Facilitated Workshop - A Participatory Method for Planning ofCountermeasures in Case of a Nuclear Accident

This report describes the participatory facilitated workshop method and its use in nuclear emergency preparedness planning and management. The aim is to give guidance to responsible organizations on how to arrange such a workshop. The facilitated workshop is a group process that utilizes multi-criteria decision analysis to discuss the participants’ concerns and issues, and ultimately to decide on a course of action. The objectives are to achieve a mutual understanding of the issues at hand and a united commitment to the action to be implemented. The facilitated workshop method seems to fit well both in the beforehand planning of early protective actions and in the planning of countermeasures in the later phase of an accident. In beforehand planning, it can also be seen as an in-depth training method for the participating authorities.