Mechelen, Belgium on 15-16-17 May 2025 SOLWorld 2025: A Celebration of Being In Good Company The SOLWorld 2025 Conference in Mechelen, Belgium, brought together a vibrant community of professionals who use the Solution Focused (SF) approach in organisations around the world. Over three energising days, we explored fresh developments in SF practice, took part in interactive workshops, and reconnected with the joy of learning together. This video provides a flavour of the event.
Katalin Hankovszky
“People need to be able to hope, to engage in the process of change.” Evan George, BRIEF (UK)
There is anecdotal evidence, about Steve de Shazer saying that ‘progress’ was the most important word in the Solution-Focused approach. To identify progress means to notice signs which show that (some of) what is happening fits with clients’ desired outcome. This reinforces the invested effort. It’s worth asking about the exact ways people contributed to the observed progress; in response, we receive descriptions of resources and specific ways of doing things, which we recognise and reinforce, too.
SOLWorld 2025: A Celebration of Connection, Curiosity and Community Two years on from the SOLWorld Conference in Vienna, Anton Stellamans introduced this year’s SOLWorld Conference in Mechelen, which lived up to every expectation and beyond. As Anton said, “Dreamwork is what makes the teamwork” and this team dreamed creatively!
Janine Waldman
I love finding and developing new activities and also get great satisfaction from the efficiency and emergent nature of tweaking classic activities to apply to a given topic. This session shares some examples of both, and how we’ve used them to meet specific needs and to illustrate specific SF concepts in our work with clients on their leadership and team programmes.
Alex Steele & Mark McKergow Benny-Van-Acker & Chryster Aerts Introduction At SOLWorld 2025, Alex Steele and a group of professional jazz musicians invited participants into a 90-minute workshop like no other; part performance, part improvisation, and wholly transformational.
Through the rhythms and relationships of live jazz, the session offered a vivid, visceral experience of what it means to be in good company.
Haesun Moon and Kendra-Reddy
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SESSION Frequently asked questions (FAQ) from our executives have intrigued brilliant conversations as they are often on a quest to “make” positive differences in their life for themselves and others. We respond to many of the quests with a simple navigator called Dialogic Orientation Quadrant (DOQ) and you will be able to apply the tool immediately in your next dialogue.
Video of the session
Janine Waldman & Paul Z Jackson Introduction Paul Z. Jackson and Janine Waldman introduced this enjoyable Solutions Focus activity to continue the collaboration at the SOLWorld Conference 2025 in Mechelen. Janine introduces the context of using it, while Paul explains how to use the activity. It’s just ten minutes, great for watching over a cup of coffee or listening as you walk.
Jonas Wells, Sussan Öster & Paut Struik Introduction A great workshop from Paut Struik, Jonas Wells, and Sussan Öster!
In this workshop, the trio explores the question: What does it really take for someone to gain the confidence to step into the role of a Solution Focused (SF) trainer?
John Brooker
In 2013 the organising team of the SOLWorld conference in Bad Pyrmont Germany (Annie Bordeleau, John Brooker, Christoph Papst, Anton Stellamans and Penny West), introduced a new concept for the conference, the SOLTalk. ‘Borrowed’ from the TedTalk concept, the talks were immediately successful and have run ever since at SOLWorld conferences.
The talks have been videod since 2013, sponsored first by SFCT and since the closure of SFCT, by SFiO Contributors.
Ania Smolka & Annie Bordeleau Introduction Fear and hope are powerful forces that shape how individuals and organisations respond to change. In Solution Focused practice, we often lean into the energy of hope, exploring what’s possible, what’s working, and what we want more of. Yet fear also carries valuable energy. It signals what’s at stake, clarifies what matters most, and prompts us to prepare and protect. The real art lies not in choosing between them, but in holding both as part of the same landscape of human experience.