Last weekend, 400 participants from 27 of the 28 EU countries gathered in the magnificent 8 story passive built HQ of the Brussels Institute for Environment Management for the European Ideas Lab conference, I as Event Moderator, Annabelle Sac (Coordinator European Ideas Lab) and Lara Listens Event Visual Facilitator worked together to prepare the conference. The objective of the event was to provide a forum for members of civil society from across Europe to connect with each other and with Greens EFA group MEPs to learn from each other, establish working relationships and if possible identify potential collaborative initiatives.
A random selection of EU Ideas Lab participants!
Part of my role involved designing the event facilitation plan, training workshop co-facilitators and moderating the plenary sessions. We designed the programme to maximise individual participation and active engagement by participants. There were 30 interactive workshops. Some of which were hosted by MEPs. Outputs from all the workshops were captured through visual facilitation and explored further during the concluding interactive plenary session on Sunday morning.
Lara’s event picture book
Given that it was the first such conference, I was delighted with the personal feedback from the participants, the MEPs and organising team. Annabelle Sac is a pure powerhouse and Lara Listens’ visual facilitation succinctly captured the output of the conference. A report is now being compiled of the event and will be distributed to those who attended. A full evaluation of the event is now underway and the outcome will determine the next steps in this exciting project!
