Supporting Platform GEEF at NHL Stenden University in Engaging Stakeholders

In November 2019, the annual conference of Dutch development platform GEEF was conducted in a new way. In an effort to move from information to dialogue, GEEF enlisted CLC partner Lars Hornborg to facilitate the event.

Platform GEEF is a partnership consisting of 18 organizations from the world of housing, care and welfare. Together they contribute to the social task of allowing vulnerable and older people to live independently and to participate in society without restriction.

A team from GEEF visited Linnaeus University, Sweden, in early 2019, where one of the activities was an Open Space workshop concerning future collaboration, facilitated by Lars Hornborg. The workshop was successful, and when it was time to plan the annual GEEF conference in Nijmeegen, they decided to do something very different - to consciously engage stakeholders in co-creating the roadmap for next steps in the organization.

Lars was contracted to facilitate the Open Space workshop at Platform GEEF, gathering around 50 delegates who in the course of this half-day workshop identified, developed and prioritized 13 different topics, all contributing to answer the workshop question: 

“How can productive collaboration contribute to smart
sustainable communities already tomorrow?”

The whole workshop was filmed, and a condensed 9-minute overview is available below for those interested in learning more about Open Space Technology - or looking for inspiration and resources for your next engaging event.

For more information, please contact Lars Hornborg.