The Art of Hosting is an approach to life that scales up from the personal to the systemic through personal practice, dialogue, facilitation and co-creation to address complex challenges. It is a highly effective way of harnessing the collective wisdom and self-organising capacity of groups of any size. Based on the assumption that people give their energy and resources to what matters to them – in work as in life – the Art of Hosting blends powerful conversational processes (such as Open Space Technology, World Café, Circle) to invite people to step in and engage with the challenges and opportunities facing them.
Beyond the methods, the Art of Hosting is also a practice: it is an art to become skillful at helping ourselves and others work well together. We talk about hosting, because the practice gives attention and care to all aspects of working together, including the conditions that foster creative and fruitful relationships. It includes the whole process: all the preparations before the participants come together, what happens while they are working together, and how the results of their conversation – the ‘harvest’ – support next steps that are coherent for their purpose and context.
Groups and organisations using the Art of Hosting as a working practice report better decision-making, more efficient and effective capacity building, and greater ability to quickly respond to opportunity, challenge and change. People who experience the Art of Hosting typically say that they walk away feeling more empowered and able to help guide the meetings and conversations they are part of to move towards more effective and desirable outcomes.
Join us at an upcoming event
Practitioners in Belgium offer many different opportunities to join conversations that matter, deepen your practice, and more. You are invited to take part in any of the following:
- 21-25 July 2025 – Learning Village in Zulte – Calling question: “What can we learn from spending time together, living in simplicity on the land.” Discover more about the learning village in this flyer.
- 14-16 August 2025 – Singing Bowl Workshop – led by coppersmith, therapist and musician Ton Akkermans (NL), Helen Titchen Beeth and Damien Versele at ‘Sound Workshop Zulte’, you can experience the process of making your own singing bowl. Consult more info (Dutch and English)
- September (date tbc) – Practitioners’ gathering in Zulte – contact Damien Versele to co-host
Recurring events
- Weekly Thursday morning coffee (8:30-9:30) – online conversation group that meets weekly. Originally started in 2010 as the in-person ‘Schuman morning coffee’, Frans Nijs and Annamari Erdei host a space online since March 2020. Request to join the Facebook Group
- Monthly Singing Bowl foraging days – open to people who have previously attended a Singing Bowl workshop. One Saturday per month you can come work on your own project at the ‘Sound Workshop Zulte’. Upcoming dates: Consult more info (Dutch and English)
- Pro Action Café – Brussels – CommonHub – more information coming soon.
If you would like to add your event to this list, please email aohbelg@gmail.com indicating:
Date – Name of event – short description (1-2 sentences including who you are, location and timing of the event, language(s)). Website link for more info/sign up: xxx.