Revision of Definitions from April 10, 2008 - 20:00

How we define the Art of Hosting will depend on what context and audience we are defining it for. Please feel free to add your definitions - when you do, please specify the context and audience you had in mind when articulating it.

The following definition was articulated for the culture of the European Commission in Brussels.

The AoH is...
A raft of methodologies for facilitating conversation in groups of all sizes, supported by principles that help maximise collective intelligence, integrate and utilise diversity and minimise/transform conflict. Processes facilitated in this way tend to result in collective clarity and wise action - sustainable, workable solutions to the most complex problems. The approach ensures that stakeholders buy into the process (because they participate in the design and the process is by definition transparent) and make ongoing feedback, learning and course correction a natural and efficient part of life.

And Art of Hosting is much more than this.
It is a Practice, like mediation, Tai Chi or mindfulness is a practice. We see it as a Four-fold practice.
It is an Invitation to live and work in the space between chaos and order, the Chaordic Path.
It is a Fellowship, which is more than a community. It is a web of practitioners and not an organisation.
It builds on and lives by the principles of Living Systems.