This is probably the most important question for you to understand and the hardest question for us to answer.

One of the inspiration points for this year long programme is Peter Block’s book:

‘The answer to how is yes’

Take a few seconds to think about the title of that book….

The answer to how we do something is not more knowledge it is ‘lets do it, lets try, lets learn from what happens’.

This approach is what makes the Change Maker programme different from any event you could register for because you will not be learning more, gathering more information (we know you can use AI for that).

Instead this programme will give YOU the opportunity to be in action in a way that will build your expertise and your ability to lead in the innovative fields of human connection and relational infrastructure.

In addition to joining the workshops, you will have the chance to trial methodology for trust building within your event.

This is a very exciting question.

Answering honestly, of course we don’t know what the programme’s impact will be BUT we are already in conversations with potential partners to explore how the Change Maker community could be engaged to explore and enable systems change in how human connection happens.

The events sector is at a change point as Positive Impact CEO recent blog explains.

But this year long initiative is about more than a sector changing.

How we connect as humans is also at a change point: social media is making us less social, The World Health Organisation recognises a loneliness epidemic is deepening, climate change is impacting us when we gather and AI is transforming the logistics for how we gather.

There has never been a greater need for relational infrastructure (ie social networks woven from the connections we make when we meet each other) The SDGs (particularly SDG 16.7.2 on inclusive participation) demand that those who bring people together become architects of real human connection, architects of relational infrastructure.

Events are probably the world's most underestimated tool for change.

The current business model for events, measuring success by hotel occupancy and attendance numbers, is breaking.

What replaces it?

It could be events as relational infrastructure: gatherings designed to reduce loneliness, enable collaboration, shift perspectives, and build lasting networks of positive change.

The Change Maker Programme exists to explore and accelerate this transition.

The community on the Change Maker Programme are on the bridge between knowing what needs to change and actually building what comes next.

One extra point to note:

This programme is an experiment in collective agency — a space to innovate for the future of human connection and enable systems change from events as logistics to events as relational infrastructure. Participants are not learning about transformation. They are experimenting with it . The 2027 Change Maker programme builds on a programme delivered in 2026 to a group of 15. Highlights of which included trialing new tech, virtual tours of events, experimenting with new ways to connect, academic insight and cross over from other sectors including architecture.

What could be the impact of the Change Maker programme? The true answer is we don’t know but the potential is HUGE

The themes for the 2027 programme include:

• Exploring models for building relational infrastructure

• Testing future business models for human connection (events)

• Policy influence

• The role of events in meeting society’s needs (including loneliness, mistrust in democracy and climate change)

This is an interesting and important question.

In 2027 we are facing some shared global challenges.

The foundation for addressing these challenges and finding solutions is events. Explained in another way trust built through human connection is the foundation needed for social cohesion, community and connection. This is the first reason why The Change Maker programme exists- its potential impact is needed!

Research shows being an ‘event organiser’ is one of the most stressful job roles in the world. Many event professionals are often isolated, as the only person doing their job role in an organisation or delivering the role alone within the community. Their role is far beyond logistics and the impact they have is often unnoticed. This is the second reason The Change Maker programme exists, to provide a community for the people who have the skills to enable human connection and for young and mid-career professionals with the energy and passion for transformation but lacking a community and co-creation infrastructure to act. The transition from 'logistics professional' to 'Human Connector' is happening but the support structures could be stronger.

The third reason this programme exists is to draw on a convergence of research and frameworks that position events as essential infrastructure for societal health. In 2027 Positive Impact will be 20 years old and 20 years of Change Making within the global event sector has given Positive Impact a unique perspective and experience with content that has influenced this course including: • Doughnut Economics applied to events: designing gatherings within planetary and social boundaries • ISO 20121:2024: the global standard for sustainable events, chaired by Positive Impact CEO Fiona Pelham • Race to Zero now transitioned to Net Zero Action Plan: the only global Accelerator for the events sector • SDG 16.7.2: participation and inclusion as a measurable outcome of gatherings • Network science research showing that diversity and depth of ties (not size or amount) drives innovation and prosperity • Insight from other sectors including architecture and built environment • Collective intelligence and systems change literature including work from SSIR, Movement Netlab, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review

You can read more about Positive Impact CEO’s answer to why this programme exists here.

The answer to this question will make it clear to you if you are a fit for the programme.

Practically the programme works by:

1. Attending a group call for 2 hours the first Thursday of every month (Note the calls will not be recorded and shared and you can not ask anyone to attend on your behalf). This is the space for network weaving and creating foundations for collaboration.

   Two time options are offered each month (8am and 4pm Central European Time) to serve a genuinely global community. Gathering dates 2027: February 4, March 4, April 1st, May 6, June 3, August 5, September 2, October 7, November 4.

   Each 2-hour gathering includes: network connection, theme exploration, collaborative working, and contribution to the programme's shared outputs. The format evolves based on participant feedback: a direct application of the Collective's consensus-based design principle.

   The monthly gatherings are the core to this programme.

   This is not a programme for information gathering so not all the monthly calls are recorded and shared.

2. Attending a ‘listen and learn’ 1 hour webinar the first Wednesday of the month (Note where suitable these calls will be recorded and you can receive a summary of content)

3. Throughout the year you will receive resources and opportunities for action (including the opportunity to shape the direction of the programme).

The Changemaker Programme is built on six design principles drawn from a number of sources including: the Collective Impact framework and Positive Impact's 20-year community-building methodology. At all times during the design of this programme the context that ‘this is an experiment in relational infrastructure’ was front of mind.

The six design principles are:

1. Co-creation, not consumption. Participants shape the programme, its outputs, and what it produces for the wider community. The 100 founding members have their fingerprints on what could become industry future norms. This mirrors the Collective principle: 'the collective is more effective’ and ‘how do we share this’ will always be a front of mind consideration.

2. Depth over scale. The group is capped at 100 to enable genuine collaboration, trust-building, and accountability. There is the opportunity to build relationships in the network.

3. Learning through doing. There is always the opportunity for practical application of the learning. Frameworks are tested against real events, real organisations, real communities, not hypothetical scenarios and the group are able to contribute honest insights.

4. Embracing productive conflict. Drawing on facilitation best practice conflict is a growth edge, not a problem. Monthly gatherings create brave space for uncomfortable conversations about business model transformation. Over the last 20 years Positive Impact has experienced the danger to innovation and systems change of things being left unsaid or unacted on. This programme will create a productive space for confict.

5. Collaboration. consensus and collective agency. Participants will explore these terms and understand how to contribute to shaping resources, tools, and frameworks that influence the wider industry while also maintaining their own perspectives and approaches. Over the last 20 years Positive Impact has see collaboration and consensus be used to maintain the status quo and surpress change. This programme will address that and enable collective agency.

6. Connected to credible infrastructure Everything connects to real-world credibility: ISO 20121:2024, Race to Zero now Net Zero Activation Plan, UN SDG frameworks, Converii technology, The Pavilion for People experiments. This is not a theoretical exercise.

If you are curious to see these design principles in action this programme is for you.

Programme Structure will follow 3 phases over 12 months. It is structured around themes that move from questioning assumptions, to designing experiments, to building a movement to enable change.

New change makers can join at any point throughout the year until the community is 100.

3 Phases and Focued Outcomes: -Phase 1 QUESTION EVERYTHING Breaking apart assumptions about events, sustainability, and human connection New frameworks applied to real work; participants are fluent in the language of relational infrastructure

-Phase 2 DESIGN EXPERIMENTS Each changemaker tests one transformation in their own context Live experiments in measurement, formats, business models, or technology (in actual jobs, not simulations)

-Phase 3 BUILD THE MOVEMENT Co-create resources, tools, and frameworks that could become industry best practice .

Participant input shapes the global events sector (frameworks, resources, and advocacy)

The theme for 2027's Change Maker programme is anchored around the concept of 'relational infrastructure' the shift from seeing events as logistical exercises to recognising them as the infrastructure through which trust is built, collaboration is sparked, perspectives are shifted, and lasting networks of positive change are created. This builds on learnings from the 2026 programme. This theme connects directly to measurable outcomes: loneliness reduction, social cohesion, democratic participation and to the economic and sustainability transformation the industry faces.

Extra Notes on the Monthly Gathering Design:

Each gathering is designed using principles drawn from the Collective methodology and adapted for the events community context: • Brave space, not safe space: hard conversations are invited, not avoided • Consensus-based direction: participants co-create the agenda priorities through feedback between sessions • Multiple ways to engage: recognising that participants join from different time zones, career stages, and engagement styles • • Facilitator role: Fiona Pelham leads with a co-facilitation approach: guiding, not directing; asking, not telling principles

This is a difficult question which only YOU can answer.

The Ideal Change Maker is:

• ready to commit time and energy

• does not feel threatened by the thought of event business models changing

• is curious about the question 'What does it take to turn innovation into impact?'

• is willing to listen

• understands that this is an experiment and is willing to explore both success and failure

• is willing to feel uncomfortable

• wants to be part of a global peer community exploring the future of human connection ie what is the event sector beyond logistics

• is willing to be curious

• is at a point in your career ( starting out or stepping into greater influence) where you want to use time deliberately and take visible action

• is willing to share insight with others

• shares the goal of positively impacting the future of how humans connect and communities gather

• is willing to speak up even when an idea is not perfectly formed

• understands ‘business as usual’ is limited and is ready to co-create what comes next

This is a very practical question and possibly the most important question if you are getting your participation budget signed off.

The tangible value participants will receive includes:

• •9 × 2 hour workhops on key trends, expert insight

• 9 × 1 hour webinar series

27 hours of leading content

• Facilitated networking with up to 99 others (of course this depends on how many register for this programme)

• Connection to leaders from outside the event sector who understand the value of human connection

• Access to Positive Impact's 20 years of global expertise and proprietary frameworks

• Practical ISO 20121:2024 implementation tools and resources

• Access to technology tested in the Olympism Tech 365 programme

• Participation in innovative approaches alongside major events like COP and other global gatherings through The Pavilion for People

• Career Value evidence of being in action to transition from logistics coordinator to transformation facilitator, the identity shift the sector needs and that the market will increasingly reward

• Measurement tools that prove your value to leadership beyond headcount and logistics delivery

• Credibility through association with ISO 20121, UN SDG frameworks etc

• Opportunity to share your work or research with the network

• Agency being in action to shape what the industry becomes rather than reacting to it

• Belonging: membership in a movement that is in action not just a professional network

Fiona Pelham, CEO of Positive Impact, promises: 'This year-long programme will give you new perspectives and opportunities for action that will not only shape your career but the future of how humans connect and communities gather.'

This question is easy to answer.

If you register for the programme now, attend the sessions, take the opportunities for action this is a framework and community that will support you to deliver the results you are committed to.

This is not a programme delivered to participants. Participants ARE the programme. The minimum is showing up to monthly gatherings and completing one project. The maximum is unlimited: changemakers who go deep will co-create the frameworks that shape the industry.

If you register for the programme but miss all the sessions and ignore the opportunities for action this programme will not deliver results for you.

The fee associated with the Change Maker Programme can not be changed and it represents the impact the programme will have.

The webinar programme is a lower priced product and the Positive Impact Ambassador programme is free to participate in.

If you are asking this question you are exactly the type of person this course has been created for because you understand the nuances of power that exist in HOW a programme is convened.

Positive Impact and their CEO Fiona Pelham will be the main convenors and their approach will be neutral and with the intention of connecting and catalysing ideas.

Different experts will be introduced in at different parts of the programme who will have their own convening style.

During this programme the goal is to pilot methodology for trust building. In other words we will explore a methodology and there will be opportunities for participants to pilot this in their own situation eg a community they lead, a place they are activating or an event they are delivering.

Its important to consider the motivation for leading this convening as that will be reflected in the content. The motivation for Positive Impact and their CEO Fiona Pelham includes:

1- Sharing learning, network and experience from the last 20 years, including the ability to create a space for innovation.

2- Supporting the transformation in how human connection happens. In other words if everyone on this programme gains insight, confidence and connections to develop the future of relational infrastructure the goal of this programme will have been reached.

This programme is NOT being convened to promote Positive Impact education or other related services.

Asking this question is astute as from the answer you can understand if you will be in the right place.

By the end of 2027 there will be 100 people with access to skills, tools, perspectives that will enable relational infrastructure to be built (from community gatherings to major sport events).

This could look like a community champion experimenting with new approaches to trust building.

This could be a business event taking a different approach so all voices can be heard.

This could be a convenor, facilitator or workshop leader activating curiosity and enabling community in their group.

The mix across the Change Maker community would mean academics are collaborating with SME’s who are collaborating with corporate leaders. Ideas are swopped, insights shared, successes celebrated and failures learned from.

The community is global, with a shared virtual space.

The Change Makers are able to thrive in the gap between what is proven and what is possible. They are recognised for their leadership and skills that are shaping the future. They understand ‘knowing what to do’ is not the same as ‘being in action’. There is evidence of Change Makers being brave, bold and making a difference.