workshops work Podcast
This is a podcast about facilitation: the practice of creating conditions for people to think better together.
Whether you’re leading strategy, navigating change or developing leaders, the quality of your conversations shapes the quality of your decisions.
Hosted by Dr Myriam Hadnes, behavioural economist, facilitator and founder of workshops.work, each episode explores the human dynamics of working together: how psychological safety is built, why some conversations lead to action while others stall, how leaders foster genuine participation, and what behavioural science can teach us about collaboration. Alongside these conversations, Dr Hadnes shares reflections from her own client work, offering practical insights from the realities of designing and facilitating workshops in organisations.
Recognised as the facilitation community’s most-recommended podcast in SessionLab’s State of Facilitation reports from 2024 to 2026, the show has grown into an archive of more than 350 conversations spanning the craft, the inner work, and the unexpected edges of facilitation. Whether you’re a facilitator, leader, consultant or L&D professional, you'll come away with sharper questions and a few ideas worth borrowing.
workshops work Podcast
348 - Reclaiming Indigenous Wisdom in Facilitation with Katerina Kupenga
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Carrying the wisdom of five generations before her, Katerina Kupenga inherited a special legacy from her ancestral namesake: the gift of Māori facilitation.
And as a proud wahine Māori from Ngāti Porou, Katerina joins me to share this rich wisdom with us all. She guides us through the sacred welcoming rituals of the Pōwhiri, the complexities of tribal relations, the spiritual intimacy of exchanging breath, and the energy work that takes place as people, ancestors, emotions, and tension are invited into being.
This is a truly special conversation about what it means to be Māori, and the unique indigenous methods that acknowledge the Māori people of the land.
Find out about:
- The traditional Māori rituals, chants, and the guidance of the gods that take place during workshops
- Katerina’s journey to relearning the wisdom and culture of her people
- The importance of honouring Māori practices and language – free of Western agendas, structures and timeframes
- Facilitating conversations and tensions around intergenerational, ancestral traumas
- The unconscious biases that exist in the facilitation sector, and the alternative perspectives we need
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Links:
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