EVP Meetup Ieper: A Weekend to Remember
What a magical few days we’ve had at the EVP Meetup in Ieper! From heartfelt connections to spontaneous creativity, this weekend was bursting with inspiration, joy and community spirit.
Friday night – a magical start
We kicked things off in true Belgian style—gathering at a cozy bar with local beers, laughter and warm welcomes. The perfect icebreaker. As the evening unfolded, we joined the moving Last Post ceremony, followed by the city’s festive Christmas parade that lit up the streets with lights and laughter.
Saturday – liberation and sportsmanship
The first day of the event was all about setting the tone. At the beautiful Woodness Business Center, we decorated our space and opened with intention, guided by Steff Vanhaverbeke and Henk Wijnands.
Laurens Bonnema and Rachèl Van der Wal energized the group with a workshop on how to use Liberating Structures as a visual facilitator. After that Dominique Dehaene took our thoughts and hearts in his story of inclusion through G-sports, his mission as director of Special Olympics Belgium. With a couple of powerful questions he called upon us to find creativity in moving forward with the task at hand.
Closing the day we celebrated the ‘Visual Facilitation’ book launch, written and designed by the energetic Kati Orav. We wrapped it all up with a little Christmas cheer in the centre of Ypres and a delicious dinner at Les Halles, full of laughter and connection.
Sunday – peace and conversation
On the second day, we connected some more with a peaceful and grounding yoga session before diving back into creative flow.
A spontaneous highlight? Our very own EVP song—created and sung together by an impromptu crew of participants!
Claudio Nichele then took the stage to share his talk “Working Peaceful Together,” sparking a collaborative visual recording and deep reflection on the work of the EU.
The afternoon bloomed with seven open space sessions—completely participant-led and full of energy. And of course, we closed the day with Belgian fries and our beloved sock ceremony, a quirky tradition that wrapped up the day with smiles all around.
Thank you to everyone who joined us, contributed, and made this gathering so special. If you can’t get enough of this, enjoy the podcast recordings Karl and multiple guests made this weekend!
We can’t wait to see what we create together next. Do we meet (again) during our weekend in Tallinn?
Pictures by Jeroen Blijsie, Gilles Demarty and Eveline Mos.