September 3-5, 2025

iac Berlin Community Space

Register here by July 30.

Why a Complexity Thinkshop?

We live in an uncertain and unpredictable world at almost every level of our individual and collective lives. How we approach change calls for more adaptive, systemic and complexity-informed ways of understanding, designing, and acting in the situations we are working in.

Organizations, programs, and projects often feel stranded in between the past and future, with the problems of both and the benefits of neither. What worked before may not work again, and who knows what will work in the future.

Developing the mindset and building our toolkit for navigating complexity will only become more and more important over time. To build capacity not only within our own organization but also in the wider philanthropic field, we are prototyping a training series on complexity-informed approaches.

Who is it for?

Do you think that the present situation can be understood from many and sometimes conflicting perspectives, which makes planning difficult? Do you work in ‘messy’ situations that are constantly changing? Do you feel like your role has increasingly open boundaries that take time to navigate?

If your biggest issue to planning is your uncertainty about the future, and what will actually be effective – or if decision-making is challenging for you because there are no clear solutions or experts to guide you, then this workshop is for you.

What can you expect?

This 3-day workshop will offer alternative ways of thinking about complex challenges. There are no methods or tools that we can learn and apply to guarantee success in a complex situation. However, complexity theory offers principles and practices that allow us to make enough sense to take strategic action in messy situations, to move beyond feeling lost or hopeless.

Over 3-days, we will learn:

• to understand the differences between order, complexity, and chaos, and the different approaches needed for each of these situations.
• to explore in depth and in detail the domain of complexity, the key principles for understanding, designing, making decisions, and acting in complexity.
• to engage specifically with inner human complexity, and how to design for complex human systems.
• to practice applying various complexity-informed frameworks and methods to our own work and challenges.

The workshop content draws on the work of Cognitive Edge, Human Systems Dynamics, and other complexity-informed approaches. It is designed in a way that will allow you to apply what you are learning to your own questions, challenges, and opportunities.

Please bring your challenges, sticky issues, intractable problems, and yourself of course!

The workshop will be participatory and will keep you busy, get a good night’s sleep.

Attending in teams

Attending together with one or more colleagues from your organization or partnership has multiple benefits: You will have a shared learning experience that allows you to support each other to bring back your insights and apply them to your work. And during the workshop, you can explore your shared challenges with different people and discover different perspectives on the same challenge. As this is a pilot, we are offering participation for your team-member for free, it is included in the fee for the first attendee.

Participation rates

For non-profit organizations, and grassroots initiatives: €700 for a team of 2.

Foundations, public institutions, and social enterprises: €1,000 for a team of 2.

The fee includes VAT (19%) and refreshments. Meals and accommodation are not included. However, we are happy to support you with recommendations for nearby hotels and will organize lunches and some dinners together for the group.

Your trainer:

Bhavesh S Patel will lead the program. In his own words:

“I spend most of my time supporting individuals and groups having conversations about their messy realities as they look for direction and make decisions. Usually these are networked groups, often global, often with unevenly distributed power and resources. All of them are trying to make a difference in people's lives, and our planet. I use an eclectic range of sources and have been deeply influenced by complexity thinking, coaching, and spirituality. You might call me a facilitator, trainer, coach, host, or even a conversational gardener. If I am honest, I find it difficult to define my work and give myself a specific title or badge, and I quite like that! I also work as a trainer delivering workshops that explore skills in self-management, communication, coaching, designing and delivering training and facilitation.

My work has taken me to Cambodia, South Africa, Australia, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, France, Switzerland, Vietnam, Thailand, Sweden, Netherlands, India, Norway, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, UK, Kenya, and South Sudan.”

You will be hosted by:

During the training, Yana Oeser and Darius Polok will be your hosts.

The 3-day Thinkshop will be held on:

September 3-5, 2025 / 09:30-15:30

iac Berlin Community Space
Linienstraße 65a
10119 Berlin

• Please register here by July 30 to secure your spot.

In case of any questions, please get in touch with:

Darius Polok
Managing Director
darius.polok@iac-berlin.org