A Collective Regeneration within Liminal Space
The way we create and participate in communities has gone through radical shifts and changes, rapidly accelerating in the last four years, especially. One thing that hasn’t changed is the need to collectively meet physically in person.
Last month, a group of Neol Creative Leaders came together in Tangier for the House of Beautiful Business’s "Between the Two of Us" event. Our team, comprising Alice Katter - a Culture and Community Strategist, Fanny Eliaers - a life-affirming leader, Gabriela Néspoli - a learning experience designer, Karimah Hudda - a regenerative leadership catalyst, and Kriss Taylor - a research and innovation leader, were entrusted with facilitating a session centered around a core set of guiding principles.
Their focus was on designing a program that was responsive rather than rigid, conversational instead of presentational, embodied instead of detached, and one that fostered meaningful relationships rather than brief encounters.
We're excited to share the story of the session through the eyes of the Creative Leaders themselves.
Case Study: A Collective Regeneration within Liminal Space
Design Mindset
In the midst of today's fast-paced, information-saturated world, there is a growing recognition of the need for spaces that foster reflection, emotional connection, and holistic engagement between people. This is especially relevant in the workplace, and communal gatherings that have the potential to bring out the collective intelligence of a magical group of people. This was the case at the "Between the Two of Us" House of Beautiful Business gathering in Tangier.
To foster such space, we embraced a design mindset that prioritized feelings, intuition, and the body. Our goal was to create an experience that transcended the traditional conference format and after days of content and input, allowed for deep, meaningful interactions, decompressing and collective regeneration.
Solution
To bring this vision to life, we designed a session titled "A Collective Regeneration within Liminal Space." This session celebrated the liminal space—the transitional period between the end of the gathering on Sunday morning and the onward journey of the participants.
The experience consisted of 2 parts:
1. A multi-sensory treasure hunt: The experience began with a scavenger hunt, encouraging attendees to collect fragments and artifacts throughout their time in Tangier. These items represented moments, emotions, and feelings that emerged during the event.
2. A collective gathering: after 2 full days of content and input, we gathered participants on a rooftop overlooking the city of Tangier and facilitated a session for personal & collective regeneration. Participants were invited to unpack their pouches, while drawing, crafting, and/or talking through the questions that emerged. Using their hands while sharing to let thoughts flow.
This approach allowed participants to tap into different forms of intelligence and experience a holistic form of regeneration, contrasting with the linear, reductionist mindset that dominates much of today's world. After putting the incredible artworks & collages on a glass wall overlooking the city, participants went on an art walk and were invited to share what they had created.
Outcomes
The session achieved several positive outcomes:
1. Deepening of Relationships: Participants experienced a profound deepening of relationships through shared stories and collective experiences, enhancing their sense of community.
2. Integration and Release: The gathering provided a vital moment for participants to integrate their experiences and release any accumulated tension, leading to a sense of completion and renewal.
4. Rejuvenation: The session was rejuvenating for participants, offering a much-needed respite from the constant flow of information and stimulation.
5. Holistic Engagement: By incorporating storytelling, art, and communal tea drinking, the session put different forms of intelligence into play. This was crucial in a world that often prioritizes linear, reductionist thinking over holistic, systems-oriented approaches.
The success of "A Collective Regeneration within Liminal Space" reinforces the importance of designing for feelings, intuition, and the body during conferences. Such experiences not only enhance individual well-being but also foster a more resilient and interconnected community, offering a blueprint for future gatherings that aim to nurture both mind and spirit.
Neol as a digital house
Think of your network as a multi-layered entity. The first layer consists of your immediate connections—those you interact with regularly. Beyond this, there are additional layers, each containing people connected to your network in some way, forming a vast web of potential collaborations and opportunities.
How do we design and nurture these networks and communities?
On an individual level, initiating change and creating innovative solutions can seem overwhelming. But when we can tap into our networks, we gain access to a wealth of resources and perspectives that we might not see at first glance. It is through these unexpected connections—perhaps a connection of a connection working on a similar vision—that we can actualize new solutions and create pathways forward.
We're excited to partner with the House of Beautiful Business in our journey to create these new pathways. The House of Beautiful Business is a home, and we see Neol as representing the digital layer of that. Neol is another home, a new network, that people can come into to connect and co-design new futures.
It’s a relationship we couldn’t be more excited about because it will bring hundreds of radical collisions to life. Neol will not only have access to [the House] narrative and curatorial practice, but also to our community of more than 50,000 business leaders, creatives, artists, scientists, technologists, and activists. Select experts will join Neol’s platform to offer on-demand expertise, build project teams, and support organizations as fractional leaders. - The House of Beautiful Business
Honoring connectivity means recognizing the value of every connection within our networks and leveraging the collective wisdom that arises from these connections.
We think of this approach as a kind of "wisdom on demand" — creating access to the strengths of both physical and digital communities. By leveraging technology while preserving the core human values of connection and support, we’re creating new networks deeply rooted in collaboration and shared purpose.
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