How we work
Our approach
How we work
At Flamingo Collective, our work is grounded in intersectional eco-feminist values, guided by care, courage, and curiosity.
We collaborate with movements, communities, and progressive organisations to reimagine systems, shift power, and build new ways of leading and living—rooted in joy, justice, and collective sense-making.
Our approach is shaped by eight guiding principles:
1. Transformation & Systemic Change
We don’t do surface-level solutions. We support partners in identifying root causes, questioning framing, and shifting systems — not just symptoms. Our work is about helping people and organisations vision boldly and act with long-term impact in mind.
2. Deep Listening & Emergent Strategy
We begin with listening—real, open, non-extractive listening. Our design-thinking and facilitation approaches are rooted in emergent strategy, allowing us to adapt to what’s unfolding in the room and beyond it. Every engagement is tailored, responsive, and shaped by what we learn along the way.
3. Participation & Power
We centre the voices of those implementing change. Our approach ensures that community members are not just heard but actively shaping outcomes. We embed equity by design, acknowledging structural injustices and power dynamics, and creating spaces where marginalised voices are supported, protected, and central to any process.
” Power matters. At the core of the work of liberation is the intention to challenge and transform the systems and structures that maintain oppression and inequity. “
4. Radical inclusion & Accessibility
Inclusion is not an afterthought—it’s foundational. We design every stage of our work to reflect a deep commitment to equity, actively working to create both safe and brave spaces—where people feel respected, protected, and also gently challenged. From invitation to facilitation, we consider access needs, cultural nuance, and lived experience. Inclusion for us means asking, listening, adapting, and resourcing what’s needed so that everyone can fully show up and participate.
5. Relationships at the Core
We believe that meaningful and impactful gatherings are rooted in strong relationships. Our facilitation is grounded in needs-based communication that nurtures trust and openness. We build and nurture relationships through honesty, care, and accountability. We don’t shy away from discomfort—instead, we hold space for brave conversations with grace and respect, knowing that connection is key to sustainable change.
6. Embracing Complexity
Systems are messy, and we honour that. We support groups in navigating complexity without getting lost in it—holding nuance, surfacing tensions, and offering clarity without oversimplification. We balance facilitation with reflection, so decisions are grounded and purposeful.
7. Learning & Adaptation
Deep, transformative learning happens not just through action, reflection, theory, and experience—but by engaging our whole selves: heart, mind, and body. We invite you to bring creativity into the process—through art, storytelling, music, movement, and play—to deepen understanding and make space for more expansive, embodied ways of knowing. We welcome feedback, adapt in real-time, and refine our process whenever this can lead to better results. This openness strengthens our relationships, builds mutual trust, and supports resilient, evolving strategies.
8. Joy, Rest & Regeneration
We make room for joy. We believe in the radical power of celebration, humour, beauty, and rest. Regeneration is not a luxury—it’s a necessity for collective resilience. We create spaces where people can breathe, reflect, and reconnect to their energy and purpose.
Methodology
Our team brings together a wide range of experience in facilitation methods, and we draw from this rich toolkit to design each process in response to the specific context, people, and purpose. No two processes are the same — because no two communities are the same.
Here are some of the practices we work with:
Feminist Leadership Principles
Our work is rooted in feminist leadership principles which then often underscore our consultancy, our facilitation and our coaching.
Safe & Brave Spaces
At Flamingo Collective, we create spaces that are both safe enough to be vulnerable and brave enough to be transformative. We know that deep reflection and meaningful connection only happen when people feel seen, respected, and able to bring their whole selves into the room. Our gatherings are rooted in trust, care, and clear intentions—spaces where discomfort is welcomed as part of growth, and where listening is just as valued as speaking. We draw on practices like “make space, take space,” “assume best intent, attend to impact,” and “active listening .” We invite people to slow down, stay curious, and honour both self and collective care. Our aim is to hold space for honesty, complexity, and learning—with patience, presence, and a deep respect for each person’s process.
Discussion Circles
We often use circle practice to cultivate a listening culture and nurture mutual understanding. Circles allow for more equitable participation, slowing down conversations so that depth, reflection, and intention can emerge. They are especially powerful when building community, healing divides, or exploring sensitive topics.
Deep Democracy
We use Deep Democracy techniques to surface and work through difference and dissent. These tools help groups go beyond polite agreement to engage with what’s unspoken, unheard, or uncomfortable — often where the real transformation lies. It’s a way to honour all voices, not just the majority, and to make space for emotions, intuition, and minority perspectives in decision-making.
Art of Hosting
The Art of Hosting is a key influence in our approach to participatory leadership and collaborative process design. From World Café to Open Space Technology and ProAction Café, we use these dialogic methods to invite co-creation, navigate complexity, and tap into collective intelligence. Hosting, for us, means creating containers of trust where people feel safe to contribute their full selves.
Theatre of the Oppressed
Developed by Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed is a powerful set of tools that use theatre as a space for dialogue, exploration, and transformation. We use this approach to help groups embody difficult dynamics, explore conflict, and rehearse change. It allows participants to step into each other’s shoes, confront systemic issues, and imagine alternatives — not just intellectually, but physically and emotionally.
Art and Music
We integrate visual arts, music, and creative expression as part of our methodology to support emotional connection, sense-making, and embodied learning. Whether through collective soundscapes, journaling and drawing, these creative modalities invite participants to process and express beyond words — unlocking new insights and fostering shared meaning in deeply human ways.