Community

↗ 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.

↗ 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!

Liselotte Baeijaert Celebration Introduced by Julia Kalenberg This story is of SF practitioner Liselotte Baeijaert bringing SF to students of a school for hotel workers on the beautiful island of Sumba/Indonesia. A tale of how SF can work even when language first seems to be a barrier. It is a story of mutual learning, of working with what is there and of combining SF practice creatively with bodywork. Liselotte came across SF when she attended an SF training course for general practitioners by Luc Isebaert from the Korzybski Institute in Belgium. Back then, she worked as an HR expert in a bank. This first experience with SF inspired her to look for more SF training. She trained with Louis Cauffman, Insoo Kim Berg, Mark McKergow and Jenny Clarke, Peter Szabo, Ben Furman and many more.

Tara Gretton and Katrin Berger Introduced by Katalin Hankovszky On the SF World Day 2020, Tara Gretton (UK) and Katrin Berger (D) started a network, Solution Focus in Schools↗ (Click link for Facebook page). The invitation goes to all interested Solution Focus practitioners linked to schools: Teachers Counsellors Headmasters Parents and pupils too! Online gatherings (every month on the 3rd of the month) keep to a pre-set focus (such as ‘WOWW’ or ‘student-driven’). They allow everyone who signs up to bring in their thoughts and experiences.

Wim Sucaet & Joe Chan Review by Joe Chan As a manager in the senior management of a non – profit organisation I work with people and the community, handling and tackling pressures and expectations from internal and external stakeholders. So, I can relate well to Wim’s position and challenge in this article. As a Solution Focus (SF) practitioner, Wim has really demonstrated some key essence of the SF approach which shone through his works and project:

↗ What does SOLWorld stand for? On the SOLWorld↗ website we can read: SOLWorld stands for Solutions in Organisations Link-up. The strap line is “Sharing and Building Solutions Focused practice in organisations”. For us, sharing is the key word. The originators of the approach, Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg, have not trade marked their work. Indeed, the SF approach itself is based on collaboration.

Marika Tammeaid Introduced by Carey Glass This article is short yet packs much thoughtful punch. It provides two practical tools for use in large scale change. The first tool is a spin-off from the concept of an SF scale. It represents hierarchical organisations as a ladder to enable thinking about interactions from all perspectives; the broad perspective of leadership to the coalface perspective of staff. The second is an elegant way of mapping the continuum and need for organisational stability, or change, against the level of environmental uncertainty. It provides a fantastically, manageable way of representing complexity for practical engagement and outcomes.

Michele Orr Introduced by Carey Glass What forms of power does a leader need for a remote working team during COVID19? Michele Orr heads up a mental health team in Melbourne, Australia and describes what levers have been necessary for remote working to succeed. Interestingly, from a clinical standpoint, staff have used Solution Focus more with clients and more effectively, when they focus on listening to clients on the telephone, rather than face to face.

Mark McKergow and Jacqui-Von-Cziffra-Bergs Review by Mark McKergow This very welcome addition to the international Solution Focused bookshelf is a collection about SF applications in Africa. The book is particularly useful in engaging with the particular contexts and traditions of Southern Africa and showing how SF practice connects with these to give a good ‘fit’ in this part of the world. Part of the international spread of SF work in recent years has been the appearance of books and collections about people using the SF approach in different parts of the world. Solution Focused Practice in Asia, edited by Debbie and Dave Hogan, Jane Tuomola and Alan Yeo appeared in 2016, and Yasuteru Aoki has been connecting and publishing organisational work in Japan for a decade. The European Brief Therapy Association just released a collection (Making Waves: Solution Focused Practice in Europe edited by Tomas Switek, Boyan Strahilov and Plamen Panayotov) celebrating 25 years of SF practice in Europe.

↗ Introduction Meet Bibiana, a bright, curious young lady whose energy filled the halls of this year’s conference. From the moment she picked up the microphone, it was clear she had a natural talent for making people feel welcome and heard. Bibiana didn’t just ask questions; she created a friendly space where workshop participants could relax, share a laugh, and reflect on their experiences.