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?
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, Barcelona
Action Planning – participatory planning for short-term projects and events – 1 day in London & Brussels
Welcome to September, witha 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
How can international organisations foster a true culture of participation? What can we learn from past experiences to shape the future?
Join me for this facilitated session with IAF Belgium on Monday 31 March in Brussels, where we will explore these questions using the Historical Scan method of ICA’s Technology of Participation (ToP).
In this interactive session, I will guide you through a participatory approach to reviewing the past and preparing for the future. Together, we will reflect on our diverse experiences and perspectives on participation in international organisations.
I will also share:
✔ insights into the theory behind the method
✔ real-world examples of the method in action
✔ ways you can apply the method in your own practice
The event is free, but spaces are limited, so register now to secure your spot on Meetup.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Join me also for the following ToP facilitation training in Brussels, the following days:
Group Facilitation Methods, April 1-2: introducing the foundations of the ToP approach, two powerful techniques for structuring effective conversations and building group consensus
Action Planning, April 3: participatory planning for short-term projects and events
Register now in Eventbrite for these and other upcoming public courses in London, Brussels & elsewhere.
Are you interested in taking or commissioning ToP facilitation training – but you don’t find any scheduled public courses to suit you, and you don’t have a group large enough to make an in-house course cost-effective?
I’d be happy to talk with you about scheduling a partnership course with you, at your place, wherever you are – please contact me.
If you can provide a suitable space for the training, or perhaps venue & catering and trainer accommodation as well, then you could enjoy a number of free and/or discounted places for you or your delegates. We would need only to recruit enough fee-paying trainees between us by an agreed deadline to make up the numbers and the budget to confirm the course. Depending on the location and the deadline I may be able to recruit those extra people myself, and handle online registrations and payments. If you can recruit more people yourself, from your networks, and if you can handle registrations and payments, then you could have more free or discounted places and maybe a shorter lead time as well.
If you choose one of my regularly scheduled public courses listed below, then we will be better able to confirm the course even if you can’t recruit many people yourself. If you have particular training needs and you can recruit others who share them, then we could develop and schedule a public course tailored to meet your needs.
Group Facilitation Methods – introducing the foundations of the ToP approach, two powerful techniques for structuring effective conversations and building group consensus – 2 days
Action Planning – participatory planning for short-term projects and events – 1 day
Since 2013 when I launched my own public and partnership courses under license with ICA:UK, with whom I have offered public and in-house training since 1998, I have offered dozens of such partnership courses in locations including (most often) Brussels, and Edinburgh, Geneva, Istanbul, Kiev, Moscow, Pisa and online.
I deliver in English and with simultaneous interpretation. I draw on the worldwide network of ICA International to provide ToP training materials in many languages, and to arrange for experienced local ToP trainers to deliver with me (or without me) in many languages.
I particularly welcome opportunities to deliver training within a day or two’s surface travel from London or Barcelona. If I am not tempted to fly to deliver training myself further afield, then I shall be glad to recommend an alternative experienced ToP trainer who is more local to you – see What can I do about climate change, personally and as a facilitator?
Looking for accredited learning?Group Facilitation Methods, Action Planning and Participatory Strategic Planning are accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management for an ILM Development Award.
Interested to join IAF? Participants in all these ICA:UK ToP courses are eligible for a 50% discount on their first year’s IAF membership, a requirement for CPF certification.
Most courses are scheduled in pairs to allow 1, 2, 3 or 4 days of training at once. Follow the links below for further details and to register for each course.
*With regret, courses shown in italics have been cancelled due to Covid-19. New online courses will be announced soon (April/May 2020).
Group Facilitation Methods – introducing the foundations of the ToP approach, two powerful techniques for structuring effective conversations and building group consensus – 2 days
“I found it really helpful. Martin established a really good group learning process and displayed mastery of his subject. I am very glad I went on it and very glad he ran it!” – Mike Pounsford, Employee engagement, communication and change specialist
“As a diverse, transnational, multilingual membership network, successful meetings are key to our internal and external successes. Many of our staff mentioned Martin’s training as a highlight in their end of year reviews – several said it was the most useful training they had ever attended.” – Eve Geddie, Deputy Director at Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
Action Planning – participatory planning for short-term projects and events – 1 day
“Martin is a very inspiring trainer, he is very skilled and knows how to facilitate facilitators in a structured and insightful way. I have been able to succesfully use his personal advice and facilitation techniques straight away!” – Miriam Elst, Facilitator Design Thinking and LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, Lead UX researcher & strategist, Service designer
Meetings That Work – practical tools to design and lead effective meetings – 2 days
“Meetings That Work ticked all the boxes. It was very interesting to hear the theory and useful to have to put it in practice during the many exercises. I use the templates and ideas from this course on a weekly basis. It improves planning and preparing for our 20 meetings (annually). Feedback on the improved meeting format is excellent.” – Peter Van Roste, General Manager CENTR
Facilitating Client Collaboration – practical tools to design facilitation approaches with your client – 2 days
“I got confidence in how to deal with my clients. I had not expected that this course would boost me up to be more open to the customers and speak with them more freely, but it did. The methods and processes will not only be helpful in my regular work, but also in solving my family, community and society problems.” –Neha Shrestha
I may be joined for one of these courses again by Bill Staples of ICA Associates Incas guest trainer. Bill is one of the founders of ICA’s Technology of Participation, a principal partner of ICA Associates Inc. and the main designer of Facilitating Client Collaboration.
Participatory Strategic Planning – bringing people together to create strategies for action – 2 days
“Martin created a good atmosphere in an international group. His presentations were crispy clear, illustrated by carefully chosen, practical examples from his rich facilitator experience. Martin helped me to understand countless details of preparation and running a successful Participatory Strategic Planning session for various customers.” – Marzena Dębska-Matuszak, Experienced Trainer, Facilitator and Coach
For early bird rates, register by 5 January 2020 on Eventbrite.
Register on two or more courses at once to enjoy a 10% discount on each – please contact me to ask for a promotional code for the multiple bookings discount. Enter the code as you register on Eventbrite for your chosen courses to reveal your discounted rates.
Additional discounts are available all year to members of Social Platform and other European NGO networks, and to members of ICA, IAF & IABC. If you have not received a promotional code directly from them, please contact me.
