Programmes & PRACTICE
A living laboratory for new ways of being together.
These pathways emerge from lived practice at Kufunda —
from years of learning with people, land and community.
Pathway One:
We Come
To You
"Kufunda Village didn't just host our event — it inspired it."
The facilitation team — Maaianne, Jackie, and Sikhethiwe — were exceptional partners in co-creating an inclusive, participatory, and inspiring experience. Through music, Open Space, World Café, content harvesting, dance, and innovative social technologies, their approach was professional and authentic, inviting every participant to connect and contribute meaningfully.
— The Agroecology Fund · African Learning Exchange
What we offer
Programmes born from
lived experience
Each of these processes has been developed, tested, and refined over years of working with real communities on real challenges. They are not theories — they are practices.
THE ART OF PARTICIPATORY LEADERSHIP
1. The Art of
Participatory Leadership
We have seen again and again that when groups slow down, listen deeply, and work in participatory ways, something begins to open. People start to hear each other differently. New possibilities emerge. The Art of Participatory Leadership helps to surface the collective intelligence that is already present in any group. Rooted in the Art of Hosting tradition, it has become one of the core practices we draw on at Kufunda.
An award-winning, process-based multi-day game that brings groups together to explore the deeper dynamics that shape community life — including Power, Diversity, Vision. Go Deep creates a safe, playful container for people to engage with difficult themes in generative, actionable ways. One of Kufunda's most powerful and distinctive offerings.
2. Transformative Community Game
Go Deep
GO DEEP
THE OASIS
GAME
4. A Coaching Tool
The Flow Game
A powerful board game for individual coaching, team development, and leadership reflection. Players explore a specific question, intention, or challenge — finding clarity through dialogue, reflection, and embodied insight. The Flow Game creates an intimate, transformative space for teams and individuals who are ready to go deeper.
3. Community Mobilisation
The Oasis Game
An innovative community engagement process that surfaces the dreams of a community and mobilises people around one shared dream — made manifest in a short, concentrated period of action. The Oasis Game brings together community members, local authorities, and corporates, inviting everyone to step into shared ownership of a community transformation. Visible change happens fast.
THE FLOW
GAME
Women are Medicine
5. Women's Work
Women are Medicine
A women's empowerment journey that supports women to return to the grace, power, and pride in what it means to be a woman today. Our core assumption is that woman are a gift to be embraced. Many women find that their sense of leadership, confidence and purpose continues to deepen long after the time together.
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YOUTH
HUB
6. YOUTH HUB
Confident. Skilled. Rooted.
We regularly host a self-directed Youth Hub at Kufunda to develop leadership, confidence, and capacity among young people to implement practical projects based on their passions and community needs. Skills include carpentry, mechanics, welding, sewing, and more. The hub is a great place for fostering skills development, and entrepreneurship among youth.
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Not everything fits a named programme. If you are working with a specific community challenge, a complex multi-stakeholder situation, or a unique organisational moment — we design together. We bring 21 years of methodology and the living wisdom of Kufunda to whatever you are facing.
Tailor-Made
Participatory Offerings
Our bespoke work includes
—Strategic visioning & organisational renewal
—Leadership immersions & team retreats
—Multi-stakeholder dialogue & conflict transformation
—Community development programme design
—Hybrid & online participatory processes
Participation as a way of life
How we work with you
Our processes are not off the shelf. Every engagement begins with listening — to your context, your people, your challenge. What we bring is a deep repertoire of participatory methods and two decades of lived practice.
We work from a fundamental belief: when people are genuinely engaged in shaping their own solutions, the outcomes are both better and more lasting.
Relational at the core
We cultivate deep relationships — with ourselves, each other, and the land. Everything flows from here.
Grounded in Appreciation
We begin with what is already working — celebrating the richness of what exists as the foundation for what is possible.
Collective Wisdom
We create conditions for the intelligence of the whole group to emerge — not just the loudest voices.
Action
Our processes are designed to produce real, collective, actionable outcomes — not just good conversations.
LEARNING TO LIVE THE FUTURE TODAY
MAAIANNE KNUTH
Co-founder and Director
Maaianne is an experienced facilitator and designer of group learning and co-creation processes. She is passionate about supporting people in coming together in more authentic and life-affirming ways. Maaianne’s story bridges Europe and Africa in an arc that travels from Copenhagen, where she studied international business, to Zimbabwe, where she co-founded Kufunda. Her work in hosting creative and generative processes, including conscious dance, mindfulness, and time in nature supports individuals in waking to who they are and what they can be within their communities - moving towards a more just and beautiful world.”
MEET US AND GET TO KNOW US
As a team we are living our way into our best understanding of what it takes to create healthy, vibrant community - Ever deepening our insights and practice, and sharin as we learn.
"We have spent two decades learning how to create spaces where people remember who they are — and what they are capable of together."
Maaianne Knuth
Co-founder & Director, Kufunda Village