Liberating Structures
Liberating Structures are a collection of interaction patterns that allow you to engage the whole group constructively towards the end result.
Liberating Structures are based on 10 principles, such as “Practice Deep Respect for People and Local Solutions“ or “Engage in seriously-playful curiosity”. They combine five design elements in novel ways. An overview of Liberating Structures can be found on the official Liberating Structures website.
Robert van Lieshout from Flourishing Teams is enthusiastic about Liberating Structures: “They are easy to facilitate and - when facilitated well - ensure that each voice is heard.“. Robert has been an active member of the Liberating Structures community since 2018. He is one of the hosts of the Liberating Structures User Group Netherlands since 2020, regularly facilitates a Liberating Structures Workshop (both public and in-company), and frequently applies them in his work as team coach or Scrum Master.
Liberating Structures are co-developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless. Some Liberating Structures are based on or inspired by work of others; on the Liberating Structures website you will find the appropriate attributions. Below is a selection of Liberating Structures resources collected by Flourishing Teams.
Do you want to learn how to design and facilitate inclusive and interactive workshops, including an effective and flexible use of Liberating Structures? Then check out our training series!
The next public offering starts in September 2025.
Online resources
Liberating Structures website
The main international website for Liberating Structures.
LS Europe website
The main European website for Liberating Structures, with links to sites in several different languages.
LS in Dutch
A website with the Dutch translation of Liberating Structures.
LS Slack community
There is a thriving Liberating Structures community on Slack, with many different channels.
LISA the LS app
This app contains a short description of each Liberating Structure and is an alternative for the physical cards.
The Liberators on Medium
The Liberators have an excellent set of articles about how to use Liberating Structures.
LS in Development
This public Trello board contains descriptions of many Liberating Structures that are in development.
Virtual LS Community Handbook
Many Liberating Structures work well online. However, an online setting has different possibilities. This handbook shares tips how to facilitate LS online.
Matchmaker (Dutch version)
A PDF document to help you select the right Liberating Structures when design a session. Dutch only.
LS Strings
This public Trello board contains several strings which can serve as an example. (A string is a workshop made up of multiple Liberating Structures strung together one after another).
LS Global Gathering 2025
The upcoming big 2 day Liberating Structures event in Brussels.
Myth Turning Questions
A PDF document with questions you can use with “Myth Turning”.
Do you want to learn how to design and facilitate inclusive and interactive workshops, including an effective and flexible use of Liberating Structures? Then check out our training series! The next public offering starts in September 2025.