Learning in The World Café: an empirical evaluation

This study aims to evaluate The World Café (TWC) method as a social collaborative learning environment. TWC is a widely used large-scale intervention for such things as organizational change and development or community development programs.

Three World Cafés were organized as part of a university research project on promoting sustainability-oriented innovation in the logistics sector. A total of 18 participants representing public and commercial organizations were interviewed on their experiences.

Learning processes are linked to social and cognitive aspects that TWC intervention effectively structures.

If a World Café is implemented according to the basic principles, it can be an effective environment for organizing non-formal learning in organizations.

Although the gray literature on World Cafés is full of anecdotal evidence about its effectiveness, there is a dearth of empirical research underpinning the claims.