What if a handful of LEGO® bricks could help your organisation develop new projects, tackle complex challenges, and bring people together around a shared vision?
NGOs work with people who have different experiences, perspectives, and interests. Finding common ground, developing ideas, and turning discussions into action can be challenging. Traditional meetings don’t always help everyone contribute equally.
This is where LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) offers a fresh approach.
With our new six-day course, Build to Change: LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® for NGOs, European Exchange invites NGO staff, volunteers, project managers, and board members to discover how hands-on creativity can transform collaboration and problem-solving.
Think with your hands, discover new perspectives
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is a facilitated method that uses LEGO® bricks to help people think, communicate, and solve problems together.
Instead of simply discussing ideas, participants build models representing their thoughts, experiences, challenges, or visions. They then explain their models, explore different perspectives, and discover connections they might otherwise have overlooked.
Everyone gets a voice, making the method particularly valuable for organisations where staff, volunteers, board members, and project partners bring different perspectives to the table.
Five ways NGOs can use LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
1. Develop a shared vision
Explore your organisation’s mission, values, and future priorities. Make different perspectives visible and build a shared understanding of where you want to go.
2. Design better projects
Visualise project ideas, identify stakeholders, explore potential challenges, and develop creative solutions. LSP can support project planning and the development of funding proposals.
3. Strengthen teamwork
Use building and storytelling to explore different viewpoints, improve communication, and address tensions constructively.
4. Facilitate participatory workshops
Engage communities, young people, and other target groups in developing ideas and expressing their needs. The visual, hands-on approach can be especially useful in multilingual settings.
5. Turn ideas into action
Apply LSP in project kick-offs, strategic planning sessions, team meetings, and workshops to move from abstract discussions towards concrete next steps.
LSP is not simply a team-building activity. It is a practical method that can be adapted to real organisational challenges and used directly in projects and workshops involving external participants.
Learn by doing
Our six-day course combines practical exercises, reflection, and collaborative learning. Participants will explore the method, experiment with different building techniques, and learn how to structure and facilitate LSP sessions.
You will also develop your own workshop activities based on situations from your professional practice, exchange ideas with other participants, and discover how to adapt the method to different groups and objectives.
The goal is to enable you to use LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® independently in your everyday work—whether for internal organisational development, project planning, or workshops with the people and communities your NGO serves.
No previous experience with LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® is required.
Join us in Portugal in 2027
Our course is designed for NGO professionals, volunteers, project managers, facilitators, and anyone interested in developing more creative and participatory ways of working.
European Exchange offers the six-day training in Portugal, creating opportunities to exchange experiences with participants from different professional and cultural backgrounds.
Course dates for 2027:
- 17–22 May: Lisbon
- 12–17 July: Porto
- 11–16 October: Ponta Delgada, Azores — German
- 8–13 November: Lisbon — German
The course is available in English or German, depending on the scheduled session.
Course fee: €500.
If you would like to participate with a group of at least four people but the published dates don’t suit you, contact us to discuss an additional course.
👉 Discover the course and register: Build to Change: LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® for NGOs
Ready to build a different future?
NGOs are in the business of change. But creating change also means rethinking how we collaborate, make decisions, and involve the people affected by our work.
LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® offers a hands-on way to make complex issues tangible, encourage participation, and transform different perspectives into opportunities for collective action.
You don’t need to be artistic or have all the answers. You just need a willingness to experiment, reflect, and discover new possibilities.
Build new perspectives. Build stronger collaboration. Build to change.
We look forward to welcoming you to Portugal!
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