Category Archives: news

Kickstart the New Year with a 10% discount on all 2026 courses!

Kickstart the New Year with a commitment to your personal and professional development, and enjoy a 10% discount on all of my 2026 courses by registering with the promo code JanuarySale before Saturday 31 January.

My 2026 schedule of public ICA:UK ToP facilitation training includes courses in London, Brussels and Birmingham again, and this year also in the beautiful and historic resort town of Sitges, just down the coast from Barcelona, in March and October. Why not plan to stay for the weekend, and book yourself some early spring sunshine now?

Register now for public courses in Eventbrite

Register now in Eventbrite for my own upcoming public courses in London, Brussels & elsewhere – scroll down for dates & locations.

For additional courses offered by fellow ICA:UK Associates, see the full ICA:UK public course schedule.

Enjoy a 10% discount on any course by registering with the promo code JanuarySale before Saturday 31 January.

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.

New: ICA:UK ToP facilitation training in London, Brussels and Sitges, Barcelona in 2026

Welcome to September, with a 10% discount on any of my 2025 & 2026 courses by registering before Tuesday 30 with the promo code SeptemberSale!

I am pleased to announce my new 2026 schedule of public ICA:UK ToP facilitation training courses in London and Brussels, and this year also in the beautiful and historic resort town of Sitges, just down the coast from Barcelona, in March and October. Why not plan to stay for the weekend, and book yourself some early spring sunshine now?

Twelve new courses now scheduled for 2026 include, again:

  • Group Facilitation Methods – introducing the foundations of the ToP approach, two powerful techniques for structuring effective conversations and building group consensus – 2 days, in London, Brussels & Sitges
  • Action Planning – participatory planning for short-term projects and events – 1 day, in London & Brussels
  • Participatory Strategic Planning – bringing people together to create strategies for action – 2 days, in London & Brussels

A few places are still available also on my remaining 2025 courses:

ICA’s ToP training was ranked as the second most popular facilitation training globally in the SessionLab 2025 State of Facilitation report.

Register now for public courses in Eventbrite

Register now in Eventbrite for any of my upcoming 2025 & 2026 public courses in London, Brussels & Sitges.

Enjoy a 10% discount on any course by registering with the promo code SeptemberSale by Monday 30 September.

For additional courses offered by fellow ICA:UK Associates, see the full ICA:UK public course schedule.

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.

An appeal and an opportunity from GOC’s new interim Chair

Could YOU be our next Chair?

The Gay Outdoor Club is the oldest and largest outdoors club in the UK for everyone in the LGBTQI+ community, founded in 1974.

We have over 2,000 members in 40+ local and specialist groups that offer over over 500 events around the country each year. Our annual turnover is around £100k pa, and we are entirely member-led and run.

It is an exciting time to join us. Our committee is preparing to meet on October 4 & 5, with other club volunteers. We will meet at the venue of our 2026 Annual Outdoor Gathering at Warwick University to form as a new team, with several new committee members and new leadership, to plan how we can all deliver the club’s strategy together over the coming year:

“to make GOC a diverse and inclusive club that is friendly and welcoming, vibrant and dynamic – where everyone in the LGBTQI+ community can be themselves and feel at home while making friends and enjoying outdoors and social activities together”.

Please take a look at our Governance and Committee page for further details, including our constitution and role descriptions. For further context, see also my recent news post to members From your new interim Chair – an appeal and an opportunity!

Please respond by Monday 1 September by completing the expression of interest form, or please email me at <chair@goc.org.uk> with any questions.

Thank you!

Martin Gilbraith,

GOC interim Chair

A candid conversation with LeadFac Solutions

I am grateful to Ramesh Srinivasan of IAF India, host of the new Candid Convos video podcast, for the opportunity to join him as a guest for this new episode of just under 45 minutes.

Watch and listen now on Youtube, or see the LinkedIn announcement below, for what to expect…

𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗙𝗮𝗰 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗉𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗼𝘀 #𝟰 𝖿𝖾𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀 Martin Gilbraith, 𝖢𝖯𝖥-𝖬 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖢𝖳𝖥.

𝖨𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖾𝗉𝗂𝗌𝗈𝖽𝖾, 𝖬𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗄𝗌 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 :

💡 𝖧𝗂𝗌 𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 Institute of Cultural Affairs International 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗉𝗂𝗋𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗍𝗈 𝗃𝗈𝗂𝗇 𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗜.

💡 𝖨𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖾𝗑𝗉𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗌 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝖨𝗇𝖽𝗂𝖺𝗇 𝖾𝗇𝗀𝖺𝗀𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌

💡 𝖧𝗂𝗌 𝖺𝗌𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 International Association of Facilitators (IAF)

💡 𝖢𝗈𝗇𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖻𝗎𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗘𝗖𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝖿𝗋𝖺𝗆𝖾𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄 𝗈𝖿 IABC

💡 𝖳𝗈𝖯 𝖥𝖺𝖼𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖬𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗈𝖽𝗌 – 𝗣𝗦𝗣, 𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗗

💡 𝖧𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗎𝗋𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗄 𝗂𝗇 𝖣𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗉𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗌𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗈𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝖽𝗂𝖿𝖿𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗌 𝖿𝗋𝗈𝗆 𝖢𝗈𝗋𝗉𝗈𝗋𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝖼𝗍𝗈𝗋

💡 𝖯𝗋𝗈𝖿𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗈𝗇𝖺𝗅 𝖣𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗉𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗉𝖺𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗇 𝖻𝗈𝗍𝗁 𝖨𝖢𝖠 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖨𝖠𝖥

💡 𝖨𝖠𝖥 𝖬𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉 – 𝗪𝗜𝗜𝗙𝗠 (𝗪𝗁𝖺𝗍𝗌 𝗜𝗇 𝗜𝗻 𝗜𝗍 𝗙𝗈𝗋 𝗠𝖾 ?) 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗈𝗋

𝖯𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗉𝗈𝖽𝖼𝖺𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍s.

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.

NEW! ToP facilitation masterclass with IAF Italy, 22-23 May in Lomazzo

I am excited to be offering ToP facilitation training in Italy in May, in partnership with IAF Italy, the Italian chapter of the International Association of Facilitators. My last, pictured, was in Pisa in 2019.

The specially tailored ToP masterclass: Group Facilitation Methods and Participatory Strategic Planning will be held in Lomazzo, between Milan and Como, on Thursday & Friday, 22-23 May – scroll down for details.

A 10% early booking discount is available until Monday 21 April with the promo code EarlyBird.

A few places remain available on my upcoming courses in April as well:

Register now for public courses in EventbriteRegister now in Eventbrite for these and other upcoming public courses in London, Brussels & elsewhere.

ToP masterclass: Group Facilitation Methods and Participatory Strategic Planning, May 22-23 in Lomazzo.

This two-day masterclass is for all those who want to be able to engage people more effectively to build shared understanding and consensus, and create strategies for action, including team leaders and managers within organisations, those working with Boards, management teams, partnerships and external stakeholders, youth and community workers and independent facilitators. The course has no pre-requisite.

IAF endorsed trainingIAF members enjoy a special 10% discount – see Exclusive Offers for IAF Members.

This course will introduce the two foundational methods of ICA’s ‘Technology of Participation‘ (ToP) methodology, and a third which adapts and applies these to creating strategies for action:

  • ToP Focused Conversation provides a structured, four-level process for effective communication which ensures that everyone in a group has the opportunity to participate
  • ToP Consensus Workshop is a five stage process that enables a facilitator to draw out and weave together everybody’s wisdom into a clear and practical consensus
  • ToP Participatory Strategic Planning is a structured long-range planning process which incorporates ToP Consensus Workshop for building consensus, ToP Focused Conversation for effective group communication, and an implementation process for turning ideas into productive action and concrete accomplishments.

More experienced facilitators may be ready to apply the methods effectively in their own situations. For others the course will serve as a powerful, experiential introduction to ICA’s ToP methodology.

Register now for public courses in Eventbrite

Register now in Eventbrite for this and other upcoming public courses in London, Brussels & elsewhere.

For additional courses offered by fellow ICA:UK Associates, see the full ICA:UK public course schedule.

See also about me, how I work, who I work with and recommendations & case studies, and please contact me about how we might work together.