Participatory Methods

Ideas marketplace

Ideas marketplace is a participatory activity that simulates a market where participants present ideas or projects to allocate a limited budget. Each idea becomes a “stall” within the marketplace, and participants “purchase” the ideas they prioritize using a symbolic currency system. This approach encourages interaction, collective analysis, and democratic decision-making.

Preparation

  1. Define the objective: Determine the budget to be allocated and the categories or areas where investment is expected (e.g., infrastructure, culture, environment).
  2. Assign roles: Designate sellers (those presenting ideas) and buyers (those deciding how to distribute their resources).
  3. Prepare materials:
    • Tokens or symbolic coins to represent the available budget for each participant.
    • Posters or cards to identify the ideas at the marketplace stalls.
    • Spaces or tables for each idea to have its own “stall.”

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Introduction
    • Explain the purpose of the activity and how the marketplace works.
    • Define the rules: each participant will have a fixed amount of symbolic coins to “purchase” the ideas they prefer.
  2. Preparation of ideas
    • Sellers prepare a brief description or presentation of their ideas (this may include images, charts, or text on posters).
    • Each idea is organized into a stall within the marketplace.
  3. Marketplace opening
    • Buyers visit the stalls, interact with sellers, and evaluate the ideas.
    • They can ask questions about the benefits, costs, or impact of each idea.
  4. Idea purchasing
    • Each buyer distributes their symbolic coins among the ideas they consider most important.
    • Sellers collect the coins to record how many symbolic resources each idea received.
  5. Results analysis
    • At the end, facilitators count the resources allocated to each idea.
    • A summary is presented of the most supported ideas and their accumulated funding.
  6. Reflection and closing
    • Facilitate a group discussion about the results:
      • Why did certain ideas receive more support?
      • Which ideas could be merged or restructured?
    • Establish next steps for implementing the selected ideas.
Recommendations
  • Clarity of rules: Clearly explain how the symbolic tokens work and the purchasing process.
  • Diversity of ideas: Ensure the ideas are diverse and well-explained.
  • Documentation: Record the results and discussions for future reference.
  • Resource balance: Consider distributing symbolic tokens equitably among participants.
Materials
  • Symbolic tokens or coins (can be cut-out pieces of paper).
  • Descriptive posters or cards for the ideas.
  • Physical or digital space for the marketplace “stalls.”
Online platforms
Purpose
The purpose of the Ideas marketplace is to promote participatory, transparent, and democratic decision-making regarding resource allocation. This activity encourages critical analysis, dialogue, and co-creation, allowing participants to prioritize projects based on their collective values and needs.
Type of activity
Participatory BudgetingParticipatory InteractionParticipatory Planning
Level of participation
Collaboration, Empowerment, Shared decision-making
Target audience
Community leaders, NGOs and social collectives, Business teams, Government
Fields of application
Community development, Organizational and business management, Urban and rural planning, Art, culture, and creativity, Sustainability and environment, Public policies and governance, Citizen and social participation
Estimated duration
From 60 to 120 minutes, depending on the number of ideas and participants.
Ideal number of participants
From 10 to 30 people, to ensure meaningful interactions and manageable analysis.
Topics related to this activity
Active ListeningBudget TransparencyCitizen ParticipationCollaborative PlanningPerspective ExchangeResource PrioritizationStrategic Planning
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