About ToP Network:

What is ToP Network?

ToP Network (ToPN) is a membership-based association that connects and supports ToP practitioners in order to improve and expand the use of ToP methods.

Membership opens the door to ToPN's extensive features and benefits.

  • Connects practitioners for support, innovation, cooperation, and professional development
  • Provides resources, tools, and technical assistance
  • Offers learning opportunities through webinars, certification and events
  • Supports research and evaluation of ToP facilitation methods
  • Advocates for the use of ToP methods and ToP-trained facilitators

Members of the ToP Network communicate via their collaborative work projects, virtual meetings, and professional conferences that occur throughout the year.  Members have access to www.top-network.org.  This site is a meeting place that provides members with a social networking stream, shared calendar of events, discussion forums, member profiles, photo gallery, access to resources, and more.

Membership in the ToP Network is $100 per year.  Completion of ToP Facilitation Methods course and a commitment to proper use of the methods are prerequisites.

 

What is ToP?

Technology of Participation (ToP) is a powerful collection of structured facilitation methods that transform the way groups think, talk and work together.  They enable highly energized, inclusive and meaningful group collaboration that lead to successful outcomes.

ToP methods were developed by The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), a leader over the past five decades in promoting lasting positive change in organizations and communities around the world. The methods were crafted over 20 years of global action-research efforts exploring group decision-making and collaborative governance, and ToP’s deep philosophical roots go beyond "tips and tricks" to empower profound and lasting transformation.