Our services

Meeting facilitation & community engagement

  • Using an independent workshop facilitator is a powerful and proven way to get staff and stakeholders on board, draw on their knowledge, and break down barriers. You are free to fully participate in the discussion, without having to worry about facilitating as well.

  • Is your meeting online? Or a combination of online and in-person attendees? No problem - our Principal Consultant Renée Madsen has successfully facilitated dozens of these sessions in our post-COVID world!
  • Renée is an expert in designing meeting processes that keep people engaged, achieve meeting goals and bring out the best in the group. Her track record includes designing and delivering effective meetings and workshops for:
Renée is a well-known and respected facilitator in multiple fields including agriculture, natural resources, environment, major infrastructure, defence, community services, small business and volunteering. Her skills are backed by high level qualifications, including an Advanced Diploma of Group Facilitation – Australia’s highest accredited qualification in this field – and an internationally-recognised Certificate in Community Engagement. Renée has trained in complex agreement negotation with international expert Allan Parker OAM and creating safe spaces using trauma-informed practice, approved by the nationally recognised Blue Knot Foundation. Scroll down to read case studies and learn more about our experience.
Renée facilitating a workshop in Charters Towers, North Queensland

Looking for training in facilitation skills for your staff?

Build your team's facilitation skills to achieve outcomes from meetings and handle tricky scenarios, e.g. managing conflict, encouraging participation. Read more about our training options for organisations, tailored to your staff's current skill level and facilitation needs.
"Renée is an incredibly capable facilitator. Renée has the ability to apply appropriate tools to facilitate large groups of disparate stakeholders to achieve agreed outcomes."
Donna AudasAssistant Director, Environment & Sustainability Department of Defence
"Renée is an accomplished facilitator, able to cover a range of topics with people from a diversity of backgrounds and varying group sizes. Renée presents professionally and respectfully and ensures all in the room have a voice. She is a clear communicator and her practical and targeted approach to facilitation encourages collaborative outcomes."
Donna TurnerManager Strategy & PartnershipsNQ Dry Tropics
"Great facilitation is an art, and Renée excels at it."
Leila CollinsCommunity Planning & Development Manager Moreton Bay Regional Council
"Renée is not just a facilitator that talks at people, but rather she facilitates meaningful discussion creating positive and useful outcomes. Renée took the time to listen to our needs and provide recommendations on what type of session would be most beneficial for our team. Renée is an exceptional facilitator and feedback from the team has been extremely positive."
Joanna MurrayDirector Access Therapy Services, now Apricus Health
"I would highly recommend this service to any business or organisation looking for more efficient stakeholder engagement meetings. Renée's facilitation style is warm and inclusive. Her information check points and summaries kept the process on-track."
Maree DibellaSteering Committee memberRegional Natural Resource Management Plan
"Renee facilitated 6 different sessions for us and handled Zoom attendees with ease. There were more than 60 participants from a broad mix of stakeholder groups including project staff, agricultural landholders, technical experts, science and government. All said they were highly satisfied, stating that they felt included and were able to contribute meaningfully to discussions. As a facilitator Renee is fantastic, everything was coordinated seamlessly, and agendas ran to time with a range of participant activities to hold everyone's attention."
Barbara CollsMonitoring & Evaluation Coordinator for $15 million Qld Government project Landholders Driving Change

Get the most out of an external meeting facilitator

"The myth of the quiet country life"

Build trust and ownership in stakeholder working groups

Read Renée's article on how to collaborate better with your steering committee, advisory panel or other stakeholder engagement group.

Case studies

Our Experience

Just a few examples of our facilitation experience:
  • Independent Chair and facilitator of Community Reference Groups for Sunwater's Burdekin Dam and Paradise Dam Improvement Projects.
  • Strategic planning with Boards of Management, Steering Committees, project teams and community groups. Read our Drive It NQ case study and Everglow Community Care case study.
  • Workshops for community reference groups, steering committees, technical advisory groups and others in the agricultural and natural resource management industries. Read our case study.
  • Target-setting workshop with over 20 stakeholders from industry, community, government and research for the Queensland Government's $33 million Major Integrated Project.
  • Public consultation forums to obtain input for the Burdekin Dry Tropics Natural Resource Management Plan.
  • Forum for over 20 volunteer groups from across North Queensland to provide input to a local Landcare Support Strategy.
  • Industry consultation forums for primary producers and other stakeholders in North Qld sugar and grazing.
  • Training sessions in facilitation skills for Qld Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Moreton Bay Regional Council and Australian Evaluation Society.
  • Decision-making, goal-setting and prioritisation workshops for project teams.
  • Reflections meetings and team reconnection sessions for teams and stakeholders to celebrate successes, identify challenges and consider lessons learned. Read our case study.
Let's make your next meeting great!
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