Your hosting team for this training reflects some of the diversity we wish to invite in the training itself. We have French-speakers, Dutch-speakers, expats and nomads; we are employed in the public sector, private sector, civil society, social enterprise, self –employed; we are multi-generational, multidisciplinary, multinational; we have different levels of experience in hosting conversations that matter.

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I’m an Art of Hosting Practitioner, a mediator, coach, and blogger. I strongly believe that creating spaces for meaningful conversations empowers people and makes organizations and democracies flourish and in the end the world a better place to live. I am a core team member of the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership Brussels where Art of Hosting acts as the operating system. On my blog I dig deeper in questions around the Art of Hosting, its impact on change, its challenges and the network around it.

 

I feel called to support this gathering because it will feed into a desirable future for a land that I love, that I call home, where I hope to be able to live out my life in joyful co-creation with the full diversity of other beings who share this space. I have been practicing the art of meaningful conversation throughout Europe since 2006, and working with it in its applied form as participatory leadership inside the European Commission in Brussels since then.

 

I am a global nomad, often a Sacred Outsider, traveling the world, witnessing life’s unfolding,  asking questions, listening and sharing stories, offering myself and my gifts where I can contribute, but most of all continually learning what it means to be fully human and how I can be more present in all situations.  I am a practitioner and steward of the Art of Hosting Conversations and have a particular interest in frontier areas of the world and in helping to build capacity and supporting newer practitioners in their learning.

 

 

I work with the artistry of designing and hosting spaces, meetings, retreats and gatherings. With over 30 years experience with people, teams, communities and organisations, and an understanding of the environmental and strategic policy contexts that we operate in today, my work is to take care of and hold the purpose and the process, the many ways in which people come together in cooperative exploratory dialogue.I am a solid dependable anchor with an ability to hold enormous space for new potential to come through. With a background in law, facilitation, psychotherapy, group work and systemic constellations I am a collaborator at heart, a connector of people and ideas, a teacher of living systems, participatory leadership and citizen engagement, an avid learner and a wise old owl who has been round the block a few times and knows a thing or two!

 

I am a husband of my wife Lucy and father of two grown up children. I am Dutch and we live in Belgium now for 14 years. Together with my wife Lucy I started a business in 2013. We focus on developing 21st century authentic leadership, through team coaching and coaching-on-the-job. Working from purpose, from source. Art of Hosting is deeply integrated in the work we do and very powerful in building capacity. The theme of diversity is close to my heart. Too many times it is translated into gender diversity and yet it is so much more. I really look forward to an engaging three days of exploration, cross cultures, gender, age, nationality, languages and heart to co initiate new ways towards a more tolerant country and society.       herlaarcoaching.com

 

In 2009 I took an important decision. I resigned from my secure job in order to be able to dedicate myself entirely to the human side of organizations. I experienced that there was still so much to gain from developing the human capital. In an independent role I can give the most meaning to as many organizations as possible. I am a transformational and participatory leadership coach and host transition processes. I believe in the power of diversity in order to come to a next level. Connecting the wisdom and support the processes of building strong diverse communities in society and business are key in what I stand for.     herlaarcoaching.com

 

I am passionate about holding the space where the new feels welcomed and encouraged. I adore the opportunities embedded in diversity and cross-pollination. Ans I’m thrilled when I see the bigger whole develop when individuals translate their ideas into action.

 

 

 

Grandmother of 5; likes dancing and gardening a lot; always sensing what is next and where is potential that is not used – yet; loves self-organisation and the emergence of the novel; likes good theory and models too.

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By using more “meaningful conversations”, we can bring more comprehension and a closer connection among people in our society. This means than we come closer to the solutions of the complex challenges of our time. Being a part of this learning journey was the path of my life journey the past 4 years and it will also be in the future.

 

 

 

Hi 🙂 I believe that we all deserve more play, fun and colour in the world of work. I believe that appreciative listening is the key to creating the future we want. Nowadays, I work as a visual facilitator and illustrator in Germany.  I feel called to support this gathering because it feels like coming home -twice. Both Belgium and the Art of Hosting community are places that feel like home to me.

 

 

I thrive when it comes down to active citizenship and supporting group processes towards self empowerment. I get particularly thrilled when it is with young adults ‘sensing’ and embodying new emerging models of citizenship.

 

 

Getting people to think and act together. I believe that this is needed if we are to engage with  complex change to create a future where we can live together well. It might seem obvious, but it isn’t. It requires a setting in which everyone feels free to share their ideas and feelings and to explore. This calls for a systematic and structured approach, as well as the flexibility to give space for the unexpected to emerge. The combination of robust structure and suppleness to call forth productive dialogue is what I find in the Art of Hosting.

 

Questions I’m working on as a father, a citizen, a coach and managing director on the canvas of art of hosting are : how to move form hierarchical ways of thinking and organising into valuing capacities and contribution of all co-workers, how to tap into the collective intelligence of large structures, how to contribute to a good life for all despite stress, fanatism, climate change, socio-economic divides …, how to move beyond anxiety and distrust into positive action?