IAF Europe Newsletter Jan. 2010
2 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
# 02 FEBRUARY 2011
Europe is one of seven regions within the International Association of Facilitators. The IAF Europe team
members volunteer their time to plan and support activities and services for IAF members living in
Europe, supported by Entendu Ltd.. Contact us at pamela.lupton-bowers@iaf-europe.eu;
robert.verheule@iaf-europe.eu; kristin.reinbach@iaf-europe.eu; rosemary.cairns@iafeurope.eu, or
speak with Ben Richardson or Bobbie Redman of Entendu at office@iaf-europe.eu.
INDEX2
ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER
The IAF Europe Newsletter is published monthly by the IAF Europe Regional Team for members of the
International Association of Facilitators living within Europe.
Editor: Rosemary Cairns
Design: Christian Grambow | www.christiangrambow.com
Contributors: Anna Derengovskaya, Louise Werner Gielsager, Martin Gilbraith, IAF Methods Database,
Maureen Jenkins, Philip Jones, Sona Karikova, Anna Lodge, Pamela Lupton-Bowers, Gillian Martin Mehers,
Steve Marshall, Ben Richardson, Sandor Schuman, Nille Skalts, Daniel Thistlethwaite, Simon Wilson
Cover picture: Schumacher College‖s Ecological Facilitation course is about authentic and sustainable
leadership, using ecological systems as the inspiration for facilitating healthy social systems and workplaces.
Participation and community is the ethos that underlies leading from a position of deep understanding
and commitment to the challenge. Participants work together to ensure food is grown and
prepared in a sustainable way, for example. (Photograph by Daniel Thistlethwaite, Schumacher College)
Please send your contributions to your Newsletter to rosemary.cairns@iaf-europe.eu
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 3
FEBRUARY 2011
CONTENT
3
# 02
FACILITATING THE UNKNOWN AND
MASTERING IT
By Sona Karikova
10 DENMARK’S FIRST
FACILITATOR GET TOGETHER
By Louise Werner Gielsager
15
METHOD OF THE MONTH:
THE PROJECT TREE
By IAF Methods Database
19 THE BIG SLOW DOWN: FACILITATION
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS WHEN PARTIALLY
ABLED
By Gillian Martin Mehers
20
SCHUMAN'S RULES OF PROBLEM
SOLVING
By Sandor Schuman
22 MEMBER NEWS
30
ECOLOGICAL FACILITATION: A GRITTY AND
CREATIVE APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP
By Anna Lodge
4 MORE SMILES THAN TEARS AT
GENEVA CPF ASSESSMENT
By Pamela Lupton-Bowers
8
4 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE4
chumacher College is responding to an
increasing need for new kinds of
leadership and related facilitation skills
focused on creating a sustainable future. The
course “Ecological Facilitation: A gritty and
creative approach to leadership” regularly
brings together participants from a surprising
range of backgrounds to learn and explore
these practices together.
Combining radical and simple approaches
to facilitation and drawing upon the broad
experiences of the group is proving useful
beyond the confines of environmental
professions. Participant can take learning from
environmental practice in facilitation and apply
it to any other context with remarkably
constructive results.
Most areas of life provide us with
motivation to explore alternatives. This change
often needs the support of a facilitator or
facilitators‖ during the transition, which can be
short term or a lifetime‖s journey. The
motivation for change that we at Schumacher
College address is in response to ecological,
Ecological Facilitation:
A gritty and creative approach to leadership
By Anna Lodge
S
Photograph by Daniel Thistlethwaite
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 502.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 5
ARTICLE
5
social and cultural crisis‖, which has moved
many people to change their lives or forced
changes in organisations. Many people that we
work with are responsible for engaging others in
a response to the crisis and therefore find
themselves informally or professionally in the
role of leader.
As a result, we have been working to
directly address the need for specific facilitation
and leadership skills within the context of
improving ecological awareness and the
potential for change. As you might imagine, this
course has proved very useful for those working
in traditional education or consultancy roles. But
beyond these roles are people working within
communities, universities, permaculture
projects, corporate departments and NGOS who
are reaching out for a more radical way to
address their responsibilities. What they have
found through Ecological Facilitation is that the
health of ecological systems can be used as
inspiration for facilitating healthy social systems,
including work places. With this as a starting
point, a new and much more sustainable
leadership can be explored.
A new kind of embodied leadership
Four questions are key to a new kind of
embodied leadership that reflects and adapts to
a new world where ecological limits are ever
pressing:
 What forms of facilitation and leadership
best reflect our intentions to work with a
sense of non-material abundance and a
Photograph by Steve Marshall
6 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE6
richness that works within the confines of
ecological limits?
 How can we explore ecological and
systematic perspectives within our
individual roles as facilitators, and then
help those we facilitate explore these too?
 What practices reflect, and therefore
enable, a more ―eco-logical‖ way of being?
 What approaches to leadership support and
model the change we seek to facilitate?
The course aims to prepare participants to
work together to explore what practice fits, going
beyond the individualistic and organisationcentred
concerns to the wider and fundamental
socio-ecological and cultural concerns which are
now urgent.
The course‖s processes and tools reflect
healthy, dynamic ecosystems, which we use as a
logical and instinctive starting point to guide us in
how to approach change and bring new leadership
towards a sustainable world. This wonderfully
creative and deeply challenging
work brings new experiences and
new insights to the process of
change and the facilitation of that change.
We are all, as individuals, a micro-example of
ecological systems. In this way our emotional
engagement with the challenges we work with are
important – part of our whole system. Through
Ecological Facilitation, we have found that
exploration of those emotional experiences can be
deeply practical.
Exploring emotional barriers
An acknowledgement of emotional barriers
and opportunities has been, in some ways, more
evident within a ―movement‖ such as
environmentalism. However, as these barriers
exist in all areas of dynamic human interaction,
exploring them is a very worthwhile undertaking
for those meeting any challenge. A facilitator
helping a group develop its interest in some of
the stickier and more complex barriers to change,
such as those held emotionally, can provide
essential insight and knowledge to move the
group forward.
As well as using the real-life professional
issues of participants, the course draws on some
cutting edge fields of ecology and social change,
including complexity theory, deep ecology,
participative democracy, and indigenous wisdoms.
Over the last 20 years, Schumacher College has
been working within areas such as these, some of
which are new and fresh, combined with well
established ideas. Each area can form an
extensive narrative of its own but in combination,
they generate very powerful explorations of what
makes the planet and society work, and more
urgently how to address the challenge of when
they don‖t work – for example, our present
ecological crisis.
In exploring the changes that are needed
within any challenge or crisis, a number of
approaches will clearly be needed. Because the
natural world is the starting point for Ecological
Facilitation, participants explore tools and
conversations about leadership that are nonverbal,
visual, and to do with being outside of the
subject, as well as more well known contemporary
methodologies such as Open Space. In this way,
one can form new links with the course theme but
also form a foundation of practice that is useful in
Photograph by Daniel Thistlethwaite
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 7
ARTICLE
7
Anna Lodge leads on Communications at
Schumacher College
www.schumachercollege.org.uk, which provides
individuals and groups from across the
world with the opportunity to learn on numerous
levels about subjects relating to environmental
and social sustainability. Set
within the vibrant Dartington Hall Estate in
the South West of England, the College seeks
to offer a positive educational space which
integrates the concerns of governments,
NGOs, businesses and individuals. Through a
range of educational activities, participants
are encouraged to consider some of the most
urgent challenges of sustainability and to
take responsibility for delivering effective solutions
in their own working and personal
environments. The context of individual and
group learning provides a powerful platform
for deep and holistic engagement with transformative
learning for sustainable living. The
College runs an extensive programme of short
courses, two full time Masters courses, a
green-skilling programme, and is developing
its ability to deliver transformative learning
online and through worldwide networks.
any area in which one is undertaking the role of
leader and facilitator.
An exploration of process goes alongside the
themes above:
 working with uncertainty and the unknown
 developing presence as a leader and
facilitator
 working with nature
 resourcing ourselves in this work
 models and theory of radical facilitation as
leadership
Leading by example
As Schumacher College works on the basis
that one needs to lead from a position of deep
understanding and commitment to the challenge,
the ethos of participation and community
underlies our practice. Participants work together
to ensure food is grown and prepared in a
sustainable way, for example. Therefore, a way of
life then translates much more authentically into
how one works with others. Described in a
different way, this could be ―leading by example‖
or ―authentic leadership‖.
Because the central question of culture
change drives this course, the response needs to
be highly creative. Bringing together theories of
ecology and social change with more experiential
practices makes for a powerful transformative
process to meet this challenge. While ecological
change is what concerns participants of
Schumacher College, it is also a radical approach
that can benefit the broadest range of change
practitioners.
Schumacher College is running the course
Ecological Facilitation: A gritty and creative
approach to Leadership 27 February – 5 March,
2011 and again, the same time next year. For
more details: www.schumachercollege.org.uk
Photographs by Daniel Thistlethwaite (top) and Steve Marshall (bottom)
8 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
Having just concluded the 2010 CPF event in
Geneva, we are delighted to welcome the newest
CPFs to the International Association of Facilitators:
Sandrine Delattre, Raj Ranal, Christine Zeigler,
Christiane Amici Raboud, and Nille Skalts (who
joined us from Denmark). We were delighted to be
able to arrange the event and thanks go to Lindsay
Wilson and Robert Verheule for the arrangements
and assessment on the day.
The actual CPF event was held at Ecogia, the
International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva.
One candidate, Christiane Amici Raboud, is
the Director of the Centre and so could make sure
that all the venue specifications were met.
It was a tough haul to make this happen. At first
we thought we had 11 participants, which would
have been great from IAF‖s cost benefit perspective,
but finally we had six people who managed to
meet the criteria and complete the documentation
to a sufficiently high standard to be invited to the
event. Five of them were certified on the day. We
are delighted to almost double our number in Swit-
zerland.
When I visited in the morning to wish them
best of luck and deliver my signature chocolates,
ARTICLE8
More smiles
than tears at
Geneva CPF
assessment
By Pamela Lupton-Bowers
European Regional Representative
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 9
all six were already hard at work preparing for their
practice sessions and the first two candidates were
taking part in their first interview.
It was exciting to spend a little time with the
group as they prepared their flip charts and room
set up. As they worked, some of them wondered
out loud what they had gotten themselves into. I
left them to work, and returned at the end of the
day.
Raj told me that they were very happy to have
committed to the process, and said that “there
were more smiles than tears and another group of
newly qualified CPF‖s were glad they had persevered
and completed the baptism by fire.”
A diverse group
The multi-national participants represented
Canada, Denmark and Switzerland, and included
consultants, trainers and facilitators bringing experience
from public, private and non-profit sec-
tors.
The workshop sessions were equally diverse,
ranging from addressing major budget cuts in one
organization, a roundtable uncovering opinions
around a smoking ban in Geneva, trying to reduce
duplication between humanitarian organizations
operating in the Caucasus, a Dutch NGO trying to
balance the privacy of its clients with government
requests to access registration lists, trying to establish
selection criteria for a new Executive Director,
or the values that drive decision-making in a state
social service.
Participants appreciated being able to see very
different styles and techniques of facilitation and
the challenge of being assessed and observed by
four experts.
I returned later in the afternoon armed with
champagne for the candidates and a bottle of wine
for the assessors who I knew had not only endured
a tough 10 hour day of assessing but faced a tough
evening of finalizing feedback.
I think Raj summed it up well: ―It was a
great day - engaging, yet exhausting‖. Special
thanks go to the assessors, who worked the hardest
of all, without pause for almost 11 hours. As
one stated, 'a key quality of an IAF assessor is the
size of their bladder'.
Congratulations to you all, and looking forward
to recommending you and working with you and
alongside you in the future.
ARTICLE
9
Photographs courtesy of Pamela Lupton-Bowers
10 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE10
By Sona Karikova
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 11
ARTICLE
11
ollowing my October newsletter article about
“Facilitating the unknown”, I‖d like to briefly
take you through my study – its methodology
and my main findings, the outcomes of the
October workshop, and my future plans to build on
the research into this interesting subject.
Methodology
I chose the phenomenological research method,
because it is perfectly suited for studies of
phenomena which have not been researched in depth
yet. Reliable and authentic data is gathered through
one‖s experience and inner thoughts with regard to
the phenomenon that is being studied.
I was able to collect those insights from nine
highly experienced facilitators and leaders in the
field, who agreed to participate in my study. They
answered a series of questions designed to gain indepth
insight into their own experiences of finding
themselves in an unknown
s i t u a t i o n d u r i n g
facilitation which they
had to master. Their
answers were
analysed using interpretative phenomenological
analysis (IPA).
Findings
My study explores the facilitator‖s inner processes
and responses to the “unknown” during these
unexpected and often challenging situations.
The “unknown” can happen at any time
during the facilitation process and is unpredictable.
My study suggests that the “unknown” arises from:
 Signs (emotions, feelings) of the facilitator‖s
inner processes (e.g. facilitator‖s behavioural
patterns, lack of confidence, identity issues,
wrong intervention..)
 Signs (emotions, feelings) of the group (e.g.
purpose/objectives of the workshop don‖t meet
the expectation of the participants, participants
dislike the facilitator, participants are depressed,
confused, angry, etc.)
 Signs of the external processes (e.g. the
facilitator unexpectedly has health problems in
the middle of the session, unexpected
happenings occurring within the event such as
the key person suddenly leaving, unexpected
happenings happening outside the event – such
as sudden shocking news - affecting the
facilitator‖s state)
The “unknown” can both bring genuine surprises
and trigger the facilitator‖s emotional discomfort e.g.
fears, anger, vulnerabilities, nervousness, losing the
balance which leads to difficulty in concentrating on
others or focusing on what is really going on and so
on. When experiencing such states, the facilitator‖s
effectiveness suffers, the facilitator struggles with
diagnosing and timing the right interventions, the
session may be slowed down, and important things
may be forgotten.
Self-talk
I wanted to go deep and touch the facilitators‖
inner processes, their immediate feelings and
thoughts when they found themselves in the line of
fire. Whilst being impartial and objective is
paramount in facilitation, I was surprised to find out
how personal this can be and realized the complexity
of the facilitation.
I learned that most of the facilitators are
regularly engaged in an inner dialogue (self talk) that
is triggered by facing the unknown. So whilst a
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 11
F
12 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
facilitator may look calm from the outside, he/
she could be experiencing an inner storm that
needs to be managed and constantly monitored
during facilitation and even long after.
The very first level of such inner processes
originates somewhere in the facilitator‖s
unconsciousness and is formed by early
childhood experience, background, traumas, and
energy type, followed by behavioural patterns
and triggers. The facilitator begins with
acknowledging these inner processes.
Self-awareness and alertness increases in
order to balance the signs (emotions, feelings)
affecting the facilitator. Learning about one‖s
own psychology and being aware of the inner
processes can positively influence the
facilitator‖s self-development and ability to cope
with these unknown situations/feelings.
Coping Mechanisms
Facilitators use a wide range of coping
mechanisms so they are able to “self-facilitate”
the inner emotional state. I called these internal
management CM and I divided them into three
types:
 First type - internal management CM
enables the facilitator to deal especially
with all the dynamic, unstable aspects of
the facilitation processes.
 Second type - internal management CM
enables the facilitator to manage more
stable, desirable emotional state of himself/
herself and the group.
 Third type - enables the facilitator to
manage the facilitator‖s fixed behavioural
patterns and triggers.
Facilitators also use a variety of CM which
relates to and influences more directly the group
processes – external management CM . It can
be seen as intervening CM, which enables the
facilitator to manage group expectations and to
balance the group needs. There are other coping
mechanisms which involve both, external and
internal management.
Importance of life learning
The facilitators often stressed the importance
of life learning, which included: working on selfdevelopment,
systematically attending
workshops and seminars, constant development,
looking for inspirations, trying new things,
meeting motivational people, networking, and so
on.
Photographs courtesy of Sona Karikova
ARTICLE12
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 1302.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 13
Furthermore, after experiencing the
“unknown”, most facilitators reflected on what
happened. This not only enhances the coping
ability but also strengthens the life learning
experience, and so is very important and vital
for facilitation. Moreover, constant life learning
increases the facilitator‖s confidence, especially
important whilst facing the unknown.
The identified aspects interact with each
other:
The facilitator‖s coping mechanism
directly influences mastering the “unknown”
and his/her knowledge and ability to exercise
and use the various coping mechanisms has a
direct impact on the quality of the facilitation
process.
Experiencing different situations/feelings
will ultimately influence the facilitators‖ life
learning. A facilitator‖s growing life experience
and facilitation history builds confidence,
leading to an ability to master his/her coping
mechanism. Moreover, facilitators‖ reflection
also supports the aspect of life learning and
understanding of the studied phenomenon.
The following diagram illustrates the
complex interaction during the process of
facilitating and mastering the “unknown”. I
believe these principles can also be applied in
everyday life, outside facilitation.
Workshop
After completing my research report, I hosted
a workshop, “Facilitating the unknown and
mastering it”, to explore the project. Ayleen
Wisudha helped me organize the workshop,
which was designed exclusively for the research
participants. I was pleased when four of these
talented facilitators found time in their busy
schedules to join us and one facilitator, who
lives in New Zealand, was able to participate
online via Skype.
In the first part of the workshop, we
focused on my research findings about
facilitator‖s coping mechanisms and unexpected
situations of the unknown.
From an extensive list, the group chose
to primarily discuss four situations – resistance
of the group, situation when there is a need for
a quick solution (elements of pressure,
responsibility), aspects of the facilitator‖s
consciousness structure versus flexibility, and
aspect of congruence within the facilitation
process.
Photographs courtesy of Sona Karikova
ARTICLE
13
14 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE14
Whilst discussing my findings relating to
coping mechanisms, the group focused on the
following:
 managing own emotional state and being
aware of outside conditions (step back
and suspend judgement, trust the process
and sense the situation)
 being prepared (but with flexibility by
being present and in the moment) and
 coping mechanism of involving the group
into the ownership of new directions.
In the second part, we explored “Finding the
Common Ground” with the goal of identifying
practical applications of my research. The group
suggested that inexperienced facilitators would
greatly benefit from this study.
I am personally interested in designing and
developing a coaching and teaching tool that
would allow facilitation students the chance to
experience “unknown” in a safe environment.
Also it would be interesting to practise the
variety of coping mechanisms.
Future workshop
We are currently designing the first public
workshop on this exciting subject. This time we
will include lively examples and concrete stories
of the facilitators who have allowed me into
their inner world. To protect the privacy of my
participants, we will of course change names
etc.
We also plan to integrate role plays within
the workshop, which will increase the
awareness of practical utilization of my
research and enable participants to experience
“the unknown” in a safe environment. Such an
approach could be beneficial for both
inexperienced and experienced facilitators, for
whom this event will be useful as a platform for
exchanging experiences.
I also welcome academics and
professionals from other fields who are
interested in new perspectives. I believe in
cross fertilization and would love to explore this
subject with people who deal with crisis and
stress management, e.g. mediators, negotiators,
life coaches and of course, students.
We hope that our workshop will enrich
your own life learning experience. If you want
to be updated about the dates of this event,
please contact me at
s.karikova@my.westminster.ac.uk.
Sona Karikova completed her M.Sc. program
in business psychology at the University of Westminster
in London last year, and as part of that
program, explored her special interest in facilitation,
individual and cultural differences, and negotiation.
Her dissertation, supervised by Ayleen
Wisudha, was dedicated to the facilitation profession.
Sona promised to keep us up to date
with her research after first explaining it to us in
an article entitled Facilitating the unknown and
mastering it, published in the October 2010 IAF
Europe Newsletter.
Sona moved to London more than four years
ago for a short stay to improve her language
skills after graduating with a Social Education
degree in Slovakia but, inspired by the city, decided
to stay.
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 15
ARTICLE
15
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 15
In the spring of 2010, Spark and the Danish
School of Education, University of Aarhus (DPU)
decided to put professional focus on the field of
facilitation in Denmark. We wanted to explore
the variety within the field of facilitation and
start configuring the elements.
The idea of the very first Facilitator Get
Together emerged, and became a reality on
December 7, 2010. The intention was to host a
half-day conference with expert input and
discussion on facilitation, and extensive debate
about organizing and professionalizing the field
of facilitation in Denmark.
We were pleasantly surprised at the
interest and participation, as 237 people from
very different walks of life signed up and met
at the very first facilitators get together in the
DPU ballroom! The representation was a grand
mix of facilitators of all kinds: internal
consultants from IT, HR, learning, management
consultants, leaders, researchers, project
managers, and many more. All were united by
the burning wish of networking, interacting and
assembling the field of facilitation in Denmark.
Tool for constructive social development
The first presentation, Facilitation, a Tool
for Constructive Social Development, was given
by Ib Ravn, Ph.D., an Associate Professor at
DPU. With equal parts humour and
earnestness, he talked about facilitation as a
means for ensuring objective, meaningful, and
effective processes in human interactions and
meetings of all kinds.
From seeing facilitation mainly as an
isolated and sometimes expensive consultant
Denmark’s first
Facilitator Get TogetherBy Louise Werner Gielsager
Photographs courtesy of Spark
16 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE16
service, he suggested, we need to move to
seeing facilitation as a dynamic, participatory
process of reaching collaborative results that is
used by every manager and in every single
everyday meeting.
Ib also advocated the idea of developing
facilitation as a qualification for human
interaction in civil society and the democratic
process, so that facilitation would ensure a
higher and more meaningful output from all
kinds of public meetings, including residents'
meetings, school meetings, demonstrations,
and even the social life at receptions, dinner
parties and weddings!
Design and Staging change processes
Spark’s Zakia Elvang gave the second
presentation, Design and Staging, on what it
takes to make a good facilitator and what‖s
needed to run meetings and processes to
achieve meaningful results.
Social interaction is a process that takes
place before, during and after the actual event,
and Zakia presented different perspectives on
how designs serve as platform for shaping
meetings between people and especially on
how specific, detailed designs can catalyze
meaningful and effective processes.
Zakia introduced the design STAR model
as a step-by-step approach for shaping,
planning and preparing processes of human
interaction with a professional purpose. Based
on purpose and success criteria for the
facilitative process, the design STAR includes
considerations about process methods, process
designs, people, and environment.
Subsequently, the attendees were
asked to reflect in pairs, on their own designs
of successful processes and how conscious
design creates value. The debate was lively and
interesting perspectives were shared.
Photographs courtesy of Spark
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 17
ARTICLE
17
What turns you on?
After all the listening, Nille Skalts from
Spark facilitated a giant, lightly adapted ―Open
Space‖ process that aimed to establish and
share what is on the minds of Danish
facilitators.
The session began with a full- blown
+200- people theme generation where all
participants added something they particularly
wanted to discuss with their peers. Then the
issues were sorted dynamically, and regrouped
into different themes, including:
 Facilitating of powerful meetings
 Facilitation and cultural differences
 Facilitation and learning / education /
competences
 Facilitation of networks and volunteers
 Everyday facilitation - small meetings in
daily work
 Facilitator roles and skills
 Virtual facilitation
 Theory and research in the field of
facilitation
 Facilitation and innovation and creativity
 Facilitation of vision and strategy
As the ―law of two feet‖ applied, and as
participants went to the themes where they
sensed they could participate, gain insight, or
share, lively discussions ensued.
Facilitation’s future - association or self-
organisation?
In the evening, 45 participants chose to
stay and discuss the future organization of the
field of facilitation, and the seeds of future
activities were sown. Again, the participation
was characterized by desire, energy and joy at
being in the company of like-minded peers, and
a strong interest in continuing to build the
exchange.
The Danish chapter of IAF also
participated, telling us about their work,
introducing the opportunity of providing
Designing State of the Art Processes
18 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE18
certifications in Denmark, and the IAF
conference is coming up in the autumn.
The vision of the 45 participants was to
establish a self-organized and vibrant forum of
people interested in facilitation. The first
concrete outcomes from the Facilitation Get
Together were:
The creation of a virtual platform on the
Linked In Group: Danske Facilitatorer. The
LinkedIn group is expanding every day, now
counting more than 450 participants, and
experience, articles and ideas are being
exchanged.
The decision to organize a new Facilitator‖s
Get Together in 2011
and a fast forward on selforganisation,
so already a variety of different
―sub-get togethers‖ are being launched.
One group is meeting on the subject of
―Theory and facilitation‖ in March
One is planned on ―Virtual Facilitation‖ in
February
Spark has invited all to a Facilitator‖s Jam
session in February, on ―Design and Facilitation,
What is it?‖, using the format of the old jazz jam
sessions from the 1920s – come and share new
material, listen and be inspired. Nine jammers
are already listed on topics as varied as ―Brains
and facilitation‖, ―Facilitation and rhythm‖,
―Facilitative stories‖…
If you are in Denmark, look for more info on
www.sparkcph.dk/blog
For photos from the Facilitator Get Together.
See www.sparkcph.dk/flickr
Photographs courtesy of Spark
Louise Werner Gielsager is working in
the field of facilitation, learning and development,
with special focus on strengths,
potentials and good work life. As a part of
Spark she helped ensure the logistics and
the smooth running of the Danish Facilitator
Get Together in December 2010.
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 19
ARTICLE
19
Method of the Month:
The Project Tree
By IAF Methods Database
The IAF Methods Database is an open
platform for exchange of methods for group
facilitation and can be found at www.iafmethods.org.
This site is maintained under
an agreement with the International Association
of Facilitators for the purpose of
aiding in the development of the profession
of facilitation. You can subscribe to the
monthly newsletter, and contribute your
own methods to the Database.
This month‖s method was inspired by a
workshop for IAF Benelux led by Jan Lelie and
Annet Noordik earlier this month. This is a
convergence approach, here aimed at
establishing in a somewhat playful way the
relationships among various parts of a team‖s
action plan. I hope it‖s as helpful (and fun) for
you as it was for us!
Purpose
To enable a group to analyze together
how the different parts of their plan relate to
one another before moving to a timeline.
Steps
Preparation:
Have the group create cards, one for
each event in their plan. Draw on a very large
sheet of paper (two or three pieces of flipchart
paper taped together and mounted on the wall)
the outline of a tree, including roots, a broad
trunk, branches, leaves and fruits.
Process:
Ask the group to mount the steps of their
plan onto the tree. If there are more than five
people, divide them into subgroups.
 Roots – Which items need to be
accomplished first before the rest can
begin?
 Trunk – Which items are the project‖s core
activities, and will need to keep on
throughout the process?
 Branches – Which are separate lines of
work that can operate independently?
 Leaves – Which items make the whole
plan attractive and can change as needed?
 Fruits – Which items achieve the goal of
the plan, what the rest is aimed to
achieve?
As members go along, they may need to
create additional cards for project items thus
far forgotten.
Reporting:
Have someone describe how the tree
lives, starting with its roots and moving out
towards its fruits. Group members may add to
each other‖s descriptions.
Close with the question: What are some
things that could help nourish this tree?
Photograph courtesy of Jan Lelie. See www.mindatwork.nl/
methoden/Voorraad%20van%20methoden.htm for description
of methods and techniques in Dutch.
20 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE20
Just before Christmas, in an insanely busy airport
of holiday travellers, an extremely tight connection
found me jumping up and down, wildly
waving at the large window beside the closed
gate trying to get the pilots' attention - I could see
them in the cockpit fiddling with their papers, the
plane on the tarmac, the gate still connected, so I
thought no hurt in trying.
I was getting nowhere when a passing security
guard with some holiday spirit took pity on me and
called down. They miraculously opened the door
and I flew down that ramp - focused on that little
open plane door at the bottom, the two anxious
flight attendants holding it open, and not the
big seam in the ramp floor in front of me.
My magnificent trip over that seam produced a
lateral movement that only ninjas and some desert
snakes can make safely. Not being either of
those, I managed to tear the anterior cruciate ligament
in my right knee. Now in a leg cast for six
weeks, I can walk but that snake and most people
would leave me in the dust.
And I am thinking about what I need to do to
modify my facilitation work to take into consideration
the fact that I am incredibly slow and only
partially able. I cannot run up and down steps, or
from room to room, in 2-minute intervals. And I
cannot be carrying around 50 kilos of workshop
materials, can't bring that extra flip chart, or move
the tables and chairs in the rooms from a U-shape
to cabaret style in the 30 minutes before we start
(because we asked but for some reason the venue
didn't do it).
Even getting back and forth to events must obligatorily
be done on public transport or with the
private chauffeur, also known as a fulltime
working husband.
My first event in the New Year is mid-January
and we are working on the interactivity and activity
design now. We will have around 400 people in
Paris at a planning event for an international water
forum happening next year. What do I need to
do differently now, so that when I get there, cast
and all, I will still be able to do a great job.
This is a good thought experiment in its own
right - this might be a temporary condition for me
(hopefully!) but for others it might be status quo,
both for facilitators and potentially for some of the
participants.
Here is a list of what I think I need to know and
do to facilitate with my leg in a cast (and probably
should know anyways!):
Transport: Slow and Virtually Hands Free
 Can I get there by public transport? How long
will that take? What changes do I need to make
(train to tram to bus)? Where are there steps or
lifts or long walks? I am usually in the venue at
least 60-90 minutes in advance for set up, can I
get there in time? Can the day start a little later,
The big slow down:
Facilitation design considerations when partially abled
By Gillian Martin Mehers
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 2102.2011|
ARTICLE
21
and go later - what is the flexibility with the
start and stop time if needed?
 If I need to be driven, can we park close enough
so that I can carry the materials to the
venue? Can I offer someone else from the team
a lift to help carry?
Venue: Steps and Who Can Help
 Occasionally I look at the floor plan for the
venue if it is large (and available) but normally I
don't. Now I would like to know - how far is the
room from the entrance, how far apart are the
breakout rooms, how far is coffee and lunch
from the workspace?
 If I am working in a plenary auditorium space, is
there a stage area with steps? Can I either start
and stop up there, or can I do all the talking
from the floor (better)? Is there a wireless mike I
can use?
 I won't be able to fix or move things myself, or
run for more this or that. Who is in charge in the
partner organization just in case, do I have her/
his mobile phone number? Who is in charge for
the venue, do I have that contact information?
Agenda: A Little More Leisurely Than Usual
 Is the agenda perhaps a little too tight, are
breaks and transitions short? Can the pacing in
the design be a little slower and less choppy in
terms of rooms changes - more gastropod and
less hummingbird? (This reminded me of one of
my own blog posts recently about not overdoing
interaction: Too Much of a Good Thing.)
 Where do I need to be when? Can I minimize my
own running around by putting other people in
charge of certain rooms and spaces? (For the
mid-January event, I will be working with 4 other
Facilitators, can I assign them the furthest
rooms? Are they happy with these extra "fitness"
benefits?)
Workshop Rooms: Where Can I Sit?
 How is the room set up? Do I need to reserve a
seat in the auditorium for myself at the front by
the microphone so I don't have to walk up and
down the steps to speak?
 In the workshop rooms, can single chairs be put
here and there to sit on while I am not facilitating?
This is a funny one, I noticed at a recent
workshop there were exactly enough chairs for
the participants and not one extra, so I spent
the whole day standing (until the participants
were standing -then I was sitting in their seats!)
Make sure to have more than one extra chair
around the walls, as late comers (both at the
start, but also after each break and lunch) will
always take the single chairs in the back/side
rather than moving people to sit in the middle.
Communicate: Tell People
 I need to tell people, especially the other facilitators
asap about the fact that I will be wandering
around, slowly, in a full leg cast. They will
have good ideas how to be as efficient as possible
with a partially able team member.
 Communicating about how it is going during the
event will also help people understand why I
might opt out of the group dinner, dragging a
leg and cast up and down the steps all day will
probably be incredibly tiring.
 At the same time I need to be as self-sufficient
as possible, believe me I will be wearing something
with as many pockets as possible, stuffed
with pens, markers, etc. things I normally have
to continually walk around to find when I need
them!
IAF Europe Newsletter columnist Gillian
Martin Mehers is director and head of learning
at Bright Green Learning @Atadore SARL, in
Crans-près- Céligny, Switzerland. She blogs
regularly about facilitation and learning at
www.welearnsomething.com.
You can read and comment on this post
online at http://welearnsomething.blogspot.
com/2010/12/big-slow-down-facilitation-
design.html
You can reach Gillian at gillian@mehers.com.
22 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
When I lead workshops on collaborative
problem solving and decision making, I often
refer to my “Rules of Problem Solving.” Here
they are:
Don't be sure you have the right problem or
purpose.
It is often useful to have a clear description
of the problem and a statement of the purpose
of the project or meeting. But sometimes the
originally-stated purpose turns out to be
unsatisfactory to some of those who become
involved. So it‖s important to be ready to
modify the problem or purpose to
accommodate those perspectives.
An Example: The new Research Director was
alarmed at the high overhead costs and low
utilization rates of his analytical chemistry
laboratories. At a time of tight budgets, this
was not sustainable. He hired me to facilitate a
Study Team whose purpose—stated in a wellcrafted
“charge to the study team”—was to
“recommend an optimal organization plan.”
Armed with this purposeful document I felt
confident in my ability to facilitate the group.
At its first meeting, members of the Study
Team were outraged! The Director did not
understand the particular natures of their
laboratories or the conditions under which they
operated. After considerable storming, I asked
the group to suggest changes to the Director‖s
“charge to the study team.”
They supplemented the above purpose
statement to read “recommend an optimal
organization plan that takes into account the
commonalties as well as the differences among
the existing laboratories” and made several
other changes to take into account a broader
range of issues, such as “how overhead charges
and allocations are determined,” and “how
decisions should be made regarding which
equipment should be purchased.”
Now it seemed we had it right, but as the
project proceeded, I kept wondering, do we
have the right problem?
ARTICLE22
Schuman's Rules of
Problem Solving
By Sandor Schuman
22 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 23
Don't be sure you have the right people.
The people who participate in a collaborative
effort make all the difference in its
effectiveness. Who should be involved, and how
and when they should be involved, are critical
questions. If you don‖t have the right people,
you might not even obtain an adequate
understanding of the problem.
An Example: I was asked to facilitate a
meeting in a hierarchical organization in which a
supervisor and subordinate employee had a
longstanding conflict. There were about a dozen
people in the room, and we all introduced
ourselves.
As the facilitator, I restated the
organization‖s formal ground rules for such
meetings and ascertained that everyone
understood and agreed to them. We then
proceeded to hear from the employee about the
nature of the conflict and what she wanted by
way of resolution.
A number of people asked clarifying
questions and contributed supplementary
information. After a series of questions to the
employee from one particular person, the
employee asked that person, “What are you
doing here anyway? Are you collecting
information to be used in a legal proceeding?”
The person denied that was the case (this
was not allowed by the organization‖s ground
rules), but it was only from the ensuing
discussion that I came to realize two important
things: first, that the person who had been
asking questions was a lawyer in the employee
relations division, and second, the supervisor
who was involved in the conflict was not even
present!
At this point, the employee and her
colleagues left the meeting, but if I had realized
that one of the key individuals was not present,
I would not have agreed to proceed with the
meeting in the first place.
So the meeting was a failure, and made no
contribution to improving the workplace
relationships. It could have been avoided if I had
the presence of mind to ensure that the right
people were present.
Don't be sure you have the right process or
method.
When we plan problem-solving and decisionmaking
processes, we have to make
assumptions about the nature of the problem
and the purpose that the group wants to fulfill.
Sometimes the assumptions we make are on the
mark, and the plan works effectively. Sometimes
we have to change the plan, even drastically,
building on what we learned up to that point.
An Example: The purpose of the Railroad
Bridge Underclearance Committee was “to
determine an appropriate standard for the
vertical clearance of highway bridges over
railroad lines.” This was important and timely
since several major highway construction
projects were about to get underway and many
highway bridges would be rebuilt. If at any time
in the next 75 years they were to be rebuilt to
provide the higher clearances that would
accommodate new types of rail shipping
equipment, now was the time to do it.
As facilitators, we recommended that the
Committee use a systematic matrix evaluation
method. First, we worked with the Committee to
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 23
ARTICLE
23
24 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
ARTICLE24
establish a set of evaluation criteria. Second, we
asked them to list the alternative clearances—18
feet, 20 feet, 22 feet, etc. Third, we asked them
to describe each of the alternatives on each of
the criteria.
As we worked with these experts through a
two-day decision conference it became apparent
that this form of analysis was not enough.
Indeed, the performance of a particular
alternative on a specific criterion varied,
depending on the railroad. For example,
increasing the clearance to 22 feet on a railroad
that ran through a sparsely populated section
had little impact on the cost criterion, but a big
impact on cost for a railroad that ran through a
densely populated area.
Towards the end of the conference we shifted
to a resource allocation method that looked at
the benefits and costs for each of five different
railroads, and selected the alternative clearance
that provided the highest benefit/cost ratio for
each.
While the method we choose is a function of
both the people and the purpose, it is useful to
consider multiple methods, select the best fit,
and still be ready to switch during the meeting if
it seems appropriate.
Some additional thoughts.
You don‖t know who the right people are until
you have the right problem, but then, it‖s the
people in the room who ultimately define the
problem! So the people and the problem define
each other in an iterative process. And proposing
a process or method often helps to clarify the
problem, which in turn helps to clarify which
people should be involved. They‖re interrelated
and inter-dependent.
Lastly, it would be more
positive to state these
rules in the form,
“Be sure …”
instead of “Don't
be sure…” But it
could create a trap.
If I am sure that I
have the right
problem or purpose,
the right people, and
the right process or method, then I am less open
to discovering that I do not have them right.
Collaborative problem solving and decision
making is sufficiently complex and dynamic that
being close-minded about such things can lead
to failures. So it‖s important to proceed with an
open mind and consider that even these
fundamental aspects of a collaborative activity
might be subject to change.
Sandy Schuman is a group facilitator, collaborative
process advocate, and storyteller. He
helps groups create shared meaning, make critical
choices, and build collaborative relationships.
He has been helping organizations work more
effectively to solve complex problems, make critical
decisions, and work together more effectively
for more than thirty years. He blogs regularly
about facilitation at http://
sschuman.blogspot.com/
24 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 2502.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 25
MEMBERNEWS
25
The local planning committee is already working with Entendu to organize a spectacular conference
in Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 14-16, 2011. Ben Richardson was in Istanbul earlier this month to meet with the
local committee. Rengin Akkemik, who is leading the local planning, will be telling us more in next
month‖s IAF Europe Newsletter.
Getting ready for 2011 IAF Europe
Conference in Istanbul, Turkey
We are delighted to welcome experienced facilitator Robert Verheule
to the IAF Europe team. Robert was selected from the list of people
who responded to the recent election process which asked for interest
in the board positions and other officer positions in the organization.
Robert is both a CPF and IAF Assessor. He was part of the group that
set up the Dutch certification process and so is in a unique position to
help us both with driving the CPF process in Europe, and in increasing
access to CPF for non English speaking facilitator communities. We
thank Gary Austin for filling in for a temporary period to help with the
organization of the Helsinki conference, and we are very happy to
have Robert ready to jump in immediately to support Ben Richardson,
Rengin Akkemik, and the Turkish team as they plan the Europe
Conference in Istanbul October 14-16. A more detailed profile of Robert
will be included in next month's newsletter.
Welcoming Robert Verheule
Photograph by Ben Richardson
26 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
MEMBERNEWS26
Happy New Year from the new Chair of a
renewed IAF global Board. I feel proud and
privileged to have the opportunity to serve our
Association and our profession as Chair of the
IAF Board for 2011 and 2012.
I have been a member of IAF since just 2007,
but have attended I think 10 IAF conferences (in
Europe and North America to date) since my first
in 1997. In 2008 I earned the IAF Certified
Professional Facilitator designation, and also in
2008 I was appointed to the IAF Board. I served
first as Regional Representative for Europe, and
then was appointed as Vice Chair for 2010.
My background in facilitation is in the
international community & organisational
development work of the Institute of Cultural
Affairs (ICA). I was first trained in ICA‖s ToP
facilitation methods (the Technology of
Participation) as part of my international
volunteer induction training with ICA in 1986. I
have worked with ICA:UK since 1997 – see
www.ica-uk.org.uk. As Chief Executive, the focus
of my day job is the management and
governance of ICA:UK as a charity and a social
enterprise, but I also provide facilitation, training
and consulting services, largely with public and
voluntary sector clients nationally in the UK.
I think of my professional interests and
goals in terms of facilitative leadership, where
facilitation, management and governance
intersect – so I have sought volunteer roles as
well that have allowed me to explore and
develop in that area, including as Board member
and Treasurer of ICA International from 1998-
2006.
I am viewing my role as IAF Chair
primarily as providing facilitative leadership to
the Board – in order that we may best,
collectively, provide facilitative leadership to the
Association as a whole, and in order that IAF
may best provide facilitative leadership to our
profession and indeed to the world at large.
I would describe this facilitative
leadership role in terms of:
1. Developing and promoting collaborative
relationships through clarity, transparency
and accountability - within the Board,
within the IAF as a whole, and between
IAF and its external partners and
stakeholders
2. Adopting, communicating and applying
appropriate group processes, notably IAF
policies and procedures, and also
structures
3. Sustaining and enhancing a participatory
environment that is inclusive of diversity,
encourages creativity and innovation, and
manages conflict
4. Ensuring appropriate and useful outcomes
through development and implementation
of effective strategy
5. Building and maintaining professional
knowledge, around association
management and governance as well as
facilitation
6. Modelling a professional, facilitative
leadership approach at all levels
I am excited to be starting my term as Chair
with a strong and committed new team of Board
members to work with, and to see them
energetically acquainting themselves with their
new roles. I am keen to enable the new Board
to form, and indeed to perform, as quickly as
possible; so I am delighted that we will be
meeting face-to-face this year in January.
At our January Board meeting we will
articulate our work plan and budget for the year
ahead, and during the year we will use this
newsletter and other means to communicate
and engage with you, the members of IAF, on
progress, challenges and opportunities for
involvement.
Please get in touch with me, or any of
your Board members, to share your questions,
feedback or suggestions; now and throughout
the year. You can email me at iafchair@iafworld.org,
skype me at martingilbraith, and
connect with me at http://uk.linkedin.com/in/
martingilbraith. You can find details for all IAF
Board members, and their roles, at www.iaf-
world.org.
This is an abbreviated version of a longer
article that appeared in IAF’s Global Flipchart,
January 2011.
Happy New Year!
By Martin Gilbraith, IAF Chair – in Manchester, UK
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 27
MEMBERNEWS
27
Bill Reid, who is the new IAF Global board member responsible for Communications, has got IAF
registered on Twitter so you can follow IAF activities and also spread the word about IAF by retweeting
the IAF tweets. You can follow IAF activities at http://www.twitter.com/iafacilitators
Follow IAF on Twitter
The board also decided to end the offer of a
lifetime membership option and thus this
option is no longer available to new
applicants. Existing lifetime membership
holders will continue to enjoy all the privileges
and benefits of that option in the normal way.
Please feel free to contact the IAF Europe office
if you have any questions regarding
membership; we are based in the United
Kingdom and thus our working day is scheduled
around normal European working hours.
For those of you joining or renewing your
membership, we are able to accept funds in a
number of convenient ways, including
payments by cheque, standing order or bank
transfer. In the near future we will be able to
take payments by credit/debit cards online
through the IAF Europe website. The SEPA
(Single Euro Payment Area) legislation means
that many of you will be able to arrange a
standing order payment through your bank so
that you will no longer have to worry about
making annual renewal payments. We are
happy to provide you with information on how
to do this.
If you have any questions about your
membership or any other matter relating to the
IAF in Europe, please do not hesitate to the IAF
Europe Office at office@iaf-europe.eu You can
also reach us by telephone at +44 (0)1923 400
330, fax +44 (0)1923 620 320, or by post at Box
529, Kings Langley, United Kingdom WD4 4AD
Membership fees change
By IAF Europe Office
As noted in the December/January Newsletter, the IAF Global board decided to increase membership
fees as of 2011, and these changes came into force on 1st January 2011. The IAF Europe Office has
changed the Sterling and Euro member fees to reflect the US Dollar increases. The new rates are listed
below.
28 | IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 02.2011
MEMBERNEWS28
Do you get called into organisations when
the going gets rough? Do you need to stay calm
no matter how hard the economic storms,
winds of change, or squalls of human
relationships your clients face? Do you stand
alone in the face of these storms?
The ―Riders on the Storm‖ summit will
provide practical advice you can implement
immediately in three key areas—how to help
your clients deal with the storms they face; how
to look after your own well-being as you ride
the storms; and how to develop your business
in stormy times.
The virtual summit will be held from 28
February to 4 March and will feature online
interviews and discussions with a line up
including Christine Thornton, author of Group
and Team Coaching, Martin Kalungu-Banda from
the Presencing Institute, David Molian, from
Cranfield University‖s Business Growth
Programme, Claire Tyler, Chief Executive of
Relate, and Carol Sherriff and Simon Wilson,
Directors of Wilson Sherriff, and members of the
IAF.
Sign up to the virtual summit is free, at
www.ridersonthestormsummit.co.uk
Virtual event provides practical
advice for facilitators
Welcome, new and returning members
(December 2010 and January 2011)
We would like to warmly welcome the
following new members who joined IAF in
December and January:
 Albéric Augeard, Belgium
 Neil Gowans, United Kingdom
 Wiebke Herding, Belgium
 Kristina Malther, Denmark
 Alper Uktu, Turkey
 Christian Valentiner, Norway
We also want to welcome back returning
members who renewed their IAF membership in
December and January:
 Pawel Dabrowski, Poland
 Carolina de Monchy, Netherlands
 Daniël De Roo Van Alderwerelt, Belgium
 Trevor Durnford, Sweden
 Fred Frowin Fajtak, Austria
 Jan Haverkamp, Czech Republic
 Sieglinde Hinger, Austria
 Paul Manders, Netherlands
 Jacqui Moorhouse, United Kingdom
 Erik op ten Berg, Netherlands
 Monica Puel, Italy
 Holger Scholz, Germany
 Katherine Woods, United Kingdom
Facilitation Workshops and
Meetings 2011
Find out more details about specific
events listed here by visiting the Workshops
and Meetings section of the IAF Europe Forum
(http://www.iaf-europe.eu) If you would like
to let others know
about an event you are
organizing, please email rose-
mary.cairns@iaf-europe.eu.
02.2011| IAF EUROPE NEWSLETTER | 29
MEMBERNEWS
29
FEBRUARY 2010
 Group Work Skills, Feb. 2, Manchester UK
(ICA:UK)
 Introduction to Group Facilitation, Feb. 15,
Manchester UK (ICA:UK)
 CPF Certification United Kingdom, Feb. 16,
Watford, England (IAF)
 Group Facilitation Methods, Feb. 16-17,
Manchester UK (ICA:UK)
 Anecdote's Storytelling Workshop, Feb. 16,
London (Anecdote)
 Participatory Strategic Planning, Feb. 24-
25, Belfast, Northern Ireland (ICA:UK)
 Ecological Facilitation: A gritty and creative
approach to leadership, Feb. 27-March 5,
London,
England (Schumacher College)
MARCH 2011
 Using Strength-based Approaches For Personal
and Organizational Change: Theory
and Practice of Appreciative Inquiry, March
3, 4, 11, 21 and April 8, London England
(Anne Radford and Malcolm Westwood)
 Group Facilitation Methods, March 15-16,
London, UK (ICA:UK)
 CFOR Facilitation for Leaders, MarchDecember
2011, 4 modules, London England
(CFOR)
 Change, Presence and the Art of Leadership,
March 27-31, Findhorn, Scotland
(Robin Alfred and Gill Emslie)
APRIL 2011
 Group Facilitation Methods, April 5-6, Manchester
UK (ICA:UK)
 Action Planning, April 7, Manchester UK
(ICA:UK)
 Faciliteringsdagarna, April 7-8, 2011, Gothenburg,
Sweden (Malin Moren and Jonas
Roth)
 Group Work Skills, April 12, Manchester UK
(ICA:UK)
 CREA Conference Apr 13-17, Sestri Levante,
Italy
MAY 2011
 Group Facilitation Methods, May 3-4, Taunton
UK (ICA:UK)
 Group Facilitation Methods, May 4-5,
Gateshead UK (ICA:UK)
 2nd European Open Space Learning Exchange,
May 17-20, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
 CPF Certification (Dutch), May 26, Rossum,
The Netherlands
 Loving Work - Loving Play, May 28-30,
Findhorn, Scotland (Patch Adams)