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9th Feb 2025

Newsletter EFA February 2024

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear Focusers,

With this newsletter we wish you a healthy and prosperous year 2025!

Joining the 2025 EFA gathering in Belgium in September

From Wednesday 17th to Sunday 21st of September

The EFA gathering takes place – 5 days/4 nights – in the beautiful retreat center Koningsteen in Kapelle-op-den-Bos in Belgium.
The gathering starts Wednesday night 17^th of September with a dinner (18.30 hrs) and ends Sunday 21^st after lunch (13.00 hrs).

THE REGISTRATION/BOOKING starts on MARCH 1^st!

The primary purpose of the annual EFA gathering is for European Focusers to connect and inspire each other, and to create European work relationships.
The programme will be co-created at the beginning of the gathering. Any ideas, proposals or travel plans from participants can be given/seen on the Communication Platform.

In the October EFA Newsletter you can read the experiences of the 2024 gathering.

THE VENUE LOCATION
The venue is located between Antwerp and Brussels, outside the beautiful town of Mechelen (9 kms). On the website www.koningsteen.be/ you will see pictures of the location and the green surrounding fields where it will be a pleasure to stay.

THE ACCOMMODATION IN KONINGSTEEN
The venue has 20 bedrooms with 43 beds. Some shared rooms have 2 beds and other 3 beds. We promote the use of sharing your room, so more people can stay at the venue. If you do not know with whom to share, we will do some match-making.

THE REGISTRATION/BOOKING
On March 1^st you will find the registration/booking form on the EFA website and you can book your participation and accommodation. You can indicate your room choice on the registration/booking form.

For more detailed information about the location and prices please go here to the EFA website.

We hope you will join us in Belgium! Welcome!

The Carrying Forward Activities

The Interest Groups

Here as a reminder of the titles and contact info of the existing as well as the envisioned interest groups. For details, click here

• Teachers Group
  Facilitated by: Amona and Ria, every second Monday of the month, 19 hrs CET.
  Please inform Ria to receive an invitation/link..
• Environmental-Centered Experiencing / Climate Change
  Please email Teresa as the facilitator..
• EFA Certifications (Freda)
• Free Creative Sweet Spot (Freda)
• Flowcusing
  Focusing & Flow, meet 3 or 4 times per year (Olaf)
• Conscious Connecting
  Non-violent communication + U Process/Otto Scharmer (Eveline).
• Bringing young people to EFA
  How to ensure Focusing is passed on from the Elders (Danny & Olaf)
• How would that Focusing City look like? (Monica)
• Social Oriented Focusing
  How to bring Focusing into our daily actions (Yehudit)

In the next EFA newsletter we would like to include updates from (the initiators of) each interest group. What’s been happening? Has something carried forward? Would you like to offer an update to EFA members via our newsletter? Please let the steering group know by replying to this email.

The Discussion List

So far, few people have signed up for the EFA discussion list . We invite you to subscribe for the discussion list as it is a simple way for EFA members to communicate with each other. Sign up and share your interest or topic or request and … Sign up here

Peter Afford (UK) joins the Steering Group

After the stepping back of Fiona Parr, we have now a new member from the UK in the Steering Group. Peter has been involved a long time in meeting with other European Focusers before the European Focusing Association officially formed its mission in 2017.

The last two years Peter participated in the annual EFA gatherings and expressed his liking to contribute to carry EFA forwards and be part of the steering group. We welcome Peter heartfully and are looking forward to his participation!

Hejo Feuerstein’s 80^th birthday-present

Hejo, one of the founders of the European Focusing Association’s mission and who left the steering group last year, celebrated his 80^th birthday last month.
His friends, colleagues and staff offered him a book (in German) that presents selected fundamentals, potentials and new application contexts of Focusing and experiential psychology in overviews by various authors. The book is available here.

At the end of the book it includes a word of appreciation (in English) by EFA (complied by Fiona Parr and Ruth Hirsch) with an overview of the history of EFA. You can read an excerpt here and for all of it, see the EFA post here.

“… We’re remembering a number of times when many of us Focusing colleagues met for a weekend to collaborate and create something together. We each spoke about our vision for EFA and what was important to us. Hejo spoke movingly about Germany’s recent history and how it brought a heavy burden for the German people. He felt that EFA could be a way forward, bringing hope and healing. He has said that EFA is like a peace project, embodying a real need for collaboration for Europeans to work together. This is what inspired many of us to contribute to the project….”

If you have something you want to share via the Newsletter, please let us know.

We wish you all a prosperous year 2025!

The EFA Steering Group 

Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch, Dietmar Steinbach, Ria van Hage, Cornelius Gehrig, Lucy Hyde, Peter Afford

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31st Oct 2024

Newsletter EFA October 2024

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear Focusers,

With this newsletter we would like to look back with you at the last annual EFA gathering and moving forward to the future, to the next gathering in Belgium.

Looking back on the 2024 EFA gathering in Achberg, Germany

In September, 31 members from 11 European countries came together for 5 days to create and enjoy our annual EFA gathering near Lake Constance at Humboldt Haus, a retreat center in Achberg, Germany. Gendlin himself offered Focusing workshops here between 1992 and 1997. Regina Juergens made the connection to this place for us. Everything there felt supportive: the pleasant meeting rooms, the delicious buffets, the Focusing energy stored in the walls and the beautiful natural surroundings with an occasional stunning view of the snowy Alps.

Together we were enjoying ‘The Waves of Life, sensing and thinking freshly’ for 5 days.

On the first day, Heidrun Essler once again worked her magic by guiding us calmly and clearly through the process of creating the programme together. After that, we enjoyed a rich mix of interest groups, discussions, workshops, presentations, sharing and experientials. We also took time twice a day for partner Focusing and small “home groups”. This format created a perfect balance: we were able to share new ideas and insights and then digest and integrate what we learned in our Focusing times, making what we had received our own through personal reflection. The somewhat rainy week gave us plenty of time to hang out together, chat, sing, dance, sleep, and much more.

When it came to the question of how to carry EFA forward, we tried out a new format, a four-table journey, similar to what some of you know as a “World Café”. With pre-set topics: Future EFA gatherings, Website, Finance, and Open Space, everyone had the opportunity to talk about each topic and brainstorm ideas in small groups. It was fun, creative, effective, and much appreciated by many. Hopefully, many of us will feel called to put some of these wonderful ideas into action.

The sharing of our experiences, participants’ feedback:

At our monthly EFA online meeting, held just two days after our gathering, we shared what was particularly valuable to each of us from our time together. The flavour of what’s growing in the European Focusers’ associating shows in the feedback from participants. Just a couple of impressions shared here. You can find everybody’s feedback on the website here.

Heidrun: The gathering felt like Focusing and interacting the Focusing way the whole time. It feels like something fell into place for us as European Focusers. It’s unique in how it is not like a conference, where one runs from one workshop to the next. We have reached a point, where Focusing exchanges around themes can happen in a different, beautiful way.

Rosella: The 2024 EFA gathering has had for me a quality of attentive care and support for each other. I connected with participants I hadn’t encountered in the previous gatherings. A thoughtful structure and an imaginative way of allowing people to unfold their own creativity. The venue was beautiful and the meals really healthy: I enjoyed every minute!

Ria: I was so amazed and happy to see – on the first morning when we all co-created the program – how many happenings were offered, it was like a busy energetic beehive. With such a diversity of workshops, topics and other activities that it was difficult to choose where to go and enjoy ‘the honey’!

The co-creating of the programme with all the happenings:

On the first morning and during the following days we created the programme together.
You can find the resulting Happenings that took place here on the website.

The Carrying Forward Sessions:

During the ‘carrying forward sessions’ all kinds of new ideas and initiatives were brought forward. We invite you to have a look here.

Interest Groups:

Many new ideas for interest groups have emerged and we have now added a short description to each group. We invite you to contact the initiators if you are interested in joining or co-creating with them. Take a look here.

Fiona Parr’s stepping down from the Steering Group

Fiona Parr, who has been part of EFA and the steering group since ‘the beginning’, announced during the 2024 gathering that she is stepping back from the steering group. After so many years she thought it would be time for others to carry forward in the role of steering group member. The very very long applause after the announcement showed how Fiona was valued and appreciated by all of us for all she has contributed for so many years. Her response to the long applause was representative of her being: modest, dedicated and ’shy’ with all the attention she got.

We, the EFA steering team, will miss her greatly and we thank her so much for all she contributed and for who she is.

Moving to the future…

The 2025 EFA gathering will take place in Belgium from 17^th to 21^st September 2025.

In 2025 the EFA gathering takes place – 5 days/4 nights – in the beautiful retreat center Koningsteen in Kapelle-op-den-Bos in Belgium. WELCOME! And SAVE THE DATE!

The primary purpose of the annual EFA gathering is for European Focusers to connect and inspire each other, and to create European work relationships.

All information can be found on the EFA website here. The start of registration to participate will be announced later. We invite you to join us in Belgium at this beautiful place! Welcome!

The 2026 EFA gathering that will take place in Scotland from 23^rd to 27^th September.
Information will follow in due course on the EFA website. SAVE the DATE!

If you have an idea of where to meet in 2027 please contact us!

For now, we wish you a beautiful autumn time!

Warmly
The EFA Steering group

Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch,
Dietmar Steinbach, Ria van Hage, Cornelius Gehrig, Lucy Hyde

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19th Oct 2024

Newsletter EFA July 2024

European Focusing Association - EFA

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28th Apr 2024

Newsletter EFA April 2024

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear Focusers

Annual EFA Gathering in Achberg, Germany, September 2024

There has already been an enthusiastic response to this year’s gathering at Humboldt Haus, near Achberg, Germany. Thirty-three people from ten countries have already signed up!

While all the bedrooms within Humboldt Haus are now booked, the venue can accommodate many more people for our workshops and meals. There are various accommodation options locally, and Humboldt Haus will organize your lodging at comfortable walking distance for you! We’d love you to join us for an enjoyable, inspiring, enriching time together!

It’s taking place from 25 – 29 September. You can find all the details on the website here.

Your input is highly valued! You can add your wishes, ideas, and suggestions via our 2024 Gathering communication platform. Perhaps you’d be interested in a discussion group, shared exploration, or leading a workshop? Your ideas can help to shape our gathering, so please let us know.

We are also inviting ideas for a theme, which can invite a background atmosphere for our gathering or even concrete ideas for what and how we might create or share something. Please add your theme ideas to our online communication platform.

Our recent annual gatherings in Bassano Del Grappa in northern Italy have been a testament to the warm and welcoming atmosphere we strive to create. You can read a little bit about them here, to see what people have appreciated and enjoyed about getting together with other Focusers. Everyone is welcome – please join us!

Warmly
on behalf of the Steering group
Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch,
Dietmar Steinbach, Ria van Hage, Lucy Hyde

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2nd Dec 2023

Newsletter EFA November 2023

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear Focusers,

In the newsletter this month:

• Report of the EFA gathering in Bassano del Grappa, October 2023
• Minutes from the General Assembly October 2023
• Notice of 2024 gathering in Achberg, South Germany
• Monthly meetings

News from the 2023 EFA gathering

28 members from 8 European countries plus the US and Australia gathered for sharing, learning, Focusing and conversation in a wonderful venue in the beautiful old town of Bassano del Grappa, Northern Italy. Lucy van Praag found the venue for us, and liaised with them about creating a menu suitable for our needs. Heidrun Essler beautifully facilitated the co-creation of a programme of happenings for our days together.

We had ‘happenings’ of workshops and presentations, interest groups and experiential explorations, and there was space for personal reflections and integration though partner Focusing and meeting together in small ‘home groups’. There was plenty of unstructured time for conversations and connections over coffee and drinks in the bar, during shared mealtimes, and walks.

More people attended the gathering this year. It really feels like we are growing our community. You can see photos from the event and get a flavour of the gathering by following this link.

General Assembly

Here is a link to the minutes of General Assembly

Notice of 2024 gathering in Achtberg, South Germany

We are delighted to announce that next year’s gathering will be on 25 – 29 September 2024 at Humboldt-Haus in Achberg, South Germany. Regina Jürgens had taken on to research about two venues in Germany, and this venue perfectly matches what we need. Full details including how to book, are on the website. Here is the link.

Monthly meetings

The monthly Members meetings are continuing on the 1st of every month, at 7pm – 8pm CET. The next meeting is on Friday 1 December. The format of this group is appreciated by the attendees. We have an attunement at the beginning, and then see what emerges from that. It’s an open, heart-felt space. Everyone is welcome. If you want to come to the meeting for the first time, please let Fiona know and she will send you the link.

Warmly
on behalf of the Steering group

Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch, Dietmar Steinbach,
Hejo Feuerstein, Ria van Hage

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2nd Dec 2023

Newsletter EFA July 2023

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear European Focusing colleagues,

We are excited to let you know, that 20 people have already signed up for our Annual EFA Gathering, October 25 – 29 2023, in Bassano, Italy. This year’s theme is:

Belogning beyond borders
listening beyond

For details and information on how to participate in EFA upcoming events.

Our idea is that we can hold this year’s theme as a background atmosphere to support and inspire us to co-create our time together- our sharings, workshops, meetings, and more.

The New EFA Website

38 of you have signed up to be a member. So far, 28 of you have a publicly visible profile. You might want to check if you have made yourself visible, not just to the members but to anyone visiting the site.

More features have been added to the website:
EFA-members-directory

Visitors can now choose to see EFA-members on a list or a map. If you want to be visible on the map you need to add your location in your profile. Visitors can search EFA members by location and by doing so the member’s list (to the left of the map) will sort itself by distance to this location. Find more detailed instructions here.

Translate the website to your language

1. Click “Language” on the top blue ribbon > Then, one line above that, below the url, select your language from a drop-down menu. Every time you land on a new page, again select the language from the drop-down menu. Find more detailed instructions here. Or..

2. Right-click on PC/control-click on Mac on any page > From the drop-down menu select “translate…” > In the little window that opens on top, click the three dots and select any language from the drop-down menu. Every time you land on a new page, do the same.
>> If you know a better, free website translation tool, please let us know.

Post content in your language

You can now enter your course/events as well as your resources: articles/theses/videos, in your own European language. Website visitors can then filter resources and events by language. Find more detailed instructions here.

Please let European, non-English speaking Focuser friends know about these language features and invite them to become an EFA-member.

EFA Discussion list

Very few of you have joined the discussion list. This is a nice way for all of us to share topics and questions of interest with one another. Sign up here.

Warmly,
on behalf of the Steering group

Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch,
Dietmar Steinbach, Hejo Feuerstein, Cornelius Gehrig, Ria van Hage

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2nd Dec 2023

Newsletter EFA June 2023

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear fellow Focusers,

After a long process of working on the new EFA website, it is finally online, YEA!

Resubscribe & Contribute Content as follows:

Sign up for Membership here:
https://efa-focusing.eu/community/become-a-efa-member
Once you sign up, you will receive membership confirmation. (Please note that this may take a few days.)

Set up your Account and create your profile here:
After you have been approved for membership, you can then set up your account and add content by visiting: https://efa-focusing.eu/register (Update your profile, post articles, research studies, video links, your workshops/events…)

Sign up for the Discussion List here:
https://efa-focusing.eu/news/discussion-list
You will receive an email within seconds and need to click the link in that email to complete the process (check your spam folder).

Invite more European Focusers to this newsletter
Sign up for the Newsletter here: https://efa-focusing.eu/news/newsletter/
Important about the newsletter: The newsletter list got transferred to the new server, hence you are receiving this email. However, you do need to re-subscribe both as a member and for the discussion list!

Please find detailed instructions for the above steps and how to add content:
https://efa-focusing.eu/resource/instructions-for-the-efa-website/

Steps toward inclusion and to support the communication
amongst European Focusers

• This website does not contain static text files, such as pdf-files. The reason for this is so that all text can be automatically translated into your language.
  To translate, right-click on any page, then choose “translate to (your language) or use Google Translate (for websites) to automatically translate the entire website. An inbuilt translation tool might be installed soon.
• When creating a workshop/event you can post it in your language and those visiting the site can filter workshops by European languages.
  We hope to install the same feature for the resource listings, such as articles soon.
• Additional to the member’s List-View, we will soon have a map of Europe, on which members’ locations will be shown.

Thanks to all of your donations
who made this new website possible!

2022 EFA Gathering participants’ donations
Ursula Ohse
Teresa Dawson
Yehudit First
Erna de Bruijn
Michael Californias
Cornelius Gehring
Sari Pekki
Ria van Hage
Amona Buechler
Dietmar Steinbach
Hejo Feuerstein
Fiona Parr

The future of the EFA website

We are excited to see this site grow as all of you will post your events, profiles, and writings. If anything on the website needs attention, feel free to let us know. BUT, please take the time to learningly and patiently find your way before contacting us. Here are the instructions if needed: https://efa-focusing.eu/resource/instructions-for-the-efa-website/. We have put a lot of time and effort into making sure it’s easy to understand and contribute.

In about 2-3 months, when we ourselves have become more familiar with what is involved in maintaining this website, we will invite others to step in and share or take over this responsibility.
If there are creative ideas about how to let this interactive platform evolve, new interest groups are certainly welcome to bring those ideas into manifestation. This can be a great opportunity for you to actively get involved with EFA, and thereby help grow connections, mutual support, and collaboration amongst European Focusers.

Let’s gather in person!

Join us for our Annual EFA Gathing in Bassano from October 25 to 29 2023
16 people have registered so far. Register soon if you want to secure a room in the main venue.
https://efa-focusing.eu/news/upcoming-efa-events/

Our two new Facebook Pages

The old EFA Facebook page has been discontinued, and we have created two new pages. It is our hope that these new pages will encourage other European Focusers to join us, allowing us to better connect and collaborate.

Please sign up for the new Pages here:

The EFA Association Page (For official announcements):
https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanFocusingAssociation

The EFA Forum Page (an open space for European Focusers to post):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/efaforum

Warmly,
on behalf of the Steering group

Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch,
Dietmar Steinbach, Hejo Feuerstein, Cornelius Gehrig, Ria van Hage

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2nd Dec 2023

Newsletter EFA April 2023

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear Europan Focusing colleagues,

In the newsletter this month:

• New EFA Website – Call for Donations
• New EFA Facebook Page
• Annual Gathering Bassano del Grappa 25 – 29 October 2023

The New EFA Website – Call for Donations

Many of you have noticed that the EFA website was often not accessible during the past year. It crashed almost daily and had to manually be reactivated each time. The technology was outdated and beyond repair.

Since the summer of last year, a group of us have taken on the extensive project of replacing the website with up-to-date technology. This website project was in the hands of Dietmar Steinbach, Amona Buechler, and Ria van Hage with the professional (paid) help of Patrick Woodcook (webmaster of the British Focusing Association) and Gilbert Seilheimer (who has taken care of the EFA website for several years) A special thanks to Gilbert, who has given much of his many hours for free, even though he is not part of the Focusing community.

We envision this site to be a community project and grow in richness with everyone involved. Therefore, we made sure to use a technology that allows all of you to contribute in an easy way. You will be able to post your workshops and events, as well as your Focusing-related publications.

We are now nearing completion, but still need your financial contributions so that we can take care of some important final details.

The cost of the new website so far has been: EURO 1.407,00

These costs were covered by Dietmar Steinbach, Amona Buechler, Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Ria van Hage, and Hejo Feuerstein. We have also used the donations from our 2022 EFA gathering.

The website is now hosted under the name of Dietmar Steinbach. To cover the hosting fees until our next annual meeting in October 2023, we will use your website donations collected at our 2022 annual meeting.

Here is how much we need from you to finish the website (and maintain it)

• £192.50 (about Euro 220) for an outstanding invoice from Patrick.
• About Euro 500 for Gilbert to finish the website.
• We expect that once the website is used by all members, you will all notice other things that need to be fixed.
• Future maintenance, monthly hosting fees, improvements, repairs and additions beyond what we can do ourselves will be possible with your financial contributions.

If you would enjoy contributing, please let us know by replying to Dietmar at efa@efa-focusing.eu.

Once we have collected the necessary financial resources, it is only a matter of a few weeks until we can finally invite you to participate in our new community platform.

The previous EFA website has a lot of great content, which is still available and can be copied over to the new site later-on.

New EFA Facebook Pages

Like our two new Facebook Pages – thanks to Sari, Ruth, and Yehudit.
The old EFA Facebook page has been discontinued, you can re-subscribe here:
https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanFocusingAssociation
https://www.facebook.com/groups/efaforum

Annual Gatherings

Let’s gather in person!

Join us for our Annual EFA Gathering in Bassano from October 25 to 29 2023. Register early to reserve the room of your choice. Of course, this information is on our website (-:
For details click here

Warmly,
on behalf of the Steering group

Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch,
Dietmar Steinbach, Hejo Feuerstein, Cornelius Gehrig, Ria van Hage

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2nd Dec 2023

Newsletter EFA February 2023

European Focusing Association - EFA

Dear European Focusing colleagues,

In the newsletter this month:

• New EFA Facebook page and group
• New EFA web site
• Annual Gathering Bassano del Grappa 25 – 29 October 2023
• Members’ meeting 1 March

Facebook

Sari Pekki, Yehudit First, and Ruth Hirsch have been working to create two new Facebook pages for EFA.
We are replacing our current Facebook page with two new EFA Facebook pages. The current page, ”EFA Focusing”, will be closed after a transition period. At this point, we want to warmly thank and appreciate Nikos Kipriotakis for the excellent work he has dedicated to our web presence through the website and Facebook for many years.

Why two pages? Read on.

The ‘European Focusing Association’ page
is for official announcements: The purpose of this page is to widen awareness of EFA and Focusing on Facebook. This public page offers information on the European Focusing Association and activities that EFA organizes. The content of this page will be more informative and compact so that people can easily find the information they are looking for. On this page, we will regularly share and highlight EFA newsletters, articles and other content from the EFA website and possibly other sources as well.

We invite you to like and follow the page:
ebook.cohttps://www.facm/EuropeanFocusingAssociation/
and invite others who might be interested to like and follow the page as well.

The ‘European Focusing Forum’ group
is an open space for European Focusers to meet others, share ideas and experience, collaborate, get inspiration and ask questions. The group is for Focusing-related topics. Reflections, sharing, articles and quotes that promote and support self-reflection and awareness will be welcome. The group is private, which means that only members can see who’s in the group and what they post.

We invite you to join our group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/efaforum and encourage other European Focusers to join too!

It is our hope that these new pages will encourage other European Focusers to join us, allowing us to better connect and collaborate.

Web site

Amona Buechler and Dietmar Steinback have been working with web masters Patrick and Gilbert to produce a new, user-friendly web site. It is nearly ready to go live, hopefully in March.

It will be possible to put your courses and events on the web site, and there will be a membership directory, so you can be found by people who are looking for Focusing professionals. You will also be able to put articles and videos on there and engage in our EFA members discussion group.

We want to move as much content as possible from the old web site, so if you have an interest in copying and pasting the articles and videos, we would love to hear from you. The old site will still be there, and findable as ‘previous’.

2023 Gathering

We are delighted to announce that we have secured a booking for this year’s EFA gathering (annual meeting)

at Bassano del Grappa – in northern Intaly, fo r25- 29 October 2023.

The venue is lovely. You can see more information here: https://www.villangaransangiuseppe.it
The website is in Italian. How to activate Google Translate

THE VILLA ANGARAN SAN GIUSEPPE will be hosting us from Wednesday evening until Sunday lunchtime.

The Villa is located at
Via Ca’ Morosini, 41 36061 Bassano del Grappa (VI)
Tel. +39 331 418 72 84

Rooms will be booked on a first come, first served basis as rooms on the premises are limited. Please read the entire email carefully for instructions on how to book yourself in as an EFA member.

Communication platform

Once you have registered, we also encourage you to enter your name and contact info here on our communication platform so we can all stay in touch.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/17uf73UKlJfIR-hy46HrAc2zqTK6QXR42WbprXMkhH6Q/edit?usp=sharing

ACCOMODATION:

In the THE VILLA ANGARAN SAN GIUSEPPE we have available to us

• 9 single rooms with private bathroom at a cost of €45 a night
• 8 double rooms with private bathroom – at a discounted rate of €50 a night for singles
  Or full double rate €70 a night for couples or two people sharing with twin beds.
• 1 triple room €90,00
• + tourist tax – €2 per night for all above choices
• Breakfast included
• Our meeting room is at the villa

NEARBY HOSTEL: Ostello Bassano Del Grappa at Via Lorenzo Chini 6

The hostel is some 15 minutes or so walk away from the villa and also has the option to use a shared kitchen for those who prefer to self-cater. For people who would prefer an even more cost friendly option there are also shared dormitories at the hostel.

• 2 of these singles come with a private bathroom at €35 a night
• And 5 other single rooms which come with the use of a shared bathroom for €30 a night.
• double rooms with a private bathroom €56
• double rooms with the use of a shared bathroom €50
• + tourist tax – €2 per night for above choices
• Breakfast included

https://www.ostellobassanodelgrappa.it
This website is in English, Italian and German so easy to browse through.

MEALS:

Lunch and dinner are NOT included in the costs of the room and will need to be paid for separately when you arrive. Breakfast is included already in the costing for the rooms.

Lunch: price range to be determined, probably around Euro 16+
Dinner: Price range between Euro 20 and Euro 25 including drinks depending on the menu.

Occasionally we plan to eat out together in the old historical centre of Bassano.

ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES:
Check in from 2pm on Wednesday afternoon with a shared dinner on the premises at 6pm. We will meet as a group at 7.30pm

We will close our meeting at 1pm on Sunday, followed by lunch at the venue.

For anyone who wants to arrive earlier and/or stay on longer you can arrange it yourself at the time of booking, or potentially added on later if availability allows.

GETTING TO THE VENUE or HOSTEL:
Bassano del Grappa is reachable by train.
Use trenitalia.com to check train times from wherever you are coming. You can book online through this website or buy your ticket at the ticket office.
Another good site is Trainline.com. This platform searches through various European train- and bus-services.

For those planning to fly, the closest airport is Venice Marco Polo airport.
On: https://www.atvo.it/en-ticketonline.html select:
Departure from “Venice Airport (Marco Polo) to all destinations” then select:
Da/From: Aero Porto Marco Polo (VCE)
and A/To: Mestre Stazione SS.FF.
Euro 8 one-way, Euro 15 both ways
Once in Mestre take the train to Bassano del Grappa trenitalia.com

To VILLA ANGARAN SAN GIUSEPPE at Via Ca’ Morosini, 41
By foot: 20 to 25 minutes from the train station/bus.
By Taxi: 0039 (0)424567774
The cost from the train station to both Bassano del Grappa to the Villa Angaran San and to the Hostel Ostello Bassano Del Grappa, Via Chini, 6 is between €7 and €9.

To Ostello Bassano Del Grappa at Via Lorenzo Chini 6:
By foot: From Bassano train station / bus: 1.4 km, 17 minutes.

TO REGISTER and BOOK your accommodation:

We have a special price for members of our group that you won’t get if you book online.
Please include your name,
that you are coming for the European Focusing Association meeting 25 – 29 October 2023
and your choice of room and exactly how many nights you will stay.

Please book either the hotel or the hostel with: prenotazioni@villangaransangiuseppe.it
Either Paolo or one of his colleagues will respond by email.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure to CC efa@legacy.efa-focusing.eu
so that we know you are coming.

PAYMENT:

Accommodation and Meals:
To be paid directly to the hotel by each participant.

For the Meeting Room:
We have calculated everybody’s contributions for the cost of the two meeting rooms based on an estimated minimum number of 20 participants. Please expect to pay €65 Euro in addition to the cost of your bedroom. We will collect this money when we are there. If there are more than 20 participants, we can either collect less or use the additional amount for other EFA projects, such as the website.

EFA gathering communication platform

We now have an active communication platform, where you can see who is coming and let people know that you will join. You can see what ideas already exist, and you can post your envisioned workshop, wishes and discussion ideas; and connect for travel plans, etc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17uf73UKlJfIR-hy46HrAc2zqTK6QXR42WbprXMkhH6Q/edit?usp=sharing

Looking forward to meeting with as many of you as can come.

Monthly meetings

The monthly Members meetings are continuing on the 1st of every month, at 7pm – 8pm CET. The next meeting is on Wednesday 1 March.

The format of this group is appreciated by the attendees. We have an attunement at the beginning, and then see what emerges from that. It’s an open, heart-felt space. Everyone is welcome. If you want to come to the meeting for the first time, please let Fiona know and she will send you the link.

Warmly,
on behalf of the Steering group

Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch,
Dietmar Steinbach, Hejo Feuerstein, Cornelius Gehrig, Ria van Hage

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2nd Dec 2023

Newsletter EFA November 2022

European Focusing Association - EFA

EFA Newsletter November 2022

Dear European Focusing colleagues,

News from the EFA gathering at Bassano del Grappa

We met at a Palladian Villa, built in the 16th Century in the old town of Bassano del Grappa with its old wooden bridge in Northern Italy, between Venice and the Alps. The Villa was previously privately owned, and has now been bought by a social enterprise as a resource for the local community as well as for International gatherings like ours. People come daily for activities such as yoga, community groups and support for disabled people. Prisoners come on day release to work in the organic gardens. About 150 people are working in some way or another, helping to make it happen.

25 participants came from England, Scotland, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Finland, Italy, Israel, Greece, USA, and Romania.

The General Assembly minutes are below.

Attendees came to experience our European connection, in person. We have our national Focusing organisations, and we have TIFI. We also want to have a regional network and home for Focusing in Europe. We welcomed everyone to come and co-create the gathering together. This required everyone to practice inner sensing, discipline and the willingness to listen to others.

Here is what some of the participants said

‘Everyone is bringing something more, something very special, in this gathering. I’m really celebrating all this, that is happening.’

‘The significant moment for me was witnessing the process of decision-making about how to go on, decision-making that was led in such a Focusing way, and that really touched me.’

‘I’m taking with me a sense of belonging; meaningful connections with a common language and a common human horizon.’

‘I felt connected with my self and with the others too, with strangers from myself and also with an old part of me. I am grateful.’

‘I came with doubts about my physical fitness, which really interfered with my being present in the group – and now I am glad that I did it, and felt connected to other members.’

So what did we do? Here are some of the offerings

Sharing our responses to climate change; Systemic Constellation on the return of Fascism in Europe; Focusing and Non-Violent Communication; Social-oriented Focusing; sharing our responses to ageing; exploring how would Focusing cities look like, and how does change happen. There was also a discussion on a presentation with Gene Gendlin; an exploration of Focusing and coaching; and experimenting with the listener sharing their resonance with the Focuser.

Even more than ‘workshops’, discussions and ‘interest groups’ it was a creative space, to meet informally and create connections.

This is what other participants said

‘Great Focusing Constellation about what is behind this so-called upcoming Fascism in Europe. Nice group. Good luck.’

‘This was a great journey towards our European Focusing spirit. And we made this journey in an experiential way, all together, with all openness.’

‘It was like a good home, where you can be free to express yourself every way you need to do it in that moment, knowing that your “relatives” will be there for you.’

‘An amazing and challenging space for co-creation and togetherness. Huge gratefulness. The venue is very special and supportive. I hope to join here again.’

‘Here we are on the way ….. from our inner living forward energy towards each other. Creating a space where connecting and relating happen, and shared leadership can grow.’

Interest groups

The following EFA interest groups have been mentioned or were formed in the gathering. Should anyone like to join an interest group, they are invited to contact interest group members directly.

1. Teachers group: 6 members, formed by Fiona and Freda.
   Contact Fiona Parr: fiona@fionaparr-focusing.co.uk
2. Website project, first phase: Amona and Dietmar; in the next phase, Michael and others can join.
   Contact Dietmar Steinbach: dietmar@steinbachandfriends.de
3. Facebook page and group: Ruth, Yehudit, Sari.
   Contact Ruth Hirsch: ruthhirsch@icloud.com
4. Interest group for having professional level Focusing Practitioners be recognised by TIFI: Ruth, Mateja Tomazin, and Harriet Teeuw.
   Contact Ruth Hirsch: ruthhirsch@icloud.com
5. EFA conference 2023-24: Michael.
   Contact Michael Callifronas: michael@callifronas.com
6. Climate change: Teresa.
   Contact Teresa Dawson: info@teresadawson.ch
7. Monthly meeting for all EFA members: Hosted by Fiona, supported by Amona, Michael and Dietmar.
   Contact Contact Fiona Parr: fiona@fionaparr-focusing.co.uk
8. Suggestions for the following groups is under consideration
   – How would that Focusing city look like? Monica and Ruth.
   Contact Ruth Hirsch: ruthhirsch@icloud.com
   – Maybe: Social Oriented Focusing – How to bring focusing in our daily actions: Yehudit.Contact Yehudit First: yehudit.first@gmail.com
9. 

We plan to meet at the Villa in Bassano del Grappa again next year

We hope you can join us. Save the date – 25 – 29 October 2023. There will be an informal day for arriving and connecting on Wednesday, and we will start our meeting on Thursday morning/lunchtime 26 October.

Would you like to host the 2024 EFA gathering in your country? It feels important to circulate the annual gatherings to different countries, so it becomes a truly European organisation.
It can take more than a year to find and book a suitable venue, so we are looking for a group to take on the hosting for 2024. Please let us know if you are interested.

The General Assembly minutes are here: EFA General Assembly 2022

***

The next monthly Members’ Meeting

Thursday 1 December at 7pm – 8pm European time
(6pm – 7pm UK time and 8pm – 9pm Greece and Israel time.)

We meet on the first day of every month. Meeting on the 1st of the month means it will be a different day of the week, hopefully to include everyone.

This is open to everyone and is facilitated by EFA members. You are invited to bring a theme to explore, as a follow-up from the gathering at Bassano, or choose your own theme. Please let Fiona know if you would like to introduce a theme or a topic.

It’s the same link each time.
Please let Fiona Parr know if you want to join the meeting and do not have the link.
fiona@fionaparr-focusing.co.uk.

Best wishes
Your Focusing Friends at EFA

Fiona Parr, Sari Pekki, Amona Buechler, Ruth Hirsch, Ria van Hage,
Dietmar Steinbach, Hejo Feuerstein, Cornelius Gehrig

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