IAF Europe and Middle East
Contact our Regional Director
If you have any questions or comments that you’d like to share with our RD click here or scan the QR code with your device.
IAF EME Leadership Team 2024-25
A team works to coordinate activities in the EME region. Those who are chairing IAF’s facilitator communities (chapters), or someone they designate, are a full part of the regional team as they promote facilitation within their own city or country.
Within the EME regional team, the following members have made the additional commitment to take on a particular region wide responsibility.
- Andrew Spiteri: IAF EME Regional Director
- Rena Bilgin Koç: Social Media & Communication
- David Bishop: Communication & Event Design
- Hiltrud Kinnunen: Treasurer & Governance
- Tanya Van Rompuy: Governance
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Goli Ahmadifard: Special Projects & Sharing and Learning
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Helene Jewell: Volunteering
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Bogdan Grigore: Sharing and Learning
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Paolo Martinez: Advisor
If you want to join the regional team and offer your contribution to promote the power of facilitation in the region and beyond, please contact anyone who has taken on a region wide responsibility simply by clicking on their name above.
Chapters
Azerbaijan
Linkedin | IAF Azerbaijan Chapter
Linkedin | IAF Azerbaijan Chapter
Facebook | IAF Azerbaijan Chapter
E-mail | IAF.Azerbaijan@gmail.com
Chapter Lead: Anar Hasanov
More info coming soon!
Belgium
Founded in April 2016, the Belgian chapter of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) seeks to grow a community of practice, advocate, and educate on the power of group facilitation in Belgium and beyond.
Located in a diverse and international community, the chapter conducts regular outreach and events connecting the local and wider community of facilitators.
- For additional information about our growing community, you can reach us in multiple ways:
Contact us per email: info@iaf-belgium.org - Visit our website: iaf-belgium.org
- Join our LinkedIn group: IAF Belgium LinkedIn group
- Participate to one of our events on Meetup: IAF Belgium Facilitators and Friends Meetup
Chapter Lead: Sue Bird
Team: Marie Dubost, Sylvain Veyzolles and Ralph Van Crombrugge.
Central & Eastern European Countries
CEE Chapter was founded in May, 2020 with the active participation of Serbia, Hungary and Greece. As the name shows the aim to create the Chapter was to make facilitation even stronger in the countries of this region (Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Hungary, Greece, Slovakia) as well as to support individual facilitators/members of IAF to cooperate with each other and to have a closer peer group that could work on facilitation promotion in the local languages.By now we have more and more members coming from different countries as well (E.g. Russia & Belarus) and we are welcome everyone who shares our core values, which are: openness, professionalism, innovation, diversity, fun. Because ‘We CEE our future together”.
President: Katalin Faix
Vice president: Tamara Zivadinovic
Treasurer: Elpiniki Stylogianni
Our activities
- Working on the communication platform and system
- Working on the joint events
- Team building
- Learning
Working on the communication platform and system
This activity has already started. As the first action members agreed that the main tools for the communication will be emails and Google Drive for storing documents and activities (meeting minutes, voting and survey results, reference material, etc.).For urgent matter members agreed to for a WhatsApp group (due to the small number of members at this moment)It is also agreed to use Zoom platform for online meetings, which will be organised fortnightly for the first period of time, in order to establish close cooperation and create initial activities for members and non/members Working on the joint events It is agreed to cooperate on organising joint events in the region in order to promote facilitation and build up the community (members and non-members).
Denmark
We convene regular, free face-to-face facilitation meetups for IAF facilitators and friends.
Everyone with an interest in group process facilitation is welcome, including facilitators and others who use or commission facilitation, IAF members and non-members alike. Please join us.
Go to our IAF Denmark website for more information.
Please connect with us online also, by joining facilitators & friends in following our IAF Denmark facebook page and by following & tweeting with IAF Denmark on Twitter. Join us also in the IAF Denmark group on LinkedIn.Chapter Lead: Hanne Houbak
England-Wales
- Paul Brand, Manchester – Chair
- Jane Clift, Sheffield – Chair Emeritus
- Cat Duncan-Rees, Stockport – Treasurer
- Penny Pullan, Loughborough – Board member – EDI
- Sian Madden Board Member – Membership Engagement
LinkedIn Group Page: IAF Facilitators and Friends
LinkedIn Company Page: IAF England and Wales
Facebook: IAF England and Wales Facilitators and Friends
Join our Meetups
IAF England & Wales hosts regular Meetups for anyone interested in facilitation, hosting meetings, or running workshops. These sessions are designed to help people build their network of fellow facilitators, support each other in our work challenges, and learn from each other. They are free to attend, you do not have to be a member of the IAF to participate in them, and are led by volunteers from within our community.
There are two key types of Meetups that we offer:
1- Monthly on-line meetups, each lasting 90 minutes (no need to stay full session) taking place on the third Friday of each month from 09:30 to 11:0 am GMT. For more information and to sign up please see our Eventbrite page.
These meet-ups allow attendees to:
- gain insight and experience from other facilitators as to any current issues you may be working on
- explore a topic of interest (detailed on each Meetup booking page)
- networking and community discussion
2- Face to face in-person meetups, open to being held by anyone in the facilitation community in local cafes and low cost venues for facilitators in different geographic aread to physically meet up together. Anyone in our community can ‘put up their hand’ to offer to act as the host for one of these in-person socials.
We are currently running regular in person meet-ups in Bristol, London and Sheffield. These are usually advertised on the IAF England & Wales LinkedIn Company and Group pages. If you are interested in getting involved in hosting either a one-off or a regular in-person meet up then please contact chair@iaf-englandwales.org.
Podcast: Facilitation Stories
Our popular and highly regarded podcast is for facilitators and those using facilitation and is created by… facilitators. Brought to you by IAF England & Wales facilitators & friends. @FacStories #IAFpodcast #IAFEW. If you are interested in featuring on our podcast please contact the volunteer podcast team here. Current and previous podcast episodes can be found here.
Annual In-Person Conference
Our popular annual in-person conference currently takes place in the Spring and for the past 3 years has been held in Birmingham. Co-created by our volunteer conference team and looking across different themes of interest to our community, it is open to anyone with an interest in facilitation. You can find out more about the conference tracks, timings and pricing and get tickets on our Eventbrite page.
Join our Leadership Team!
The Leadership team is open to any IAF England and Wales members and friends who are willing to contribute their time.
We need support to organise and host our online and in person meet-ups, develop our annual conference, host and produce the podcast, develop and maintain our social media presence, support our membership engagement, develop our annual and long term strategy and create and implement our annual plan.
For further information about our chapter please view our 2024 AGM report.
Central Eurasia
More info coming soon!
Chapter lead: Anna Patsyuk
France
Le chapter IAF France a été créé en 2012 à Paris. Il est devenu une Association de droit français (Loi 1901) en Mai 2017.
IAF France s’est doté d’un plan stratégique et ambitieux (2024-28) afin d’affirmer une position référente de la facilitation en France.
L’objectif principal étant de concourir à inscrire les métiers de la facilitation dans le paysage français, au coeur d’un contexte international en profonde mutation. Nous partageons la conviction que la facilitation n’a jamais été aussi indispensable que maintenant : permacrise, transformations des organisations, accompagnement de la transition à toutes les échelles territoriales, renforcement de la cohésion sociale et sociétale.
IAF France s’organise et se développe au travers de 4 instances :
- Le Bureau : Olivier Réaud (président), Nathalie Salhi (vice-présidente), Jacques Fuchs (trésorier)
- L’Equipe Cœur : composée de 12 membres permanents, elle pilote la dynamique des actions de IAF France au travers de 10 cercles assurant la réflexion, le développement et le fonctionnement du chapitre français.
- La Communauté (en cours de lancement) : elle rassemble des facilitateurs engagés à faire grandir la facilitation en France et à travailler plus étroitement ensemble au sein de l’IAF pour Grandir eux mêmes en Impact, voire devenir pleinement membres IAF.
- Les abonnés du Programme France Facilitation : les abonnés sont essentiellement des facilitateurs professionnels intéressés à se nourrir et à partager sur leur métier dans le contexte et dans les valeurs de l’IAF au niveau France avec le programme France Facilitation décrit plus haut.
Mail : contact@iaf-france.org
LinkedIn : IAF France
Le site : francefacilitation.org
SummerCamp IAF France – Août 2023
- Les LIVE IAF : tous les 2e lundis du mois, ils s’adressent à l’écosystème de la facilitation en France. Conçu tels des shows, ils sont rubriqués autour de nos actus, d’un invité grand témoin et de séquences participatives.
- Les OFF (Open France Facilitation) : programmés les mercredis soirs et ouverts à tous, ils ont pour but de faire découvrir une pratique, un outil, sous forme d’une conférence participative, d’une interview, d’un atelier créatif…
- Les InterLabs : ils ont lieu le vendredi à 13h, sont réservés aux abonnés, et permettent de créer des espaces pour échanger entre pairs. Masterclass, retex, workshops…, les ateliers sont conçus par des facilitateurs expérimentés pour ouvrir une réflexion profonde sur nos métiers.
- Le GEIPP (Groupe d’échanges, d’inspiration et de partages de pratiques) : ce groupe d’échanges de pratique, qui a vu le jour en mars 2024, est réservé aux abonnés. Pour sa première saison, il accueille jusque’à 10 participants qui se retrouvent une fois par mois.
- Les UpDays : journées intenses et intensives, en présentiel (et réservées aux abonnés) sur des sujets pointus de nos métiers, avec experts, tables rondes, ateliers, etc. Lancement fin du 1er semestre 2024.
- Le SummerCamp : en 2023, IAF France a rassemblé ses membres les plus engagés 2 jours dans un tiers lieux emblématique de la transition pour partager sur la montée en puissance de la facilitation et donner une impulsion nouvelle à l’année 2023-2024. Une nouvelle édition se dessine pour 2024…
Germany
Welcome · Willkommen!
We are around 30 IAF members spread throughout Germany and beyond.
Seit dem Jahr 2022 gibt es ein neues Team. Jutta Weimar, Barbara Zuber und Anton Mikoleit haben sich zusammengetan, um dem deutschen Chapter einen neuen Schwung zu geben.
Iran
Welcome to IAF Iran Chapter
به انجمن بین المللی تسهیلگران در ایران خوش آمدید
IAF Iran Chapter was approved by the IAF Board of Directors in 2016. This chapter aims to promote and develop the art of facilitation. We support and further, to the best of the chapter’s ability, the following purposes:
- Giving credibility to and furthering the work of the field of professional group facilitation.
- Providing a network to foster interchange between professional practitioners in the field.
- Developing appropriate opportunities, methodologies, models, tools and modes that support the practice of exemplary participatory facilitation.
- Promoting international support and interchange among professional facilitators.
Chapter committee:
Goli Ahmadifard
Maryam Attarieh
For more information, please write to iaf.iranchapter@gmail.com
Ireland
IAF IRELAND’s focus is to promote the use, standards and awareness of facilitation in Ireland thus contributing to the promotion of the power of facilitation worldwide
IAF Ireland online networking & learning meetups
Fellow meeting leaders!
Join us for our monthly IAF Ireland online networking & learning meetup on the 4th Friday of every other month at 15:00 (Ireland. Duration: 1.5 hours). IAF membership is not required to attend and the meetups are free.
Upcoming sessions can be found here : https://www.meetup.com/IAF-Ireland-facilitators-and-friends
You will also find information about the joint Ireland & UK facilitators virtual coffee meetup which takes place on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the same link.
The IAF Ireland online networking & learning meetups allow time and space for us to demonstrate, practise and experiment with our facilitation together, and share feedback on that, as well as share presentations and support through discussion. So we suggest some combination each time of these four key elements:
– introductions, followed by discussion to follow up on whatever emerges of common interest
– short presentations from one or two of those present, followed by questions and discussion
– one or two longer facilitated sessions, followed by feedback and discussion on the process as well as the content
– an opportunity for 2 or 3 of those present to share a current challenge or issue that they are struggling with, to receive questions, feedback or advice in return.
Let us know if you would like to share a presentation, facilitate a session or bring a challenge or issue for us to respond to.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there!
Regards
Yvonne, Bernard & David
IAF Ireland Committee
Italy
The Italian chapter of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) was established in 2013. It promotes the growth of the Italian facilitators community by organizing events and conferences, and by connecting Italian facilitators with the global network of facilitators and other IAF members.
The IAF Italian community is growing.
If you wish to join IAF Italy, you can register on this website.
To see what we are doing and to get involved in our activities, please visit our
website.
For any information, please contact the chapter coordinators:
Giacomo Petitti di Roreto and Sara Tremi Proietti
Netherlands
If you want to know more about our activities, visit our MeetUp page:
https://www.meetup.com/iaf-netherlands/
You can also contact the chapter directly to stay informed about our activities or ask any questions:
Jan Lelie, CPF | M
Email: voorzitter@iaf-nederland.nl
Alternate Email: iaf-netherlands@kpnmail.nl
Jan Lelie, CPF M
Chapter Chair
Oman
The IAF Oman Chapter is a professional community dedicated to advancing facilitation as a modern approach to enhancing institutional collaboration, decision-making, and sustainable impact.
The chapter aims to empower leaders and teams to adopt effective facilitation practices that drive performance and foster innovation, in alignment with national transformation and development priorities.
It also seeks to build local capacity while contributing to the global facilitation community by sharing knowledge and expertise from Oman, as well as learning from best practices and experiences across IAF chapters worldwide.
Chapter Contact Email:
Chapter Contact phone number:
+96896004839
Upcoming Activities:
- Founding Meeting & Chapter Orientation: February-March 2026
- Facilitation Awareness Session: March-May 2026
- Introduction to Facilitation in Oman: March 2026
- Facilitation Capacity Building Program: June–September 2026
- Omani Women’s Day Session: 17 October 2026
- Omani Youth Day Facilitation Forum: 26 October 2026
- Community Networking & Storytelling: Throughout the Year
Poland
The community of facilitators in Poland is growing. The IAF Poland chapter connects facilitators from different cities, who mostly use facilitation in an organizational context. Members meet to develop their skills, discuss and practice methods and share ideas. In 2015 the Polish chapter held its first International Facilitation Week, which attracted a lot of people. We are continuing with the activities, which promote facilitation and its best standards, share skills and tools during free workshops and webinars. We also develop our professional skills, which has resulted in a decision to organise CPF in Poland.
Planned activities are: regular meetings and virtual meetings dedicated to development of facilitation skills, widening the facilitators network and promoting facilitation continuously as a powerful way of working with groups, organisations and society.
Contact us via email or find us on facebook
Chapter Lead: Monica Gasienica
Portugal
Founded in 2017, the Portuguese Chapter of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) seeks to grow a community of practice, advocate, and educate on the power of group facilitation in organizations – either companies, NGOs, government and public associations, schools and universities, etc – in all Portuguese Speaking countries.
As a diverse and international community, the Portuguese Chapter conducts regular events connecting the community of facilitators in Portuguese!
We are a group of Portuguese speaking IAF members who are connected together.
So, if you’d like to connect, just join us on:
Linkedin | IAF Portugal
Linkedin | IAF – Facilitação Global em Língua Portuguesa
Facebook | IAF – Falando de Facilitação
Twitter | @iaf_portugal
email | iaf.portugues@gmail.com
Chapter Lead: Nelson Emilio
Romania
Suntem chapterul din Romania al Asociatiei Internationale a Facilitatorilor.
Ne-am fondat in mai 2020 si am organizat zeci de evenimente si workshop-uri cu scopul promovarii facilitarii.
Avem 61 de membri activi : facilitatori interni, facilitatori consultanti, traineri,HR si manageri care au constientizat importanta facilitarii.
Avem si o comunitate extinsa de peste 800 membri simpatizanti care urmaresc si participa la evenimentele noastre care se gasesc in grupul de facebook sau sunt abonati la newsletter.
Obiectivele noastre:
– Promovarea facilitarii in Romania prin evenimente si parteneriate interne si internationale
– Dezvoltarea competentelor si abilitatilor de facilitare ale membrilor
– Experimentarea unor noi abordari si formate in domeniul facilitarii
Evenimente: Inscrie-te la Newsletterul nostru pentru a afla despre ultimele evenimente
Discutii: va invitam in grupul nostru de Facebook.
Vrei sa devii membru IAF Romania: Te poti inscrie aici (alege Romania din lista de tari si tariful va deveni 100 $ / an)
Ai intrebari sau vrei sa colaboram : Bogdan Grigore (IAF Romania Chapter Lead)
Carte
Descarca “Puterea Facilitarii” – carte tradusa de facilitatori din IAF Romania si oferita gratuit celor interesati de a afla despre beneficiile aplicarii facilitarii in echipe si organizatii
Descărcați copia dvs. gratuită aici
More coming soon!
Russia
We decided to develop our Chapter as a self-organising team with core team members in charge of those activities that is of most interest to him or her.
For more information, please join us on facebook or write to us
Scotland
We are a group of facilitators and people interested in developing a facilitative approach who gather together to share experiences, resources, and access new training.
Sign up to our mailing list and access our Google Drive to collaborate at
www.iaf-scotland.org
Join our events through Meetup at
https://buytickets.at/meganevansconsultancy
Our chapter was founded by Martin Pearson in 2011. Over time, we have experimented with a variety of formats and meeting frequencies. The chapter’s focus evolved toward International Facilitation Week and pushing the boundaries of facilitation—both face-to-face and online.
We have hosted events exploring:
- Facilitating ‘fiery’ meetings
- Facilitating constellations
- Using stories in facilitation
- Facilitating community
- The role of the body and somatic awareness when facilitating
We now schedule events both online and face-to-face. We work closely with our sister chapters in England & Wales and Ireland to co-host the monthly UK & Ireland Coffee Meetup.
During these meetings, members are encouraged to develop new contacts, and many meet informally with others who live and work nearby.
If you are interested in learning more about our activities and members, please contact our Chair, Stephen Yorkstone, at
chair@iaf-scotland.org
Slovenia
The Slovenian chapter of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) was officially established in 2015, building on the local association of facilitators founded in 1997.
The mission of the Slovenian Association of Facilitators / IAF Chapter Slovenia is to grow and promote professional facilitation to help groups, organisations, and communities reach their goals in an effective, collaborative, and synergistic way.
The goals of the IAF Chapter Slovenia:
- Grow facilitation capacity and competencies within Slovenia
- Promote facilitation as a profession and approach for co-creating wise solutions to complex challenges
- Build a community of individuals, groups, and organizations aligned with our mission, goals, and values
The Slovenian chapter meets regularly as a monthly Community of Practice and offers a number of capacity-building events each year. To see current events, please visit our
website.
For more information, please contact the chapter coordinator
Marjeta Novak, CPF.
Sweden
The Swedish Chapter focus their energy on one large conference every year. We call it Faciliteringsdagarna (Days of Facilitation). Even though the name is Swedish, it is a global conference, please visit www.faciliteringsdagarna.se for more information.
We also have quaterly network meetings to share, learn and build our passion about facilitation.
To know about chapter activities please contact Jonas Roth Sjöblom
Switzerland
We run 6–12 evening sessions a year—one each month and usually one or two one-day events.
Our aim is for fellow facilitators to share an idea, model, or approach that they think might be of interest to facilitators in the area. Our main audience comes from corporates, international organisations, and NGOs. We share our different experiences in this field and held the first “Facilitators-week” in Switzerland in November 2020. We invite facilitators, those interested in facilitation, and those who hire facilitators.
President: Daniel Osterwalder
Treasurer: Patricia Frank (German-speaking Switzerland), Christiane Amici-Raboud (French-speaking Switzerland)
Events coordinator: Rodolfo Gils (French-speaking Switzerland)
If you wish to join IAF Switzerland you can register on this website.
To get information on the activities developed by IAF members in Switzerland, please visit the IAF SWITZERLAND website or contact us via e-mail.
Syria
The Syrian chapter of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) was established in 2017. Our objective is to promote a network and community of practice of facilitators, and to raise the quality standards of group facilitation in our country. The chapter is the natural follow-up of a network of facilitators founded in 2010 in Syria with more than 75 facilitators from across the country.
The Syrian chapter promotes the growth of the Syrian facilitators community and connects Syrian facilitators to the worldwide community of facilitators and other IAF members. Among other activities, the chapter convenes regular, free face-to-face facilitation meetups for IAF-Syria facilitators and friends, as well as capacity building and experience exchange. We also plan to schedule a full introduction day of the IAF-Syria, CPF assessments and facilitation awareness sessions.
We aim to host a CPF assessment event in the region each year, with the next one planned for the end of 2018.
Everyone with an interest in group process facilitation is welcome—facilitators, users of facilitation, commissioners, IAF members and non-members alike. Please join us.
OUR VALUES
- Promote the value of facilitation into society and its institutions
- Share resources and exchange knowledge
- Diversity: we work to respect the differences that exist in our societies
- Diverse learning and joint achievement: respecting the freedoms of others is one of the most important success factors of the facilitator
- Part of all: the facilitator relies on cooperation with all others working in the field
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The IAF Syrian community is growing. If you wish to join IAF SYRIA you can register on this website. To see what we are doing and to be involved in our activities, please follow us on Facebook. For any information, please contact the chapter coordinator Ghada Rifai.
Turkey
Welcome to IAF Turkey Chapter! Merhaba!
The Turkish chapter of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) was founded on November 6, 2011. IAF Turkey seeks to educate on the power of group facilitation in Turkey.
2011 senesinin Kasım ayında kurulan IAF Turkey, Türkiye’de fasilitasyonun bilinirliğini arttırmak üzere çalışmaktadır.
If you wish to get further information about the upcoming events, please contact us.
Etkinlikler hakkında detaylı bilgi almak için lütfen bizimle iletişime geçin.
Follow our LinkedIn page to keep updated about all that’s going on in Turkey!
Türkiye’deki tüm etkinliklerden haberdar olmak için LinkedIn sayfamızı takip edin!
- Chair: Rengin Akkemik
- Vice Chair: Özge Sarıoğlu Akdamar
- Secretary & Social Media and Comms: Rena Koç
- Treasurer: Emre Keskin
- Communication Lead: Pınar Öztan
If you wish to join the CHAPTER you can register on this website
Siz de IAF Türkiye’ye katılmak istiyorsanız, üyelik işlemlerinizi buraya tıklayarak gerçekleştirebilirsiniz.
Ukraine
The Ukrainian branch of the International Association of Facilitators now has 7 active members, which from 2014 dynamically promote the value of facilitation in Ukrainian society among business, NGO sector, government agencies and various grassroots communities. Nowadays, especially after the Maydan period, facilitation not only became extremely popular in Ukraine, but also incredibly important as an instrument for building dialogue and communication between different conflict groups in particular. IAF in Ukraine seeks to become a platform for Ukrainian facilitators to be able to get information on the best international case studies and experience. This in turn will involve the translation of some key articles, materials, news for distribution in Ukraine. The development of the network itself, as well as the collection of Ukrainian practices and experiences that can be valuable to the international community and will support facilitation field development through implementation of professional standards.
Officially, the Ukrainian chapter of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) was founded on November 21, 2014. However, in fact, the instrument of facilitation itself has been used among the NGO sector since mid 1990s, and after the events in Ukraine in 2014, facilitation has become widely used not only in the NGO sector, but also in business, public and social sectors, especially in the context of reforms. The IAF in Ukraine has resumed its active work and currently dynamically promotes the values of facilitation in Ukrainian society among businesses, the NGO sector, government structures and various grassroots communities.
To learn more about our activities – please, check our Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/iafukraine/
Chapter Lead: Natalia Orlova