Process Facilitation
As process facilitators, we guide groups of people to effectively work together. Facilitation is particularly valuable for tackling complex issues through dialogue and co-creation in participatory settings, including workshops, meetings or collaborative projects. We take care of the “how” so participants can focus on the “what” and “why.
The strength of our transdisciplinary team lies in its diversity and range of experience. Our expertise includes arts and design, STEM, futures and education, community- and organisational development. The transdisciplinary nature of our facilitation enables us to work effectively across sectors. While we can facilitate one-off meetings, workshops and other types of gatherings, we aim to develop long-standing and long-lasting relationships, which contribute to substantial, systemic transformations and generative long-term impact. Therefore, series of gatherings and long-term programmes generally take precedence over one-off commissions.
The creative process is at the core of our facilitation work. It encourages curiosity and guides people from the uncertainty of “not knowing” through creative leaps toward meaningful collective insights. Our facilitation style draws on both structured event flow and the art of improvisation, allowing us to adapt to unexpected situations and changing conditions.
- on the FoAM website: https://fo.am/activities/process-facilitation/
- notes from the Hosting Craft training: https://libarynth.org/hosting_craft
Example: Luminous Green
Reflecting on the role of the arts, design and technology in an environment of turbulence, Luminous Green was a series of gatherings about a human world that is enlightened, imaginative, electrified and most importantly – living in symbiosis with the planet. The series was initiated by FoAM in Brussels, with events taking place in Belgium, Singapore, Austria, and online. It began with a call to the creative sector to enrich public debate around environmental sustainability, ethical living and eco-design, looking at how to prepare for and adapt to a life in turbulent social, economic and environmental conditions.
The objective of Luminous Green was to incubate collaborations, innovative methods and scalable interventions, looking to advance participants’ practice beyond conservation and sustainability. Each Luminous Green gathering used a different format in order to reach a wider group of participants overall. The formats included evening salons, day-long symposia (including an eco-art and eco-tech “bazaar”), multi-day workshops, maker-labs and retreats. Using facilitation techniques based on OST (Open Space Technology), U-process, ARG (Alternate Reality Gaming) and AI (Appreciative inquiry), Luminous Green encouraged participation, interaction and commitment between everyone involved.
Example: Splinterfields
Splinterfields was a series of multi-day workshops to foster collaborative learning of emerging technologies, tools and mindware in contemporary culture.
FoAM's Splinterfields workshops explored emerging technological arts through the lens of preindustrial crafts and contemporary sciences. Each workshop brought together a traditional craft with a related scientific practice and a recent technological process. By entangling abstract scientific concepts with hands-on experiments, we aimed to better grasp the basics of our tools and techniques, breathe new life into forgotten crafts, and viscerally experience the underlying interconnectedness of arts, sciences and technologies.
Biochymickal Arts, for example, introduced the participants to bio-hacking, while learning the fundamentals of biochemistry and the craft of fermentation. The process combined theoretical discussions about biochemical concepts with hands-on experiments in a wet lab and kitchen. In Mathematickal Arts, the participants investigated mathematics, software and textiles, using tangible, abstract and conceptual threads – such as knots, weaving, sorting algorithms, notation and geometry.
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