Welcome to Open Space!

Open Space (Technology) is a simple way to run remarkably productive meetings and a powerful approach to living, learning, leadership and transformation – in any kind of organization or community – in everyday practice and turbulent change.

Open Space meetings and organizations run on passion bounded responsibility. Each participant is allowed AND challenged to maximize their own learning and contribution, toward the accomplishment of important shared goals. Groups of any size, and great diversity, can self-organize quickly and easily around the issues and questions they care about. This creates the alignment and momentum needed to get all kinds of complex and urgent work done.

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After more than thirty-five years and literally millions of invitations and actions, small meetings and large events, conversations and publications, organizations and adaptations – in more than 140 countries – the Open Space story can get a bit messy. There is no overarching Open Space organization, no patent or trademark, and no global marketing budget, but a lot of good people, active practice and shared stories.

The Open Space global community of practice is inviting learning, inviting leadership, inviting organizations and communities, and inviting transformation. Wherever you are, whatever you’re working on, we invite you now to pull up a chair, expand our circle, and join the conversation.

This site offers a wealth of Open Space information – overviews, case stories, resources and people. It’s really just the tip of the iceberg, but more than enough to get you started and get you connected. Whatever you can’t find here can be found 24/7 in the OSLIST global email group. Join us there with your issues, opportunities, questions and learnings.


The 30th Annual World Open Space on Open Space (WOSONOS) international practice conference, will be in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct 31-Nov 2, 2024. Details and Registration


Thank you to the authors, editors, translators, wiki gnomes, donors and other helpers who’ve contributed to this site since 1999, especially Raffi Aftandelian, Tova Averbuch, Brian Bainbridge, Frank Burns, Tricia Chirumbole, Ralph Copleman, Ashley Cooper, Chris Corrigan, Artur Ferreira da Silva, Carol Daniel Kasbari, Koos de Heer, Gerardo de Luzenberger, Gabriela Ender, John Engle, Ted Ernst, Wendy Farmer-O’Neil, Doug Germann, Diane Gibeault, Elwin Guild, Beck György, Michael Herman, Thomas Herrmann, Peggy Holman, Sheila Isakson, Lisa Kimball, Tim Lannan, Paul Levy, Jean-Yves Lord, Christy Lee-Engel, Elena Marchuk, Esther Matte, Brendan McKeague, Gerard Muller, Ingrid Olausson, Funda Oral, Barry Owen, Harrison Owen, Michael M Pannwitz, Stanley Park, Chen Peitao, Brian Rogers, Véronique Dos Santos, Mikk Sarv, Agneta Setterwall, Harold Shinsato, Anne Stadler, Filiz Telek, Siona van Dijk, Nancy Wells, the Open Space Institute USA, and the photographers who’ve tagged 10,000+ photos at Flickr!