Facilitation is the art of "making things easier" for a group. This website makes it easier for European facilitators to connect, share resources, and learn about events and activities taking place in Europe. IAF Europe is the European region of the International Association of Facilitators.

Facilitators in Europe meet annually at the IAF European conference, share news through the IAF Europe Newsletter and the IAF Europe Forum, and work locally through IAF chapters and affiliated networks. An IAF Regional Team co-ordinates our work.

If you work as a facilitator in Europe, please join our community by joining IAF.

Learn more about:


The 2010 IAF Europe conference is being held Oct. 15-17, 2010, in Helsinki, Finland, in the Conference and Cultural Centre Sofia.
The Conference Planning Team is made up of members of the Finnish Association of Facilitators (FAFA) - Laura Elo, Leni Grŭnbaum, Miira Heinio, Piritta Kantojärvi, Reijo Kauppila, Päivi Kutilainen, Jarmo Manner, Pepe Nummi, Mikko Paloranta, Camilla Reinboth, Anna Savileppä, Tytti Siltanen, and Jan-Erik Tarpila. The team is supported by Nicki Cadogan and Ben Richardson in the IAF Europe office.
The conference theme, Paradoxes in Facilitation -Exploring the light and darkness, is built around Finland’s national epic, the Kalevala. Conference presentations will fall within four themes:

  • Paradoxes - facilitation contradictions, ethics, spirit, culture and philosophy (facilitator self development)
  • Magical Tools - pragmatic tools, processes and approaches (facilitation tools)
  • Myths – case studies, stories, testimonials and experiences (facilitation cases)
  • Rites - drama, art, visuality and movement (alternative medicine)

Proposals for conference sessions should be submitted before April 30, 2010, to conference@iaf-europe.eu. For details, call Nicki Cadogan or Ben Richardson in the IAF Europe conference office at +44 (0)1923 271150 or from Finland, call directly on 09 2316 5522.
For information about other professional development activities being planned within Europe in 2010-2011, please contact Gary Austin, IAF Europe team member responsible for professional development, at gary.austin@iaf-europe.eu.


The IAF Europe newsletter, published monthly since November 2008, contains a wealth of information and ideas you can use. Look for the back copies under the Resources section of this website.


Letting people know that you value your IAF membership is a great way to grow our membership in Europe. These three brochures explain membership benefits, key facilitator competencies, and IAF's code of ethics for facilitators. Please feel free to use them in letting others know why you belong to IAF. (Design by Christian Grambow for IAF Europe Team).

Membership Benefits
Code of Ethics
Foundational Facilitator Competencies






Congratulations to two new IAF-affiliated groups in Europe - one in Germany and one in Serbia. IAF Germany - German Facilitators Network has eight members, all IAF members, and is piloting a new approach to affiliation in Europe that will be called a "chapter", or sub-regional grouping of IAF.
The Serbian Facilitators Network has developed gradually over the past two years, growing out of discussions at the 2006 IAF conference in Stockholm, and submitted its affiliation request last year.
This brings affiliated groups in Europe to eight.




The International Association of Facilitators (IAF) is the foremost professional organization for facilitators in the world.
The IAF is dedicated to growing facilitators and encouraging the use of group process methodologies world-wide. It was formed by a group of professional facilitators seeking an avenue for interchange, professional development, trend analysis and peer networking.
In 1994 the IAF began with 70 members. Since then the IAF has grown to over 1500 members in more than 63 countries around the world.



IAF is introducing a new way of belonging at a local level – chapters.
A chapter is a local organization of IAF that is closer to you, allowing networking locally while also being active in IAF regionally and globally. If you would like to know more about chapters, contact Kristin Reinbach at kristin.reinbach@iaf-europe.eu.