Our facilitation & training venues

Groupwork centre offers facilitation and training services across Australia. However Victoria is our home base and we have strong connections and working partnerships with the following venues.

Our venues

  • CERES

    Brunswick East, Melbourne, VIC

    Most of our public courses are held at CERES. With a host of inviting meeting and training rooms and plenty of green garden space, we love the welcoming atmosphere.

    CERES is a community garden, urban farm and social enterprise hub spread across four locations, linked by the Merri and Darebin Creeks on Wurundjeri Country, Naarm (Melbourne).

    CERES website

  • Commonground

    Seymour, VIC

    Commonground is located on regenerated bushland, one hour north of Melbourne. With accommodation and meeting spaces in a beautiful bush setting we love Commonground for retreats and off-site meetings.

    Commonground is an intentional community and not-for-profit social enterprise that has been supporting social justice, environmental, disadvantaged and community groups since 1984.

    Commonground website

Other venues

  • What makes for a good venue?

    We’ve delivered our services in many parts of the country - and love working with groups in settings that have meaning and connection to them.

    Over time we’ve discovered that certain attributes significantly improve group experiences. These include:

    - plenty of natural light and ventilation (e.g. windows that open)

    - connection to the natural world and environment (views of gardens, trees, bush)… We function better as humans when we have a sense of connection to the ‘greater-than-us’ life to which we belong

    - ample circulation space - room to move = room to think and feel

    - less clutter (minimal furniture like stacked chairs and tables)

    - not too much tech - while it can be useful, too much technology can take us out of our hearts and bodies and limit us to the mind only (we need all three)

    - easy access to basic amenities (toilets, water, food)

    We look forward to working with you and finding the right place for valuable insight and connection to arise in your group

Upcoming courses

Featured
Facilitators’ Practice Circle - alumni event
Nov 22
Facilitators’ Practice Circle - alumni event

Learn, share and grow with other facilitators and leaders!

Practice circles are a facilitated peer learning space to work on facilitation challenges, reflect on our work, refresh skills and try out new approaches or frameworks.

Held online via zoom.

Facilitation training short course 12 - 13 Dec
Dec 12
Facilitation training short course 12 - 13 Dec

Build the confidence to facilitate and lead in a collaborative way.

Our experiential two-day training provides facilitators and leaders with the self-awareness, skills and emotional resilience to facilitate with confidence. Learn to navigate challenging group dynamics, create safety and design sessions with ease.

Facilitation training short course 18-19 Feb 2025
Feb 18
Facilitation training short course 18-19 Feb 2025

Build the confidence to facilitate and lead in a collaborative way.

Our experiential two-day training provides facilitators and leaders with the self-awareness, skills and emotional resilience to facilitate with confidence. Learn to navigate challenging group dynamics, create safety and design sessions with ease.

International facilitation training
Feb 24
International facilitation training

For professionals working in the international field. This training will equip you with skills to run highly effective meetings and group processes to drive long-term collaboration and lasting change.

This training is designed for international development/humanitarian workers (international, national and local actors) to become skilled facilitators who can better navigate complexity, drive collaboration, and ensure more effective, inclusive development outcomes.

Facilitators’ Practice Circle - alumni event
Mar 3
Facilitators’ Practice Circle - alumni event

Learn, share and grow with other facilitators and leaders!

Practice circles are a faciiltated peer learning space to work on facilitation challenges, reflect on our work, refresh skills and try out new approaches or frameworks.

Held online via zoom.

Facilitation training short course 27-28 Mar 2025
Mar 27
Facilitation training short course 27-28 Mar 2025

Build the confidence to facilitate and lead in a collaborative way.

Our experiential two-day training provides facilitators and leaders with the self-awareness, skills and emotional resilience to facilitate with confidence. Learn to navigate challenging group dynamics, create safety and design sessions with ease.

Calendar