Art of Hosting England
How might we come together to have the conversations that matter, so meaningful connection, and a ‘common’ sense of the wise actions needed in these times, can feed, nourish and nurture our shared future?
Our times are challenging & changing. The rise of political extremism, accelerating Artificial Intelligence and the developing climate crisis are polarising forces which can divide us in a deeply binary way. This is a time when leaving the trenches of our opinions might be the only thing which makes the road towards a future that supports life, wellbeing and the planet possible.
Traveler, your footprints
(Antonio Machado, translated by Mary G. Berg and Dennis Maloney)
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;
you make your own path as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look back
you see the path
you will never travel again.
Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship’s wake on the sea.
“Caminante, son tus huellas
el camino y nada más;
Caminante, no hay camino,
se hace camino al andar.
Al andar se hace el camino,
y al volver la vista atrás
se ve la senda que nunca
se ha de volver a pisar.
Caminante, no hay camino
sino estelas en la mar.”
(original)Technology, consumption and innovation are moving faster than ever before. This quickening pace can feel blistering, full of imperative and direction.
Whilst exciting, it can also feel like it’s running away. Keeping up with what is emerging can feel difficult. Time to rest and ingest, plan then proceed, is scarce. It feels, at times, like a never ending dash.
In the spirit of the poem above from Antonio Machado, the culture we live by now, will become the heritage we look back on in the future. With that in mind, perhaps we need to slow down, practise the skills of coming together and making sense between us, and in doing so create the society and culture we want to live in.
“Rest is the conversation between what we love to do and how we love to be” - David Whyte
Join us to connect with others who care for the direction our organisations, communities and wider societies are headed. Let’s practise the skills of hosting and harvesting conversations that matter. Let’s support each other to connect across our own opinions and explore a common sense of the future we are experiencing, creating and living into together.
Book your placeThe Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations that Matter is a practice of gathering well. We come together, put what matters in the middle and use techniques and tools to have a good conversation about it. From exploring what we each bring, we gain a sense of what a wise next action might be: a common sense, built together as a common resource. Hosting is how we gather people well; harvesting is how we gather what emerges, so it can nourish our lives, communities and organisations.
You will learn skills, tools and technologies for having meaningful conversations about what matters and practise hosting others at the beautiful Ashburnham place in East Sussex. You are welcome.
Everyone who cares about having conversations that matter, and harvesting and putting the learning from those conversations to purposeful use, including:
In a highly experiential setting, you will explore and practise methods & models. You will learn process design frameworks and worldviews. You will learn and practise technologies and techniques that enable strategic collaboration, allowing groups to come together and have purposeful conversations about things which are important to all our lives. These are capabilities you can apply to any context and include:
"You will also join a local and global network of practitioners dedicated to co-creating new living and working systems."
AoH pedagogy
This training offers a lively, hands-on learning environment: an experimental space where trust is built and collaboration grows across difference.
You will be introduced to sensemaking models and ideas from complexity, while practising collective leadership as we go. Through hosted sessions and coaching, you will take part in hosting and harvesting processes that deepen engagement and learning.
Bring your own ideas, projects and challenges to explore with others, co-creating responses and finding practical ways to carry what you learn back into your own context.
Together we will make a participatory, supportive space to connect with peers, share experience and grow a shared understanding. Drawing on Living Systems thinking, we will explore ways of leading rooted in interconnection, collaboration and self-organisation around shared purpose, nurturing collective wellbeing.
The training team
Visual facilitator · Leeds
Jon is a visual facilitator and participatory engagement practitioner based in Leeds, Yorkshire. With 25 years of experience supporting activists and changemakers in learning, reflection, and engagement, his work bridges inner psycho-spiritual exploration with outer socio-political action. He specialises in creating rehumanising spaces and visual resources that inspire authentic participation.
Jon has been an Art of Hosting & Harvesting practitioner since 2011, working in collaborative settings across community, public, and private sectors within the UK and Europe. His experience includes partnerships with EU and UK government institutions, the NHS, local authorities, NGOs, and community and business organisations.
Facilitator and coach · Leeds
Sue Hoey is a freelance facilitator, coach and community development practitioner based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. With extensive experience in participatory engagement and project implementation & evaluation, she supports organisations and communities to engage in meaningful dialogue and collaborative action.
Sue works predominantly with communities and organisations in the Third Sector, with a passion to support people to make significant shifts in the meaning they have of themselves, their place in the world and what is genuinely possible for them in life. She has three teenage sons and has spent many years practising the art of balancing paid work & being a mum.
Mediator, coach and host · Leeds
Phil is a CEDR-accredited mediator and an ICF-enrolled professional and executive coach. His work focuses on hosting and crafting learning spaces across the UK, Ireland, and Europe for corporate, enterprise and executive teams and leadership, as well as the public and third sectors, activists, and community champions, holding multiple facets of the whole system in relationship. He is passionate about social business, youth leadership, the arts, and climate action.
Phil Marken is an innovator, Art of Hosting practitioner, and dedicated facilitator based in Leeds, UK. As the founder and director of Open Source Arts, he brings over 20 years of experience in the events industry, supporting creative individuals and communities to realise their ambitions and foster collaboration.
Host · Sheffield
Efua is a systems change process designer, Art of Hosting facilitator, coach and parent.
Efua followed a passion for the outdoors into a career in outdoor and environmental education, managing a climbing wall and then becoming a sustainability consultant after going back to study an MSc in Sustainability, Entrepreneurship and Design.
Efua is drawn into a number of related fields of inquiry from storytelling our relationship to rivers to creating new ceremonies for these lands in which she calls herself home.
The thread through all of this has been the question “what am I doing in service to the Earth, its ecosystems and societies?”
Community organiser · Our Yard
Paulette is a Community Organiser, Art of Hosting practitioner and community research facilitator, as well as being a founding board director at Our Yard.
An experienced project manager with a background of working in the homeless sector delivering on ESF, local and central government contracts focussed on training, employment, community engagement and participatory hosting practices. Co-founder of Our Yard, Paulette has a keen interest in innovative social businesses and their role within communities to support individual and collective power.
The venue
The training is residential and will take place at Ashburnham Place in East Sussex (Ashburnham Place, Battle TN33 9NF, ashburnham.org.uk). Ashburnham is a beautiful country estate retreat and conference centre with wonderful grounds, woods, and lakes to explore. As a place of hospitality, Ashburnham is very much part of our hosting team inviting you to relax and enjoy the space together.
The nearest train station to the venue is Battle, and taxis can be booked from Battle to Ashburnham (we will also do our best to support pick-ups on the arrival day).
Accommodation is in a mixture of ensuite and standard rooms (with shared bathrooms). Rooms will be single by default, but a discount is available for sharing. We are aware that people may have individual circumstances that will require specific accommodation options, so please do let us know if you have specific needs.
Dates & timings
Arrivals are from 1pm on Tuesday 2 February, and the training begins at 3.30pm that afternoon. It ends by 3pm on Friday 5 February, with accommodation included on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Our full days will run through to around 5pm, with coaching taking place each evening for those stepping into hosting practice the following day. There will also be time for walking, relaxing, creative celebration together, and for those brave souls who dare, lake swimming!
What's the investment?
Transport to and from Ashburnham Place is not included (though we will endeavour to enable self-organised lift shares between participants ahead of the training).
We are taking a shared economy approach to this training, spreading the contributions between participants in as equitable a way as possible, with those coming from well-resourced places offering more so that those who may need support to access the training are able to. We therefore have a tiered level of payment as follows…
10% off for bookings of 3 or more places
5% off when booked with a friend
We would also warmly invite contributions from anyone who would like to support others to take part, but may not be able to join this training themselves. Do get in touch if you would be interested in doing this. We also want to be open and transparent about the economy of the training, so if you would like to see the budget and talk with us about it, please do be in touch.
Offer to support a placeWe are obviously needing to cover the costs associated with this training, while also aware that for some finance may be a barrier to participation. We are holding open a limited number of reduced cost places for those that need them. If money is a barrier to participation for you, please do get in touch for a conversation.
Talk to us about a supported placeNotice given before the training starts:
If you can no longer make it and can find someone else to transfer your place to, no fees will be charged.
If this speaks to you but the timing isn't right, leave us your details and we'll keep you in the loop about this training and future gatherings.
Keep me in touch →2–5 February 2027 · Ashburnham Place
If the form does not load, open the form in a new tab. Questions? Email aohashburnham@gmail.com.
Online at aohengland2027.co.uk · Questions? aohashburnham@gmail.com