Group Relations Conference

An experiential learning opportunity for real-time study of group and organizational dynamics, involving, leadership, followership, power, authority, autonomy, dependency, identity, diversity and how individuals and groups shape and are shaped by these dynamics.

The theme of this Group Relations Conference – Leadership, Engagement & Accountability @ work – is more relevant than ever in today’s world. At this point in time they are core aspects, shape society and are under pressure.

Leadership, Engagement & Accountability are not standalone concepts, they are deeply interconnected. Together, they determine how decisions are made, how people participate, and how responsibility is taken up within any group – whether in the workplace, in a community, in government and society. Together, these three can ensure that decisions are made in an inclusive and thoughtful manner.

In this conference you can exercise taking up your authority to lead, engage and be accountable. You will learn about the both conscious and unconscious forces at play in group and organizational dynamics, and apply your insights in your daily work and life.

The primary task of the conference is to explore and exercise Leadership, Engagement & Accountability @ work, and study how individuals and groups shape and are shaped by the dynamics in this temporary institution.

What will you get out of this Group Relations Conference ?

During this conference you will explore different roles, experience group dynamics, and find, take and exercise leadership, engagement & accountability @ work.

During this conference, all participants will have the opportunity to:

• Explore the central themes of leadership, engagement & accountability, and related issues, emotions and dynamics.
• Explore conscious and unconscious dynamics that unfold within groups and within yourself.
• Become aware of the roles you tend to take up in different systems.

Who should attend?

This Conference about Leadership, Engagement & Accountability @ work is for anyone who wishes to enlarge their capacity to understand and work effectively with dynamics in teams and organisations and who is curious to the conscious and unconscious processes we create as members of groups and systems.

Questions around Leadership, Engagement & Accountability @ work and the way in which people take up or do not take up certain roles in their organisations and institutions, are universal themes.

This conference is for professionals from diverse work settings and roles, like top managers, directors, operational team managers, support staff, consultants, (team-) coaches, educators, researchers, administrators and technical workers, both within private and public organisations.

Conference members in group relations conferences come from various continents and countries, and from all kinds of industries; public administrations, medical and social services, political parties and non-profit institutions.

Diversities of members in terms of background, age, education, work experience, nationality, beliefs, gender or sexual orientation and all kinds of social identities, are meaningful resources for working with group dynamics and roles in organisations.

Development and Application subsystems

The conference has a Development and Application subsystem

1. The Development subsystem is for first-time members of a Group Relations Conference or for those who wish to deepen their previous learning experience.
2. The Application subsystem is for members who wish to take the opportunity to exercise their authority to deepen and apply their learning about the principles of the Group Relations model. It is not intended as a training to take up roles in group relations conferences.

Jointly organized by Utrecht University School of Governance and MaTRIS.

What to expect?

During the conference the following events will take place:

• Here-and-now events: a large study system, small study systems and an institutional event, which are designed to enable exploration of the intra- and intergroup dynamics in the here-and-now;
• Reflection and application events, which are designed to collect personal experiences from the here-and-now events and the system event, in order to generate insights that can be connected to the everyday personal and professional life of the members.
• Praxis event, which provides opportunities to generate and propose an event to the conference as a whole. This event is designed to further reflect on what goes on beneath the surface in this conference regarding leadership, engagement & accountability and the roles (un)consciously taken up.

Methodology

This Group Relations Conference on Leadership, Engagement & Accountability @ work relies on the tradition and methodologies of Group Relations working and learning conferences, developed by the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations in London, by Wilfred Bion, Ken Rice, Eric Miller, and over time further developed by others.

This experiential conference is based on the value of restoring human agency and to support the healthy functioning of groups and systems. You can learn how groups and systems manage anxieties that are related to the primary task.

Acquiring knowledge plus learning how to use that knowledge require direct experience. “Experiential learning” means learning from the here and now of immediate experience, followed by reflection and eventually by application. Hence the learning process in this conference is completely based on doing and being (not on lectures), experiencing and reflecting, working with the mind and the heart.

Each session in this conference has its own primary task and its boundaries of time and territory. These concepts are crucial to system-oriented work and for the exploration of unconscious dynamics.

The design of the conference offers many opportunities for questioning, exploring and reflecting on experiences and on the conscious and unconscious dynamics influencing feelings, thinking and behaviour.

This conference allows its members to

• Discover the sense of boundaries of time, space and task.
• Explore system formation dynamics, dynamics between systems and unfolding leadership within new systems, and…
• …also explore the relationships to institutional authority.
• Open up to myths, symbols and dreams to explore the collective dynamics beneath the surface.
• Decide and concretely outline personal role transformation.
• Learn to feel and sense the dynamics in large and in small groups.
• Reflect in group to discern the lived experiences… and gain insight in personal role patterns.
• Explore the transformation of such role patterns and…
• …review personal experiences during the conference.

Dates

Wednesday 24th- Saturday 27th September 2025.

Location and accommodation

The conference is residential. It takes place at Boshotel in Vlodrop (nearby Roermond, the Netherlands, and close to the border with Germany).

Language

Depending on the participants (both members and staff), staff will use English and in addition possibly Dutch.

Costs

The cost of participating covers both the conference fee and the full boarding hotel accommodation.

For both the Development and Application sub-conference the fee is € 2.650.

• There is a discount for early birds who have completed their registration before Saturday 2 August; the fee is € 2.450.
• There is a discount for participants of the executive program Inside Dynamics in Organisations 2025-2026.
• Members who need it can apply for a bursary. A limited number will be granted, depending on the individual cases and on the possibilities.

Registration is completed upon receipt of the payment of the conference fee.

Cancellation policy

Paid up fees will be reimbursed if the conference has to be canceled by the organisers, who therefore encourage early registrations. Please note: cancellation by members after more than 14 calendar days following the date stamp of the confirmation of registration can only lead to a partial reimbursement, based on the costs already incurred by the conference organisers. Members should contact the pre-conference administration beforehand, in order to check the cancellation conditions which are applicable at that time.

The staff of the working conference draws on 70+ years of proven experience with Group Relations working and learning conferences and on the dedicated work of an experienced international staff. All members of the staff of the conference have experience with this method of working. The conference staff (directors, administrators and consultants) work together as a collective management of this temporary institution. Furthermore, the staff will work in the role of consultant, where they will share their reflections about what is happening in the here-and-now.

The staff for this conference consists of the following: