Join the Online Facilitation Unconference: Rethinking Collaboration in the Intelligent Age

The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation (NCDD) is proud to partner with the 2025 Online Facilitation Unconference (OFU), taking place from November 17 to 21, a global, participant-driven event that explores how dialogue and collaboration are evolving in the “Intelligent Age.” Centered on the theme "Rethinking How We Work Together in the Intelligent Age," OFU invites facilitators, educators, and community leaders to examine how AI and emerging technologies are reshaping connections and participation. True to its democratic spirit, OFU empowers attendees to co-create the agenda through interactive formats like World Café, Open Space Technology, and Pro-Action Café, ensuring peer learning and collective insight drive the experience. With sessions designed to span global time zones, the event fosters inclusive participation across continents while modeling the collaborative, decentralized practices that strengthen democratic engagement. For NCDD members, OFU offers a timely opportunity to explore how facilitation and dialogue can thrive in virtual, hybrid, and tech-enhanced environments. Read more in the blog post below.

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The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation is excited to share news about the 2025 Online Facilitation Unconference (OFU), taking place November 17-21. As a community partner of this innovative gathering, NCDD recognizes OFU as a vital space for practitioners exploring how dialogue and collaboration are evolving in our rapidly changing technological landscape. This year's theme—Rethinking How We Work Together in the Intelligent Age—invites facilitators, educators, and community leaders to examine how AI and emerging technologies are transforming the art of bringing people together.

A Participant-Driven Learning Exchange

OFU operates on a fundamentally democratic principle: those who attend decide what matters most. Unlike traditional conferences with predetermined speakers and topics, this unconference format empowers participants to shape the agenda based on their genuine interests, pressing questions, and emerging expertise. With over 500 facilitators, public engagement specialists, educators, trainers, community managers, and team leaders expected from around the world, OFU creates the conditions for meaningful peer-to-peer learning and authentic knowledge exchange.

The five-day event unfolds through a carefully designed progression that honors both structure and emergence. Opening workshops on November 17 use World Café methodology to weave together collective intelligence across small, rotating conversations, allowing participants to collaboratively identify the core questions and energy points that will drive the week. Preparatory sessions on November 18-19 feature interactive talks and participatory workshops from experts worldwide, stimulating reflection on how roles and contexts are shifting in our evolving future. November 20 centers on Open Space Technology, where the agenda runs purely on participant input—if someone cares about a topic, it belongs on the schedule. Closing workshops on November 21 employ Pro-Action Cafés to convert the week's insights into practical next steps and clear commitments.
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This format aligns powerfully with NCDD's commitment to inclusive participation and collaborative engagement. By distributing authority over the learning agenda to all participants rather than concentrating it in a few keynote speakers, OFU models the kind of democratic practice that strengthens civic culture more broadly. The unconference structure recognizes that expertise exists throughout the community and that meaningful dialogue emerges when people have genuine agency in shaping the conversations they need.

Building Global Connection Across Time Zones

OFU's design reflects a commitment to accessibility and global participation. Activities take place across three daily time blocks—accommodating participants in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania—ensuring that facilitators worldwide can engage meaningfully regardless of location. This around-the-clock approach demonstrates that virtual gathering, when thoughtfully designed, can actually expand rather than limit who gets to participate in professional learning and community building.

The event serves professionals working at every level of facilitation practice: those leading public meetings and civic dialogues, educators designing collaborative learning experiences, community managers fostering online engagement, organizational leaders navigating team dynamics, and practitioners experimenting with how AI tools might enhance rather than replace human connection. For NCDD members specifically, OFU offers an opportunity to explore how dialogue and deliberation practices are adapting to virtual and hybrid formats, and how emerging technologies might support more inclusive and effective public engagement.

The Online Facilitation Unconference represents exactly the kind of collaborative learning space that democracy needs. As dialogue practitioners grapple with questions about how to maintain authentic human connection in increasingly digital environments, gatherings like OFU provide essential opportunities to experiment, share challenges, and build collective wisdom. NCDD is proud to serve as a community partner for this event and encourages network members to consider participating in this unique learning exchange.
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Learn more about the Online Facilitation Unconference and register for the November 17-21 event at https://ofuexchange.net