The Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter

 

Join US FOR 2.5 DAYS OF FRESH AIR. 

We are living in vulnerable and potent times. Contradictions collide on a daily basis at every level of our lives and work. What was inconceivable months ago, now feels increasingly possible or alarmingly present.

There are no simple answers. 

There are no heroes coming to save the day. 

The Outside team invites you to join us at an Island of Sanity in ”the river flowing now, very fast.” We will bring everything we have learned over the last 25 years of international change work, while exploring with a fresh outlook what it means to meet this moment, and invite you to do the same. We welcome your experience, your questions, your wonderings, your fears, and your longings. Together we’ll build our skills for leadership and participation to get unstuck.

This Art of Hosting will explore:

  • How can participatory leadership practices be most meaningful and impactful at this time? 

  • How has leadership rooted in engagement been disrupted? What are the dangers and limitations? What is the emerging potential? 

  • What is the best strategy at the right time? When to stay under cover and protect? When to accelerate and illuminate?

  • How can we develop new approaches that fit the current reality? What changes does that demand of me as a practitioner?

There is a need to build compelling shared work and coherent relationships across our communities, organizations, and institutions to generate steady and unwavering forward movement. 

The Outside hosting team includes a founder of the Art of Hosting (AoH), an AoH global steward, a longtime AoH practitioner-scholar and a senior organizational development strategist. You’ll be in good company - join us!

Who is this training for?

  • Established and emerging hosts, facilitators, and leaders interested in learning or deepening their understanding of methods, models and worldviews from the Art of Hosting Conversations that Matter.

  • Strategic thinkers and practitioners who are engaging at all levels--personal, relational, organization, systemic, and structural.

  • Committed to a strategic lens that emphasizes working with power in participatory spaces.

No matter what sector we work in, what community we live in, or what family we were born into, we are all faced with situations that demand people work together across their differences. Increasingly, there are external forces and pressures devaluing and erasing the importance of creating spaces of deep belonging.

What is the Art of Hosting and Participatory Leadership?

For over 25 years, the Art of Hosting (also known as the Art of Participatory Leadership) has offered simple yet powerful participatory practices to host generative conversations leading to collective action and long-lasting change. The Art of Hosting is more than just a training program. These participatory leadership approaches are used in wide-ranging contexts worldwide, scaling from the personal to the systemic using personal practice, dialogue, facilitation and the co-creation of ways forward to address complex challenges.

“For anyone looking for a wise, pragmatic and well considered approach to the thinking and doing of systems change work then step on in... Tuesday and Tim are great hosts offering a wealth of insight, resources and powerful questions.”

— GARETH EVANS, BETSI CADWALADR UNIVERSITY HEALTH BOARD

Cancellation Policy:

  • A complete refund is issued if we can backfill the seat with somebody from the waiting list;

  • Cancellation up to 4 weeks prior to the workshop, without an ability to backfill: $580 USD cancellation fee (one third of the price);

  • Cancellation during the last 4 weeks prior the workshop, without ability to backfill: $1,160 USD cancellation fee (two thirds of the price).

QUICK OVERVIEW:

Day 1: Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Day 2: Thursday, October 23, 2025
Day 3: Friday, October 24, 2025

Cost: $1,750 USD
Location: Oak Island Resort & Conference Centre, Nova Scotia, Canada

To request payment via invoice, rather than credit card, please contact us HERE to arrange.

*Space is limited to 60 participants

Cost includes registration, meals and non-alcoholic drinks (breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner).

Accommodation and transportation costs are the responsibilities of each participant.

A group rate for rooms is available to participants. Upon completed registration, The Outside will be in contact with you to provide accommodation details and group rate.

If the cost of this training is a barrier for you we are happy to discuss various options, including payment plans and/or scholarships. Please reach out to jen@findtheoutside.com to explore these possibilities.

Check out our testimonials page to read what people’s experience has been in working with The Outside.