There must have been a time when people were genuinely enthusiastic to attend conferences. Nowadays, however, people are sometimes complaining about having to go as conferences are increasingly seen as talkshops that do not contribute to getting your own work done. The conference is of course fighting back bravely, by having interactive, participatory programmes instead of one key note after another. Still, in order to convince potential participants, it is [full post]
At the IAF Benelux Conference Facilitation as (2nd) Profession I introduced a group to the Green Agenda method for developing and implementing local sustainable development plans. Participants had different backgrounds, but all of them had experience in multi-stakeholder processes. They reflected on common challenges like differences in knowledge between stakeholder groups, conflicting interests, lack of understanding and trust, and hierarchy which can influence a group discussion or process. Lessons learned [full post]
Is it possible to organise a transparent, truly participatory meeting with, say, 500 individuals and to come to real consensus based on literally everyone’s input? With an Internet connection for all participants, one or two good facilitators and a budget it is. At the IAF Benelux Conference Facilitation as (2nd) Profession I participated in a workshop on Synthetron, led by Paula van der Knaap and Jeanette Kalthof. Synthetron is a [full post]
