assignments or quizzes? They can be useful in OCEAs not only as a tool for you to measure impact and progression of participants, but they also serve as ‘knowledge checks’ and validation for the participants themselves.

Designing a successful OCEA entails the use of the most efficient tools, guides, and techniques to assure sustainable engagement. In the resource list for this phase, you can find:

• Digital Tools

The amount of digital tools at your disposal are numerous and evolving. In the design phase, it is important to identify which digital tools are appropriate and accessible for your stakeholders and best suited to executing your OCEA. Using state-of-the-art digital tools does not determine the success of your intervention; more weight needs to be on whether the tools meet the needs of the target audience and match the design of the OCEA. In the end, digital tools should aid you in achieving your OCEAs objectives. The ‘Digital Tools’ section provides both a list of tools and resources on how to use them. 

• Online Activities

Activities in online engagement are as important as in offline engagement. There should be an emphasis on the application of well designed and integrated activities in the design phase. Setting your OCEA objectives and framework will require activities to support the approach and guarantee continuous engagement during and after the OCEA. In this section you will find activities linked to a group process framework, tackling orientation, formation, development, relationship building, conflict resolution, critical thinking, forward thinking, activation, and more.        

• Approaches 

Many of the resources in this hub outline different approaches to take when designing an OCEA. Approaches listed include: risk-sensitive, cyber threat informed, whole-of-society, youth-led, localised, inclusive, and trauma-sensitive approaches. Your design process may need to incorporate more than one approach.

• Research and Reports

When designing your OCEA, you can benefit from information gained from fields relevant to PVE and/or from evaluations of related interventions. You may want to pay special attention to interventions that engage your target audiences or that are implemented in your target region.  

• Guidelines and Best Practices 

This hub offers a wide variety of resources that contain key recommendations of best practices, guidelines and guiding principles. These resources can allow you to tap into the expertise gained from other practitioners and direct the implementation of your OCEA.  

Provides tips and tools for use in virtual meetings and community outreach, including how to conduct surveys and use accessible data visualizations and online interactive maps

Contains a list of virtual platforms and tips on when to use them and their limitations. It also presents a short case study of virtual community engagement and advice on creating sustainability.

This report presents research on best practices in inclusive and accessible virtual community engagement, including tips on engaging community members with online tools.

Virtual tools and platforms can provide the means for many to participate, but can exclude those without experience or resources. This webinar provides advice on how to use virtual platforms to ensure equal participation of all stakeholders in a community.

This webinar features concrete advice on how to create a framework for virtual community engagement and craft a public involvement plan. It also goes depth into two case studies.

A look at a five-step approach to holding meaningful and successful virtual consultations with stakeholders

Presents key takeaways from research into online stakeholder consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic. It shares observations and lessons learned about how to make these consultations productive and meaningful.

This guidance note presents recommendations for planning and implementing virtual consultations with stakeholders and maintaining stakeholder participation. It contains annexes with descriptions of virtual consultation scenarios and guidance on the use of virtual tools and technology.

A comprehensive manual with 80+ tools and activities for making online events more interactive and engaging

This guide presents tips, tools and resources for leading online groups and transitioning from offline to online facilitation. It also provides slides that can be used in video conference platforms and helpful answers to frequently asked questions

This report examines the programmatic outcomes of Virtual Exchanges and provides a review of evaluations

This article provides five insights into M&E practices for E-learning based on the experience of Soliya and the William Davidson Insitute

This article provides an overview of common pitfalls in M&E with a focus on its online implementation.

This roundtable discussion aims to provide guidance for remote developmental evaluation for people with a background in embedded evaluation practices.

A guide for moving the embedded practices of Developmental Evaluation online, commisioned in response to COVID-19

This inititative by DM&E provides new talks on M&E every Thursday, many of which are specific to online M&E

A suite of Google tools including Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites, that can be used for team collaboration

Microsoft 365 is a suite of apps including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Microsoft Teams, Outlook and OneDrive, that can be used for team collaboration

Mural is a whiteboard/collaboration app that could be used in dialogues/trainings/workshops or for brainstorming or planning within teams. There is a free option that allows you to make 5 Murals, and paid options that offer more starting at $9.99 per person per month.

A cloud-based project management software which allows for teams to plan and collaborate from a distance. Integrates with a variety of Google and Microsoft apps. A free account allows for 3 users, with upgrades allowing for more users starting at $5 per user per month.

This list of ground rules and guidelines for dialogue include basic principles that could be useful for both participants and facilitators of community dialogue.

This document outlines a step-by-step process by which a community dialogue could be conducted. It references community food security as its topic but it is relevant for many different community dialogue planning processes. It also contains an appendix that includes real-life dialogue examples and a facilitation plan template.

A chapter of the book Dialogue Theories, which includes a list of practical dialogue strategies and a case study of a community dialogue.

A 2021 study conducted by researchers from University College London (UCL) on the impact of using hand signals in online courses

A design collaboration tool that allows teams to work simultaneously on a project through their browsers. It’s primary use is to develop websites, apps and digital content. Users can start with 3 boards and files free, and after that can choose a Professional plan at $12 per editor/month or an Organization plan for $45 per editor/month.

This guidance note presents an introduction to and some of the key principles of stakeholder engagement.

This article instructs how to create a stakeholder engagement strategy matrix. It provides a sample matrix as an example, along with potential tools a practitioner could use to engage with each type of stakeholder on the map.

Includes an infograph that provides best practices for engaging both pre-existing and new stakeholders virtually, with specific advice on building trust, establishing their ‘stake,’ good communication, time and meeting management, decision making, and learning.

This article contains five tips for an effective communication strategy for stakeholder engagement

A guide to stakeholder mapping, with examples on how to use Miro for this purpose.

This resource provides an introduction to Net Promoter Scores and provides a formula that can be used to calculate this score

Instructions on how to calculate a Net Promoter Score, with information on how this could be done using SurveyMonkey

A facilitator training that specializes in cross-cultural dialogue on virtual platforms, and bestows a certificate upon completion

This course outlines best practices for designing and facilitating mediation activities using digital tools.

This course provides tools and strategies for conducting trainings and dialogue online.

A gamified video conferencing platform that includes whiteboard and collaboration capabilities

A simple Gmail-based mail merge system. Individuals can choose between free versions that allow up to 50 emails per day or paid versions that run from $24 to $48 per year depending on the desired number of emails and support. It also offers $150 per year plans for teams using a Google Workspace domain. GDPR compliant.

A simple mail merge system that runs on Windows. Email lists can be created in any spreadsheet service and then migrated in via a csv file. It is available for free.

A mail merge system that works with both Gmail and Outlook, allowing the user to design, send and track mass emails. The price starts at $15 per user per month. GDPR compliant.

A Gmail-based software that also offers features that allow for team collaboration and integrates with Zoom, Slack or Trello. Users must choose the Growth plan at $24 per user per month or $228 per use per year in order to access the mail merge service. GDPR compliant.

A free extension for Gmail and Chrome that allows the creation of personalized email campaigns from within Gmail.

This Train the Trainer Program consists of 6 linked workshops. Four are skillbuilding workshops that train trainers to make the transition to virtual training, design a virtual training, learn how to create a psychologically safe environment to get conversations going, and choosing and learning a platform of choice. These are followed up by two practical masterclasses that allow you to design and deliver a short virtual workshop and get feedback. It is necessary to contact them to get a price quote.

The Train the Trainer Program for Facilitators program consists of 6 linked workshops. Four are skillbuilding workshops that help facilitators make the transition to virtual facilitation, design a virtual training, stimulate interaction, and learning about platform choices and how to use them. These are followed up by two practical masterclasses that allow you to design and deliver short virtual workshops and get feedback. It is necessary to contact them to get a price quote.

A course designed to help trainers lead effective online trainings. It costs $129.99 and includes 7 hours of video training with access on mobile and TV, 38 downloadable resources and a certificate of completion

An online training course helping participants to plan, design, and deliver effective online courses and programs. The course is self-paced and is equivalent to 5-7 hours of training per week for 2 months. The cost is $222.30.

This masterclass is designed to build online facilitation and workshop design skills. It involves six live sessions every two weeks, in which participants join cohorts for to allow for collaborations, simulations and feedback. The price is $2,297, and scholarships are available.

The Online Training Series includes four online public workshops: ‘Intro to training online,’ ‘Intro to facilitating online meetings,’ ‘Designing dynamic spaces online,’ and ‘When things go wrong online.’ Training for Change also holds other public workshops that include ‘Low bandwidth strategies’ and ‘Large online trainings with impact.’ Workshop costs are on a sliding scale from $35 – $200. Members of organizations with an annual budget of over $200,000 are requested to pay $200. The workshop ‘Large online trainings with impact’ is donation based.

This certificate program is offered by the Association for Talent Development. It trains facilitators and trainers of synchronous online events to improve their skills, providing them with tools, templates, and the ability to practice in a simulation and get feedback from ATD facilitators and peers.

A course meant to advance conflict transformation and peacebuilding at the community level. Topics covered by the course include: Definitions of dialogue; Principles that guide the community-based dialogue process; Considerations for designing, monitoring, and evaluating a dialogue process; and stakeholders in a dialogue process – their roles and motivations. The course has an estimated time commitment of 8-12 hours, and it is free.

The most popular messaging service in the world. It is likely that team members and audiences of an OCEA will be familiar or already use this app. Other advantages are that it is end-to-end encrypted, offers encrypted backups, and is easy to use. Downsides are that it is now owned by Facebook, which collects meta and other user data, and experienced a major security breach in May 2019. Whatsapp is free.

One of the most secure messaging apps, notable for not collecting user data beyond a phone number and having excellent open-source encryption of messages and data. Signal is free.

A messaging app that also has social media features and can host large group chats. Security downsides are that encryption isn’t default (you have to switch to Secret Chat mode), chats between more than two participants aren’t end-to-end encrypted, and it uses its own code that is not as secure as some other’s. It is free to use.

One of the most popular messaging apps in the world, and very likely to be used by team members and audience of your OCEA. Security downsides are that while it does offer end-to-end encryption, you can only access it if you use the Secret Conversations feature. Facebook is also known for collecting user data, and uses close-sourced code (meaning that it cannot be audited for quality by third parties). It is free to use.

A messaging app that is GDPR compliant and complies with European Union data and privacy laws. Conversations are end-to-end encrypted and its code is open-sourced. Security downsides are that it collects and stores some user meta data. Wire is free, with paid options for larger businesses or governments.

A messaging app that does not require a phone number or email address when joining, and therefore provides more options for user anonymity. Chats are end-to-end encrypted, GDPR compliant, use open-source code, and reportedly are deleted from their servers immediately after being sent. Threema costs $3.99 to download, and has a Threema Work plan for companies that costs between $2.07-1.52 per device per month.

Slack brings team communication and collaboration into one digital workspace, that can have different ‘channels’ for different topics, and also a private messaging system.

A guide for community-based organizations facilitating remote community engagement activities. It includes facilitation tools, best practices, worksheets to help activity planning, and additional resources on making community engagement inclusive.

An introductory video on making your first Miro whiteboard

A video taken from a course on digital peacebuilding which includes a short snapshot of functions of dialogue and networking for peacebuilding. It uses the illustrative examples of Online-offline Dialogues in Ukraine, virtual Exchange for Youth and games for Dialogue in Israel & Palestine.

A platform built for secure, encrypted collaboration. Teams can work on documents in real time like they would do in Google Sheets, but in CryptPad everything is encrypted so that even CryptPad cannot access what they are working on. CryptPad offers the use of Rich Text, Spreadsheets, Code/Markdown, Kanban, Slides, Whiteboard and Polls. It can also be used to store and manage documents. Using the platform is free, with a paid Premium plan from €5-15 per month that allows for more GB of storage and faster support.

A hybrid online group is one in which some group members are connecting from individual devices and the others are gathered together in person and joining from one device. This short guide helps facilitators be aware of the special challenges that come with this format and introduces how to overcome them. A follow-up resource to this one is available in this hub, titled ‘Strategies for Facilitating “Hybrid” Groups Online.’

A hybrid online group is one in which some group members are connecting from individual devices and the others are gathered together in person and joining from one device. This short guide provides five main strategies and some additional tips for facilitating this kind of group.

A resource for adapting in-person facilitation tools and techniques to a virtual room. It offers different slide templates that allow you to, for example, put participants in a circle or place themselves on a spectrum. The slides are free to copy.

A videoconferencing platform that is similar to Zoom but is notable for offering the option of multilingual conference calls with simultaneous interpretation.

A multilingual video conferencing tool, that offers chat and slide translation as well as simultaneous interpretation. You may bring in your own interpreters or use one of theirs. This tool can be integrated into Zoom and Teams. Price is available upon request.

KUDO for Web Conferencing is a cloud-based solution for online video conferencing in multiple languages. It allows for meetings and sessions that have simultaneous interpretation provided by either your interpreters or one of their interpreters. It provides six different paid packages, prices of which are provided upon inquiry.

A popular, customisable LMS available for free. They also offer paid options for hosting/and or support, starting at $110 per year.

This LMS comes with a host of services provided. It is one of the more expensive on the market, starting at $9500.00 per year. It does not have a free version.

This site contains a list of over 1000 LMS options, with the option of filtering them by price, tech requirements, and number of users. It also provides a shortlist of recommendations.

A simple and user-friendly LMS with free and paid editions starting at $3 per student per year.

An LMS recommended for training small to medium-sized teams, starting at $58 per month (or $14.50 per month with an annual plan). Includes access to their own courses.

A popular LMS, used in education and work environments. Price is unspecified.

One of the most popular LMS platforms, for use in education or business. Price is unspecified.

An LMS specializing in training. Price is from $33.84 to $43.92 per year depending on the number of active users.

Mail merge software that allows users to run customisable email campaigns. Offers free and paid versions, starting at $9.99 per month. Supported on iphone and android platforms. GDPR compliant.

A mail merge service specifically designed for Gmail. It allows the user to send personalized mass emails utilizing email lists in google sheets, and track them once they’re sent. Pricing plans are $9.99 per month or $49.99 per year. GDPR compliant.

This report presents the findings and recommendations from a 2020 consultation with over 75 practitioners and academics on the impact of digital technology on peace and conflict. It also details how local peacebuilders incorporate digital technology in their responses to conflict and how they envision positive change in this new branch of peacebuilding.

This video takes you through how to create a presentation in Mentimeter and explore the options available

Offers 5GB of free storage and integrates with Windows applications, making it useful if you have a Windows PC, tablet and phone, and need to get to your files from any device.

This page covers the basic layout and features of OneDrive, and contains video tutorials of how to get started

The facilitator tool kit is a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to tools, methods and techniques for assisting groups with planning and improvement projects and interactive meetings. Its clear, simple explanations and directions lead the reader through the selection and application of practical tools that have been tested with University of Winsconsin groups.

Platform4Dialogue is a digital platform designed to be a place of exchange between peacebuilders and civil society. Participants can contribute to or create consultations and network, and the platform claims to be secure. It also allows for anonymous contribution for those with security concerns.

APA’s Telepsychiatry Toolkit — developed by the APA Work Group on Telepsychiatry — is an evolving resource for members who want to learn about the various aspects of telepsychiatry, including clinical, training, and policy considerations. As new topics emerge, more resources and information will be added to this toolkit. Includes: Style Adaptation; Telepsychiatry & the Digital Divide; Visual and Non-Verbal Aspects in Telepsychiatry; Rural and Remote Practice Settings, and more.

Includes general and clinical recommendations, practical tips and reminders.

A list of reports and resources on best practices and guidelines for telepsychiatry

SessionLab is an online platform providing a workshop planner application and a public library of facilitation techniques. The library hosts more than 700 interactive workshop activities, both coming from organisations sharing their own content and individual meeting practitioners sharing their favourite tools with the community.

Similar to Mentimeter, slido also offers a participant polling functionality and a mobile app for your participants.

A tutorial on how to set up an event on Slido, create polls or a quiz, and invite participants

An platform specifically designed for online community engagement projects. Includes surveys, mapping, forums, ideas walls and more.

A widely used tool. In the free survey version, you will be limited to 10 questions, 40 respondents per survey and no possibility to export your data.

A video tutorial on how to design and customize an online survey using SurveyMonkey

Aimed to make filling out forms engaging and interactive. The forms look fresh and modern, promising that users are more likely to enjoy the survey experience. Typeform offers unlimited surveys with a maximum of 10 questions and 100 responses in the free version while the paid version adds extra features, such as advanced question types and conditional logic.

A video tutorial that takes you through how to use Typeform

A resource educating ordinary computer users and providing them with solutions to problems of privacy and security in a modern digital environment. Includes case studies with possible scenarios for human rights workers dealing with problems of electronic insecurity and ensuring continuation of their work.

This UNICEF report examines youth engagement in digital spaces and presents research on how they use technology for civic engagement, what platforms they use, enablers and constraints, and recommendations for organizations seeking to partner with youth.

A set of facilitation cards that can be used in online events, designed to improve communication, engagement and audience feedback. The cards are available in a smartphone version (participants can show their phone screens to their webcams), a print-out version, and a hand signal version.

A guide on how to use Dropbox that includes information on syncing, managing cloud content, security and more

This short publication provides tips for trainers and facilitators who are moving their events online to design events that are more inclusive.

This short publication guides practitioners in designing online learning events, using guiding questions to lead them through the analysis, design, development, implementation stages.

40 practical tips for use in switching from in-person to online training events

Helpful list of beginner-friendly sites providing a variety of options for securing data, choosing the right chat and conferencing tools, and more.

“With teams continuing to work remotely during COVID-19, we are all facing questions regarding the security of our communication with one another: Which communication platform or tool is best to use? Which is the most secure for holding sensitive internal meetings? Which will have adequate features for online training sessions or remote courses without compromising the privacy and security of participants? Front Line Defenders presents this simple overview which may help you choose the right tool for your specific needs.”

Axis allows you to build up a workshop from pre-defined blocks (such as brainstorming and decision making methods) and then effectively run that workshop with remote participants. Sign in for participants is accessible through a code.

A list of guides on how to create and run workshops on Axis

This offers 15GB free storage, having the added benefit of a built-in office suite where you can edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations even if you created the document in another program. You can work together real-time on shared Google document and, similar to Dropbox, you can easily invite collaborators to any document or folder of yours.

A guide and help center for making use of Google Drive

Google Sheets offers you most of the features you need for creating and sharing session agendas. Real-time commenting and revision tracking are useful for the collaborative work.

This guide will show you how to use Google sheets. It shows you how to use various features such as creating spreadsheets, using formulas, and inserting charts.

“The purpose of the database is to serve facilitators by gathering and making accessible a breadth of facilitation methodologies and techniques.” Part of the library – around 50 facilitation methods – is publicly available, while the full library is accessible for IAF members only.

Four principles from IREX to help practitioners avoid losing human connection when making the shift to online spaces

A resource for using digital technology for collaboration and learning

A resource containing short videos explaining dialogue initiatives (both online and offline formats) aimed towards interreligious cohesion.

A list of 33 tools and activities that can be used by facilitators and practitioners. Most can be adapted to online formats, and the site provides a link to a design checklist for virtual meetings.

SurveyMonkey is one of many online survey tools that researchers’ use to collect surveys from study participants. SurveyMonkey provided tutorials and information on how to use the survey tool, however, it is important in research to understand how the data is collected and stored, to protect participants confidentiality and to protect anonymity.

Patients and clinicians are largely satisfied with telepsychiatry, but concerns about establishing rapport, privacy, safety, and technology limitations have slowed acceptance of telepsychiatry. Although telepsychiatry service is convenient for patients, the many barriers from clinicians’ perspectives are concerning, because they serve as gatekeepers for implementation and sustainability of telepsychiatry services.

Mentimeter allows you to create questions (such as multiple choice questions) in their web application and participants can answer them from their mobile devices. This allows for instant visualisation of everyone’s opinion in real-time to the group.

A collection of simple Zoom tutorials for each of its features.

The Hyper Island Toolbox features some popular, well-known workshop activities as well as facilitation methods created by Hyper Island itself.

“This resource contains more than 50 practical tools with step-by-step guides on how to run design research, ideation, experimentation and creation within short iterations.”

“Totem is an online learning platform that offers educational courses about digital security and privacy, and related tools and tactics for journalists, activists and human rights defenders in a safe, online classroom environment.” Courses are free, and the full experience can be accessed via registering. Course titles include: How to Bypass Internet Censorship, Secure Messaging Apps, Secure Your Devices, Field Research, and more.

This handbook is designed to provide tools for remote project implementation.

A guide that introduces the basic elements of the Essential Partners Dialogue approach. It contains templates, scripts, and guides to help in organizing a community dialogue project.

Whereby allows users to open a video conferencing room and have guests join via a link without needing to create an account, though they do need to add a browser extension to do so. The free plan offers group video conferencing and screen sharing up to 4 people with one fixed meeting room.

A help center where you can find information about Whereby and learn how to host a meeting on the Whereby platform

Access Now’s Digital Security Helpline assists individuals and organizations with improving their digital security practices, and provide emergency assistance to those already under cyber attack.

In this publication the Humanitarian Learning Centre (HLC) examines how remote monitoring is currently being utilized and the key challenges associated with it.

A curated a list of telehealth courses and resources

An easy to navigate flowchart that helps users to locate the right tools for their needs

This short article lists four issues that facilitators can consider when in the design process of an online dialogue.

A booklet prepared by “Barefoot” as part of their work on learning practices in organisations and social change. This booklet provides facilitation skills and tools, and helps facilitators design dialogues, understand learning processes, and address group dynamics.

For dialogues in which participants might be sensitive about having data stored in the cloud. Box has more sophisticated collaboration and privacy control options, popular with business and enterprise users.

A site that shows you what is possible with Box and how you might use it

For facilitators wanting to create visual assets for their online workshops or participants working together on new materials during a workshop, Canva offers ease of use and enables less design-savvy individuals and teams to create something attractive quickly and easily.

“This publication aims to deepen understanding and awareness of dialogue as a critical aspect of and tool for peacebuilding and for strengthening social cohesion by exploring different approaches to and perspectives on the use of dialogue in different contexts. It also highlights successes and challenges learned from these experiences, letting the stories of practitioners and scholars working with and on dialogue speak for themselves while serving as a resource to promote exchange between actors in different parts of the world and working at different levels.”

In this webinar, Waidehi Gokhale (from Soliya, an organisation specialising in online dialogues for youth) provides guidance on designing and implementing online dialogue, taking participants through real world examples of best practices and challenges surrounding online facilitation.

A reliable and easy-to-use syncing and file sharing system. The free option offers 2GB of storage, although the full-text search that helps you find any piece of information within your document is only available in the paid version. The service is very easy to set up and praised for the clean design.

This article tackles virtual community engagement with an emphasis on types of virtual engagement methods and tools. It also explores opportunities, challenges, and best practices for those developing virtual engagement strategies for communities.

This guide contains a list of articles pertinent to online community engagement, with titles including “Understanding User Personas as a Tool to Engage Youth During COVID-19” and “Community Engagement and Social Media.”

This is Google’s popular messaging app, offering an easy-to-use video conferencing tool that works really well even if you need to talk with people in different domains. It became well-known for its high video quality and for offering better quality calls when bandwidth is low. Additionally, Google Meet offers many features such as breakout rooms, attendance tracking, and live streaming.

A guide on how to use Google Meet and take advantage of its features

An online tool dedicated to online meeting facilitation with in-built polls, a speaker queue to enable equal participation, and an in-built time tracker.

An independent Butter tutorial, walking viewers through its functions

A blog post discussing the potential of using whiteboards (such as Miro) for dialogues

“The Organiser’s Activity Book offers fun and engaging exercises to help organisers reflect and learn about the potential risks and benefits of using personal data. The activities will help you develop Your Data Policy: a practical and personalised data-use guide for individuals, organisations, or partnerships. The chapters in the book are accompanied with our how-to guide for evaluating data practices and creating a data policy, whether within a workshop or alongside a longer-term organisational review.”

A list of opportunities and risks (see those particularly related to inclusivity) to consider when using online spaces for peacekeeping initiatives

This report analyzes the implications of our growing relationship with digital technologies for mediation, and the opportunities that technology can bring to this field.

In anticipation of a surge of COVID-19 cases in Northern California, the outpatient psychiatric clinic at UC Davis Health, in which 98% of visits initially occurred in person, was converted to a telepsychiatry clinic, with all visits changed to virtual appointments within 3 business days. The clinic had 73 virtual appointments on its first day after full conversion. This column describes the process, challenges, and lessons learned from this rapid conversion. Patients were generally grateful, providers learned rapidly how to work from home, and the clinic remained financially viable with no immediate losses.

This note is intended to guide international and national operational actors on how to adapt and think about remote management in the context of COVID-19. It provides a snapshot of key takeaways from previous research, and draws together emerging learning and guidance.

“Virtual exchange is gaining popularity in formal and non-formal education, partly as a means to internationalise the curriculum, and also to offer more sustainable and inclusive international and intercultural experiences to young people around the world. This volume brings together 19 case studies (17 in higher education and two in youth work) of virtual exchange projects in Europe and the South Mediterranean region. They span across a range of disciplines, from STEM to business, tourism, and languages, and are presented as real-life pedagogical practices that can be of interest to educators looking for ideas and inspiration.”

Step-by-step tutorials to help practitioners learn about and use privacy and security tools. Includes how to use secure apps, encrypt, and circumvent online censorship.

An alternative whiteboard to Miro with a strong reporting functionality that allows you to instantly turn your online sticky notes into structured meeting reports. With its MS Office integration, the reports can be collaboratively edited and then shared immediately with meeting participants or key stakeholders. (The free version offers 5 boards with a maximum 5 collaborators for each).

Here you can find a user guide, videos containing 101 basics and pro tips, templates, and a help center

A digital application aimed for professional facilitators, enabling to design and facilitate collective intelligence sessions.

A tutorial on how to create and facilitate your first workshop on Stormz

The portable Stormz Box device claims to provide secure and reliable local network infrastructure for collaborative workshops at any venue. They offer custom-made Wi-Fi solutions depending on need.

A popular video conferencing platform

A toolkit with instructions on social inclusion of marginalized and vulnerable groups. Although the toolkit is designed for COVID 19, steps are relevant to any social inclusion processes

A document prepared by the Colorado Office of Health Equity to help practitioners move online while ensuring inclusivity and community engagement. The document contains advice, best practices, and suggested tools and platforms for virtual community engagement.

The Principles for Digital Development are nine living guidelines that are designed to help integrate best practices into technology-enabled programs and are intended to be updated and refined over time. They include guidance for every phase of the project life cycle, and they are part of an ongoing effort among development practitioners to share knowledge and support continuous learning.

“Selecting a digital tool to support collaboration or learning should begin by identifying your audiences’ needs and what function you want to perform. Before selecting a tool, you can use the following worksheet to conduct a “digital needs diagnostic” to identify needs”

This allows for unlimited surveys with 6 types of questions and skip logic that can guide your participants through your survey based on their answers. It is free to use.

This article discusses research on the effectiveness of telemental health, VHA policies before COVID-19 that facilitated the use of telemental health systemwide, and VHA’s actions that rapidly scaled use of telemental health during the first months of the outbreak. Key challenges and lessons learned from VHA’s experience and implications for providers and health care systems regarding the use of telemental health to meet patients’ mental health care needs during the pandemic are also discussed.

The Handbook offers helpful insights into contemporary conceptual approaches to dialogue, and provides practitioners with concrete sets of options on how to design, start, convene, conduct, monitor and evaluate a dialogue process. The multiple options offered stem from practice, and the case studies presented in Appendix 1 illustrate how these options may be applied in real life.

A guide on how to choose a platform and prepare for sessions and tech during sessions.

This case study explores the Sharing Perspectives Foundation’s (SPF) blended mobility course: Europe on the Edge, which included a 10-week Virtual Exchange (VE) followed by a 1 week physical mobility held in Brussels. This course makes for an interesting case study for analysing the value of blended mobility.

“This manual aims to cover in detail topics related to Community Dialogue Design, serving as an informational and pedagogical guide on dialogue design for trainers and program implementers to enhance the possible impact of community dialogue process in prompting peace at the local and national level.”

This Guidance presents best practices for mediators, and delves into the importance of impartiality, coordination, inclusivity, national ownership and consent in mediation.

Offers step-by-step guides, resources and materials for online activities

This guide provides information for facilitators working in the field of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support who are switching to facilitating online trainings. It lists the main differences between online and offline facilitation, guiding principles, how to prepare for and conduct a training, and how to combine technical skill with social-emotional learning.

“The objective of this paper is to shed light on how civic space is evolving in the face of digital transformation including in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“This background paper explores some of the ways in which the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has disrupted one of the foundation principles of peacebuilding practice: the basic need to bring people together face-to-face. It takes a step back to look at the overall impact on peacebuilding practice when intergroup contact is limited, encouraging an examination of the principles that underpin practice.”

This report shares the results of a pilot project that assessed the outcomes and efficacy of different types of online interventions with individuals at risk of joining violent extremist organizations.

“Erasmus+ Virtual Exchange is a ground-breaking project enabling youth in Europe and the Southern Mediterranean to engage in meaningful intercultural experiences online, as part of their formal or non-formal education.”

A training guide to empower religious leaders to navigate the internet. One module focuses on understanding young people’s internet usage patterns and interests (pg.69)

The Gamestorming website offers over 50 activities and games for trainers and facilitators to use in sessions, along with step-by-step guides.

Contains advice and facilitation practices to handle strong emotions in both offline and online settings, including practical online facilitation tips

A short guide to youth empowerment in OCEAs from The Sharing Perspectives Foundation, based on a decade of experience with designing and implementing OCEAs for youth

Effective online facilitation requires skills and knowledge unique to online contexts. If you are new to online facilitation or have mostly offline experience, these pro tips can help you make the transition with confidence. They include tips for leading activities, preparing for a session, physical presentation, non-verbal participation, and online facilitation in general.

A bank of online activities that contains information on which activities are suited for specific purposes and instructions on how to implement them

A resource for facilitators looking to build effective group dynamics, relationships, and group ownership. It provides tips on how to notice signs of a disengaged group and respond effectively.

A concise guide to bringing offline community engagement online, with instructions on how to design, plan, and structure an OCEA, as well as take the needs of your audience into account.

This document outlines The Sharing Perspectives Foundation’s Group Process Framework, which is designed to help facilitators work with their online dialogue groups. It provides guidance to facilitators to assess their group stages of their groups and supports their decisions as to which intervention and/or dialogue activity they could best use. It includes a detailed sample of a Group Process Framework with links to an online activity bank, and a template practitioners can adapt for their own groups.