Projects as Practice Grounds for a More Thrivable World
A Hands-On, Practice-Based Workshop on Stewarding Projects, Organizations & Communities as Thriving Living Ecosystems
What if our organizations and communities could thrive like living ecosystems?
[Click here to see a detailed slideshow about the workshop.]
Short intro video: https://youtu.be/8cnbH49At2A
Join us for a hands-on two-day workshop where we explore new ways of working together, creating strong, connected communities and organizations that feel alive and aligned through the projects they are working on. Through dynamic activities, you’ll learn practical approaches to collaboration, decision-making, and effective action that brings more life, more energy and more creative possibility to the work. This is an opportunity to build skills, gain confidence, and connect with others who are working towards meaningful change.
What would that make possible, not only for you, for your work, but for your community and for the world?
Who is this for?
This workshop is for you if you are:
An impact/social entrepreneur
A leader of any kind who wants to re-energize your organization with more effective collaboration and a deeper sense of meaning
A team that wants to find new life, meaning and creative possibility in your shared work
A facilitator or coach supporting purpose-driven collaborative work
One or more citizens who want to co-create change in your community
A municipal or regional leader interested in enabling community-led projects
A tourism professional at regional, municipal or operator levels interested in regenerative approaches to economic and social impact
Drawn to regeneration but unsure where to start
What to Expect
Through hands-on activities, collaborative exercises, and guided reflection, you will:
Gain practical tools and frameworks for energizing projects, identifying what will bring the most life and new possibility..
Reconnect and realign with your team and the higher purpose and potential of your work.
Experience and practice conversation tools and decision-making methods like Deep Democracy to navigate tensions and get to effective collective action.
Develop a deep understanding of key concepts around the commons, stewardship, emergence, and thrivability.
Apply insights from leading research and frameworks, including:
Michelle Holliday’s work on Thrivability
The Project Ecology Map as a living systems tool
Elinor Ostrom’s Commons Principles
The Fish Game: a hands-on exploration of shared stewardship
Expect a mix of experiential learning, dialogue, and practical application—where you not only gain knowledge but also practice using these tools in your own work.
Why Attend?
If you are working to strengthen a purpose-driven organization, cooperative venture, local collective, or citizen initiative, this workshop will provide you with the frameworks and confidence to act as a steward of thriving systems.
We believe in learning through doing—so come prepared to engage, explore, and build new pathways toward stewardship and collaborative action.
By working with these principles and practices in contexts where you have influence, you can create a ripple effect that can spread throughout the world. In these times, we need every project, organization and community to become a practice ground for a more thrivable world.
Your Hosts
Michelle Holliday is a consultant, facilitator, and author of The Age of Thrivability, focused on bringing living systems approaches into organizations and communities.
Leen Schelfhout is a facilitator, trainer, and community builder specializing in participatory methods, commons-based governance, and collaborative decision-making.
Let’s explore how we can move from isolated efforts to co-created, regenerative change.
Register now! Fees include lunch and all materials. Spaces are limited so don't delay. Full refund if cancellation received by May 8.
Questions? Reach out to leenschelfhout@openfacilitation.com to ask questions, including requests for a further discount if necessary.