Virtual Facilitation Practice

A safe space for connection and experiential learning

Action-in-Context

Facilitating Participation for Change

Effective interventions in processes of change require more than our ability as facilitators and consultants; they require us to acknowledge context and act within it. How many times have we entered the room just to find out that the conversation was not really about what we had been told or expected?

How can we be a partner in finding and hosting the conversations that matter? First, we have to ask ourselves: it matters to whom? What are the conversations that, if given a space, would generate different possibilities of collective action?

This session is designed for those who want to move past performative interventions and host spaces to talk about what really matters to people. We will explore how to use Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI) and Culture Sprints to surface conversations that make a difference. By focusing on the intersection of data-driven contextual evidence and your ability to host emergent conversations, you will learn to lead interventions that feel authentic, context-rich, and allow for novel action.

In This Session, We Will:

• Master the "Work of Participation": Move from performative to active intervention by leveraging high-context evidence.

• Decode Narrative Patterns: Learn to inquire about the underlying stories that shape groups and culture, and how to present them to trigger novel conversations.

• Evaluate Methodologies: Compare this narrative approach against traditional frameworks, canvases, and models, as well as standard data collection methods like regular surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

• Navigate Culture Sprints: Explore how to pace and guide a group through rapid, iterative cycles of inquiry and change.

• Clarify the Role: Understand the facilitator and consultant as instruments working in the here-and-now.

Our Guest Facilitator
Augusto Cuginotti works as a facilitator and consultant for change, helping identify and host the conversations that make a difference. A long-time practitioner in hosting participation, he blends the hosting of emergent human relations in the here-and-now with narrative-based data to surface patterned collective actions.
He developed Culture Sprint to create actionable culture interventions, and cerne.io, a narrative instrument to support consultants and facilitators in this work.

In Preparation
To prepare for our time together, we invite you to reflect on an experience you had in the past in which you were surprised during a process and had to adapt.

We will use a narrative survey to both explore the topic and experience the process firsthand. The link is below; your input is anonymous, and you can share as many experiences as you’d like.

👉 Share your experience here

Join us to redefine how data and participation can support your work.