[DEBATE] Facilitating the Unknown
What happens when a facilitator stops trying to inform/teach/manage — and instead holds space for the unknown? A debate with facilitators and designers of participatory processes.
Jim Segers, self-declared "development activist", co-founded City Mine(d) in Brussels in 1997 and London in 2003. City Mine(d) emerged where architecture, urban development, and activism meet. Through years of hands-on collaboration in underserved neighbourhoods, it works to boost citizens’ autonomy and agency—especially around sustainability challenges like water, energy, and local economies.
Jim Segers holds a Honours BSc in Econometrics and a BA in Politics and is trained as a theatre director, which truncates as “Stats and Stories”. He combines an active involvement in plotting the direction of City Mine(d) with a caretaker role in its day-to-day operations. He occupies himself with future scanning, complexity mapping and watching the alpha geeks.