FreedomFilmFest 2026 workshop · 2026-10-26

Deliberation Workshop: How can we solve the current haze problem?

I was invited to FreedomFilmFest 2026 in Malaysia to run a three-and-a-half-hour workshop where local advocates could experience civic discussion.

Malaysia's political environment is very different from Taiwan's, and many topics are hard to discuss openly, so I designed the workshop as a first experience. Where opinions are polarized, people may not have had a chance to discuss things well. Bringing people with very different stakes into one room right away could lower the quality of the discussion, and participants would miss what civic discussion feels like.

So I built the workshop around role-play. Participants started from where opinions differ and ended with actions every side could support.

Design highlights

1
Roles lower the pressure
I wrote the role cards from news and other public sources, covering five roles: government, business, an NGO, the affected public, and a smallholder. Speaking in role instead of as themselves, participants can focus on practicing how to discuss well. They then use an empathy map to work out what their role says, thinks, and cares about.
2
See where people split
Before the discussion, I had everyone vote on Pol.is. It shows how opinions fall into groups and which statements divide them most, and the discussion starts there.
3
Test the question with roles
I had participants rewrite divisive statements as "How might we…" questions, then test them at mixed-role tables. If any side finds a question unfair or won't discuss it, the question needs more work.
4
Vision before action
Each table first pictures what life looks like once the problem is solved, then breaks actions into short, medium, and long term, so the discussion stays focused.
5
Vote in role
Everyone votes in role, which shows which actions win support from different stakeholders at once.

Outcome

At every table, the top-voted action was about talking properly with all stakeholders. Participants said they learned to ask more open questions and to hear people on other sides. The slides, role cards, and Pol.is report guide are all on this page as a reference for designing a similar discussion.

Materials

Role cards

Government
An officer at the Department of Environment who publishes the daily air pollution readings
You are an officer at the Department of Environment. Your team publishes Malaysia's official air pollution readings (API). Schools now close when these readings pass a new, lower limit, so every number is watched. Some people point to air quality apps that show different numbers. Your department says the apps measure air differently. In Parliament, a deputy minister said there is no official report of Malaysian companies being involved in the fires. You can measure the air, but the fires are in another country.
Sources: Bernama, 8 Oct 2026 · Malaysiakini, 8 Oct 2026 · The Star, 14 Oct 2026
Business
The sustainability manager at a Malaysian palm oil group that an NGO report has just linked to the fires
You are the sustainability manager at a Malaysian palm oil group with plantations in Indonesia. An NGO report has linked land your group manages to this year's fires. The report says this does not mean your company started them. Your company says it follows a zero-burning policy and that most fires started outside its land. Your certification body agrees that a fire near a plantation does not prove the owner started it. Indonesia is investigating 19 companies but has not named them.
Sources: Greenpeace, 5 Oct 2026 · New Straits Times, 9 & 11 Oct 2026 · The Vibes, 9 Sep 2026
Affected public
A food delivery rider in the Klang Valley whose daughter has asthma
You deliver food by motorbike in the Klang Valley. You earn by the delivery, so a day off is a day without pay. On haze days, more people order in, so there is more work outdoors. If the smoke makes you sick, there is no guaranteed compensation. Your daughter has asthma. Schools now close when the air gets bad, and someone has to stay home with her.
Sources: New Straits Times, 20 Sep 2026 · Malaysiakini, 8 Oct 2026
NGO
A campaigner at a small Kuala Lumpur environmental NGO with a team of three and a long list of demands
You are a campaigner at a small environmental NGO in Kuala Lumpur, with a team of three. You want companies linked to the fires to be held responsible, including Malaysian companies operating in Indonesia. In September, groups like yours protested at the Indonesian Embassy. They asked Indonesia to publish its maps of who holds which land, and to name the companies involved. So far, Indonesia has not named the companies it is investigating.
Sources: Greenpeace, 4 Sep & 5 Oct 2026 · New Straits Times, 11 Oct 2026
Smallholder
An oil palm farmer in Indonesia with a small plot of land
You grow oil palm in Indonesia, on two hectares of land or less. Fire is a cheap way to clear land. In August, Indonesian police arrested 72 people over this year's fires. Big companies say the fires came from the land next to theirs. In 2023, a farmers' union said smallholders are victims of the haze, not the cause.
Sources: AP, 24 Aug 2026 · The Star, 20 Oct 2026 · New Straits Times, 9 Oct 2026 · Eco-Business, 14 Nov 2023