Workshops

This is a call for proposals for workshops which will be held in parallel to the General Sessions. Organizers of workshops are asked to present their proposals making use of the template posted below. Proposals should respect the organizational principles and criteria for the selection of workshops. The Advisory Group will assess the proposals. Workshops are expected to last 90 minutes. The final schedule will be determined in light of the number of proposals submitted. 

Organizational Principles

• The guiding organizational principle for holding workshops is the multi-stakeholder approach. Geographical diversity is an equally relevant factor.
• There is no distinction between different types of meetings other than the one referring to General Sessions and Workshops.
• All proposals fulfilling the selection criteria and using the template will be posted on the IGF Web site.
• Proposals should preferably be submitted in English. 30th June 2007 is set as the final deadline for submitting proposals in English. 
• Interested parties are encouraged to submit their proposals as early as possible, as the selection process will take place on an ongoing basis. An early decision will facilitate the planning of workshops.
• The rooms reserved for workshops and all equipment, including a screen and a PC or laptop for projections and a projector (XGA/SVGA Data), will be available free of charge. Details related to the logistics will be made available in due course. No Secretariat funding is available for the organization of workshops.
• There will be no interpretation available for workshops.

Content and format

• Workshops will focus on the specific issues relevant to the Rio de Janeiro meeting themes as well as on other topics of relevance to Internet Governance. (More details are available on the draft programme outline.)
• Workshops dealing with topics that are addressed in the main meeting will not be scheduled at the same time as the main meeting.
• Workshops should explore a theme from different angles and different stakeholders' perspectives. Pure advocacy workshops will not be considered.
• All workshops will be audiocast.
• Workshops should respect the general format of meetings and should be structured to be interactive, allowing a large portion of their time for open discussion and interaction with meeting attendees, such as a Q&A session. They could include keynote presentations, moderated panels and discussions both from the floor and from remote participants. Workshops should be designed with the format that is most appropriate to the particular topic under discussion.

Selection criteria

• Relevance to the main themes and sub-themes. Priority will be given to proposals related to the main themes
• Demonstratively proposed or organized following the multi-stakeholder principle.
• Capacity to improve understanding of the IGF themes and topics.
• Proven experience, expertise and capacity to manage the staging of the workshop, including the raising of funds necessary to do so.

Template for submitting proposals

1. Provide a concise formulation for the proposed workshop theme. 
2. Provide the Name of the Organizer(s) of the workshop and their Affiliation to various stakeholder
   groups. Describe how you will take steps to adhere to the multi-stakeholder principle, including
   geographical diversity.
3. Why do you think the proposed theme is important?
4. Describe the workshop’s conformity with the Tunis Agenda in terms of substance and the mandate of the IGF.
5. Provide the Name and Affiliation of the panellists you are planning to invite.
6. Describe the main actors in the field. Have you approached them and asked whether they would be willing to participate in proposed workshop?
7. List similar events you have organized in the past.

Proposals should not exceed 1000 words.

Reporting

The organizers will be asked to prepare a short summary report of their workshop. A template for the report will be made available in due course.