Participatory Methods

Safety Stories

Safety Stories is a participatory activity where participants share anecdotes related to risky situations, near misses, or moments when they felt in danger. This activity raises collective awareness about safety, encourages reflection on preventive practices, and strengthens group trust through the sharing of personal experiences.

Preparation

  1. Define the purpose:
    • Raise awareness about the importance of safety in everyday or professional settings.
    • Facilitate the exchange of experiences to promote learning.
    • Foster a group environment of trust and openness.
  2. Prepare the materials:
    • Chairs arranged in a circle to encourage interaction (for in-person sessions).
    • Flipchart, whiteboard, or large paper to capture key ideas (optional).
    • Sticky notes or cards to write down takeaways or future commitments.
  3. Set up the space:
    • Make sure the space is comfortable and offers enough privacy for participants to share personal stories.
  4. To run the activity virtually:
    • Use virtual platforms that allow participants to share their stories in a safe space, using chat or microphones depending on their comfort level.
    • Assign turns to ensure everyone has a chance to participate.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Introduce the purpose:
    • Explain that the goal of the activity is to reflect on safety through personal experiences.
    • Emphasize the importance of confidentiality and respect during the story-sharing process.
  2. Individual reflection:
    • Ask participants to think of a recent experience related to safety—whether it was a real incident, a dangerous moment, or a near miss.
  3. Story sharing:
    • Each participant shares their story with the group, explaining what happened, how they reacted, and what they learned from the experience.
    • The facilitator may ask questions to deepen the reflection, time permitting.
  4. Group discussion:
    • After all stories have been shared, guide a discussion about common patterns or key takeaways.
    • Ask participants to identify strategies for preventing similar situations in the future.
  5. Closing and commitments:
    • Summarize key learnings and invite participants to share a personal safety-related commitment.
Recommendations
  • Create a trusting environment: Make sure participants feel comfortable sharing their personal stories.
  • Encourage participation: Allow enough time for each participant and avoid interrupting their stories.
  • Adjust for group size: If the group is large, break into smaller groups to ensure everyone can participate.
  • Highlight common insights: Identify recurring themes or patterns for group reflection.
  • Encourage reflection: Invite participants to consider how the shared experiences can help improve safety in their personal or professional contexts.
Inspiration

Questions to guide group reflection on safety

  • What factors contributed to the danger in your experience?
  • What actions did you take to prevent a more serious incident?
  • What did you learn from that situation?
  • Do you think it could have been avoided? How?
  • What would you recommend to others to prevent similar situations?
  • What role did communication play in that experience?
  • What additional resources would have been helpful at that moment?
  • How did your perception of safety change after that experience?
  • What skills or knowledge did you gain as a result?
  • What would you do differently if you faced that situation again?

Variations to make “Safety Stories” relevant in different contexts

  • Community development: Invite participants to share experiences related to local issues, such as poor public services, lack of street lighting, or incidents in parks, and reflect on ways to improve these areas.
  • Organizational management: Focus the activity on workplace accidents or professional risk situations, identifying how internal policies and organizational culture can help prevent them.
  • Urban and rural planning: Reflect on incidents involving infrastructure, such as poorly maintained streets or unsafe public transport, and analyze potential urban design solutions.
  • Health and social well-being: Share stories of medical emergencies or home accidents, encouraging the development of healthy habits and response protocols.
  • Sustainability and the environment: Recount experiences with climate-related events such as floods or wildfires, highlighting the importance of sustainable practices and disaster preparedness.
  • Public policy and governance: Discuss experiences involving lack of regulation or the response of authorities to risky situations, generating proposals to improve public management.
  • Civic and social participation: Reflect on incidents during mass events or community initiatives, exploring how to strengthen citizen collaboration to prevent future risks.
Materials
  • Chairs arranged in a circle (for in-person sessions).
  • Flipchart, whiteboard, or large paper (optional).
  • Sticky notes or cards to record takeaways.
Online platforms
Purpose
The purpose of Safety Stories is to raise awareness about the importance of safety, share meaningful insights through personal experiences, and strengthen group connection through collective reflection.
Type of activity
Collective ReflectionParticipatory InteractionParticipatory Learning
Level of participation
Information, Empowerment, Knowledge generation, Exchange of perspectives
Target audience
Community leaders, NGOs and social collectives, Business teams
Fields of application
Community development, Organizational and business management, Urban and rural planning, Health and social well-being, Sustainability and environment, Public policies and governance, Citizen and social participation
Estimated duration
20-30 minutes.
Ideal number of participants
10-25 people.
Topics related to this activity
Active CollaborationActive LearningActive ListeningActive ReflectionCauses and EffectsCollaborative LearningCollective ReflectionContinuous ImprovementCritical ThinkingGroup StrengtheningKnowledge GenerationLessons LearnedParticipatory AnalysisParticipatory StorytellingPerspective ExchangePositive CommunicationShared StoriesStrategic Reflection
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