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Answer With Your FeetGoalIce breaker to open and/or debrief an interactive session and

consolidate insights from medium to large groups unfamiliar with each other

Learning ObjectivesEngage all participants in group reflection to reveal diversity of participant perspectivesAcknowledgementsThis icebreaker was designed by Pablo Suarez, Janot Mendler de Suarez and Carina Bachofen, and facilitator materials developed and tested by the Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre with support from the American Red Cross (International Services Team).

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Preparation: Facilitator

Playspace Requirements• A large open space big enough to allow your group to move Decide where you will define boundaries for participants to

walk to and from Invite all participants to stand up & gather round

Note: exercise can be conducted indoors or outdoors

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Introduction Explain method:“I will ask a series of questions & you will answer by walking. For example, I may ask

you to find out something about each other, such as ‘you have 2 minutes to form groups by favorite foods.’”

Give a ‘walking’ example: “Or I may ask: How relevant is climate change to your work? If your answer is 100%

relevant, you will walk to and stand on this line*. Everyone whose answer is 100% will line up here. If your answer is not relevant, you’ll walk to the opposite line*. If your answer is somewhere in between - let’s say it is somewhat relevant - you would walk to the middle (walk to illustrate) and stand at the 50% line. If it’s more important you walk towards the 60%, 70%, 80 or 90% line, and if less important, you’ll walk to the 40% or less – towards the 30% or 20% or 10% line.”

*If playing in a room, you can instruct people to ‘touch the wall’ on either side to indicate answering on one of the extremes (100% or 0%).

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Icebreaker, Discussion or Debrief

Basic Question: What gender are you? “Be honest and answer with your feet: if you are male, walk to this side (walk) & if you are female walk to the other side. Remember, this is self-reported: any point in between is also possible!” Observe & state results. Does this reflect gender balance? “Does anyone know the actual statistical proportion of male & female in the population?” If not reported by participants, mention normally slightly more women than men.What does this tell us about the perspectives represented by this group? If not mentioned, explain: without representation, the issues & insights of x% of the population may be at risk of remaining hidden or undervalued!

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Additional example QsUse the configuration which gives the best visual representation of answers. For example:1. Binary: were you born in an urban area (walk to one side) or rural

area (other side) – or somewhere in between (stand closer to urban or rural to demarcate)? Where do you live now?

2. Binary grid: divide with men to the East, women to the West. Walk North/South to show your level of education: from no formal education at 0 line, 25% a High School diploma, 50% a college degree, 75% a Masters, and 100% a PhD. Is this a fair scale – if yes is 100% & no is 0%?

3. Form a circle: step in if you walk or ride a bicycle to work, walk around the circle if you use public transport, & step out if you use private transport.

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Debriefing: Discussion prompts• Give 2 minutes: form groups by most powerful

emotion you felt while playing the game? Groups call out their emotion & observe results.

• Give 5 mins: form group by most significant insight you gained while playing the game? Report group by group.

• Winners go to 100% line: get several answers to “Why did you win?”

For key strategy answers ask all players “walk on 0-100 scale to show how important this is in real life?”