You are cordially invited to the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) Conference in Groningen, the Netherlands on October 3-5, 2008 at the School of Intercultural Com- unications and Media of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences.

2008 is The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue. We have therefore chosen the theme, Facilitation - Profession of Bridging Cultures. The IAF Conference in Groningen includes plenary events for meeting new colleagues, sessions about facilitation techniques offered by professional facilitators, open networking opportunities and an exciting celebration.
Our wide range of conference sessions appeals to new and experienced facilitators, project managers, and team leaders around the world. We provide a firm grounding in the fundamentals of facilitation as well as advanced tools and techniques from business, education, government and local community. Pre-conference sessions offer training programmes in facilitation skills at reduced cost.

A facilitator is someone who enables groups and organizations to work more effectively by solving problems and devising strategies together.
A facilitator can be a learning or dialogue guide to assist a group in understanding its assumptions, beliefs and values. Facilitators can be found in business, government, non-profit organisations, education, and more.

The IAF Conference is an opportunity to meet professional facilitators and to share ways of working. The Conference includes sessions for beginners, for novices and for advanced facilitators. Every session is led by a practicing facilitator.

The International Association of Facilitators (IAF) is the foremost professional organization for facilitators in the world.
The IAF is dedicated to growing facilitators and encouraging the use of group process methodologies world-wide. It was formed by a group of professional facilitators seeking an avenue for interchange, professional development, trend analysis and peer networking.
In 1994 the IAF began with 70 members. Since then the IAF has grown to over 1500 members in more than 63 countries around the world.

Do you work in corporate, government, nonprofit, educational, or local community environments?
Are you a consultant, teacher, in-house facilitator, negotiator, organizational advisor or coach? Do you use methods of facilitation in your work? Do you value a forum to share ideas, methods and advice?
If you've answered yes to any or all of these questions, you should be at this year's IAF Europe Conference.

07.08.2008 Session proposals can no longer be accepted. We are now in the proces of putting together the conference program.
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06.08.2008 The pre-conference registration and conference registra-tion process are now both open.
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04.08.2008 The first version of the conference program has been published and is going to be updated frequently. We strongly recommend all conference attendees to revisit the program site in order to stay up-to-date about changes.
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