Beads - Passion for Facilitation

I originally wrote this in Dutch on the occasion of the retirement of Peter Knip - Director of VNG international who dedicated his life to democracy and peace.

We had found a great way to encourage people in Ethiopia to become active citizens at the helm of democracy. The 'theatre for social accountability' struck a cord with people,…

Imagine. You are walking to the shop in your village and the local community organizer approaches you. Would you like to participate in a climate assembly with 100 people from around the world for several weeks? This happened in October 2021.

The Global Assembly is not a one-off input for the COP26, but aims to give citizens from around the world a permanent seat at the table of international decision making.…

Today is the first time that I am in a situation where I can give the 3-finger salute that has become familiar in the pictures coming from Myanmar. Although it is online it feels like we are connected in solidarity with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).

Two days after this online meeting, some words still keep ringing in my…

This blogpost is the second inspired by John Gaventa’s 8 messages from: Rethinking Empowerment and Accountability in ‘Difficult Settings’ If you missed the first, you can find it…