Consequently, workshops are designed not so much as a tool to “negotiate” or “reach agreements” than as a means to improve the relationships among the dialogue participants through joint learning. Thanks to their deliberative nature, workshops can provide the participants with additional knowledge on the policy issues under discussion, which may in turn open new opportunities for consensus (or unearth buried conflicts, a situation for which the facilitator needs to be ready and that will require strong dialogue skills to reconduct the debate towards constructive solutions).