Coffee Mornings Return: What Topics Should We Cover?

We’re relaunching our Thursday morning sessions from February, and we want to know what you’d like to explore

Good news: our coffee mornings are coming back. We ran these back in the early 2020s and they were really valuable, so we’re bringing them back from February. We’d love to hear what topics you’d like us to tackle.

We’ll be running regular Thursday morning sessions (11am) where our Fellows lead discussions on the practical challenges you’re actually facing. Think of them as focused conversations over coffee, not formal webinars or training sessions. Just an hour where you can explore tricky problems with people who get it.

What happens in a coffee morning?

Each session focuses on one topic. One of our Fellows kicks things off by sharing their thinking and practical experience, then we open it up for discussion. You can join from wherever you’re working, ask questions, share what’s worked (or hasn’t) for you, and pick up ideas you can use straight away.

When we ran these before, we covered all sorts: managing campaign responses, designing engagement for seldom-heard groups, handling contentious service changes, making equality impact assessments actually useful. We also looked at sector-specific challenges in health, planning, policing, and local government. The conversations were genuinely useful, and people kept asking when we’d do them again.

Over to you: what should we cover?

We’re planning the first few months of 2026 right now, and we’d really like your input. What would be most useful to you? What are you currently wrestling with that would benefit from talking it through with peers and experienced practitioners?

Here are some topics we’re thinking about:

• Designing proportionate engagement when full consultation isn’t required
• Managing stakeholder challenge in planning consultations
• Building trust with communities affected by service reductions
• Using AI tools responsibly in consultation processes
• Evidence requirements for Gunning compliance
• Reaching vulnerable groups in community safety consultations

But honestly, we’re open to anything. If you’re struggling with something, there’s a good chance others are too, and a coffee morning might be exactly the right place to work through it together.

Fancy joining us?

Drop us an email at hello@consultationinstitute.org and let us know:

• What topics you’d find helpful
• Any specific challenges you’re facing that would benefit from discussion
• That you’re interested in attending (we’ll send details once we’ve firmed up the programme)

We’ll share the full programme in our next email with dates and how to book.

These sessions are open to everyone, whether you’re a tCI member or not. Members get priority booking, but we’ll make sure there’s space for non-members too.

The value of connecting

Let’s be honest: consultation work can feel quite lonely. You’re often the only person in your organisation who really understands what makes a process legally sound, practically deliverable, and genuinely inclusive. Coffee mornings give you an hour with people who face the same pressures and can help you think through difficult decisions before you’re too far down the road.

They’re also where we all learn together. The conversations we have in these sessions often spark new thinking that feeds into our training, guidance, and the work we do advocating for better engagement standards across the sector.

So if you’ve got ideas, questions, or just want to register your interest, get in touch: hello@consultationinstitute.org

We’re looking forward to getting these going again.