What is the Art of Hosting,
​and why Participatory Leadership?

The Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations That Matter is a highly effective way of stepping into Participatory Leadership through harnessing the collective wisdom and self-organising capacity of groups of any size.  ​

We believe that people give their energy and lend their resources to what matters most to them – in work and life. The Art of Hosting is a suite of powerful conversational processes and practices that invite people to step in and respond to the challenges facing them in creative, authentic, innovative and effective ways.

Built on the core values of trust, collaboration and accountability, the approach has been used to facilitate deep conversations with groups, from small groups to hundreds of people at a time, and address complex situations in a way that delivers alignment and actionable outcomes.

Groups, organisations and communities using Participatory Leadership as a working practice report better decision-making, more innovation, greater ability to quickly respond to opportunity, challenge and change, and improved relationships.

​People who experience the Art of Hosting & Participatory Leadership typically say that they walk away feeling more inspired and empowered and more able to help guide the meetings and conversations they are part of to move towards desirable outcomes.
ABOUT THE ART OF HOSTING
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THE FOUR-FOLD PRACTICE
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​What will we learn and practise together?

CIRCLE
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THE CHAORDIC PATH
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THE ART OF HARVESTING
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This is a hands-on, intensive 3.5 day learning experience. Join us to:
  • Deepen your insight into participatory leadership and working with emergence and complexity. 
  • Learn ways to create and hold spaces where people are invited to unlock their full potential and make valuable contributions.
  • Practise a set of simple yet powerful approaches for designing and hosting (facilitating) powerful conversations, engagement processes and meetings.
  • Learn and experience key practices and tools for collaboration such as Appreciative Inquiry, World Cafe, Open Space, Collective Story Harvesting, Circle Practice and Designing for Wiser Action. We will also learn about practices, concepts and methodologies such as next stage or ‘Teal’ organisations, Theory U and more.
  • Discover the Art of Harvesting - visually capturing and making sense of meetings and conversations for clarity, learning, growth and wise action.
  • Apply what you are learning directly to the change projects that are important to you, your community or organisation.
  • Tackle your key challenges. You are invited to bring in and work on your own challenges, and apply what you are learning directly to the change projects that are important to you. This training offers a safe space to enhance your personal leadership skills and a unique opportunity for deep learning in a diverse group.
  • Leave with clear insights and practices to increase collaboration and innovation and translate ideas into wiser action. You will leave with an understanding of tools, frameworks and worldviews that will enable you to work with complex challenges and opportunities in your work, community and personal life.
  • Join a diverse group of people ready to learn and willing to question themselves and the current paradigm. You will also become part of and have access to a national and global network of practitioners.
You are warmly invited.

What people say
How Participatory Leadership changed my life (and might change yours too)
An article by Max St John, Art of Hosting practitioner
"As an educator in a progressive institution, I have found the theory and practice of the Art of Hosting tremendously valuable as they increase the potential for learning and can create - when well used - a safe space where the learners' assumptions can surface. Some of the key insights about leadership for sustainability on the learning journeys of our MSLS students depend so much on the quality of the conversations we host, and such learning moments I believe would not happen without skillful use of AoH techniques."
Marco Valente, (former) course co-lead at Master's for Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability (MSLS), Sweden
"This is the best training I have had in the 20 years I have worked in the European Commission."
Senior manager in the European Commission, Belgium
"The Art of Hosting was a revelation to me, except rather than discovering something new, it was about re-finding something that I had forgotten I had already known for some time. The pinnacle for me was participating in the Design for Wiser Action process, which felt like the most sophisticated design process I have ever been involved in and I just want to do more of it.
Art of Hosting enabled me to meet a truly magnificent bunch of people, so talented and yet so willing to be vulnerable all at once. The processes we worked on felt like a homecoming and I arrived home passionately alive and brimming with enthusiasm for applying my new learnings." 
Michelle Croker, Victoria​
​"I am consistently surprised how valuable the Art of Hosting training has been. Working in the spaces of environmental sustainability and community mobilisation, I now have the right tools to host myself to host communities, and for them to then host others and more communities. It's provided me with access and peace of mind when leading community mobilisation projects in Landcare. These courses are a hands down must do if you want to create change"
Naomi Edwards, National Young Landcare Ambassador / Co-founder of Intrepid Landcare, Australia​
"The Art of hosting is a process that helped me not to fear chaos"
Dutch Banker
You can find more articles, resources and stories of practice here, on the Art of Hosting website 
This training is proudly supported by