Association for Social Development (ASD)

The ASD is a global association in organisational development which:

Promotes the exchange of research findings and experiences.

Allows members to support and co-operate with each other in working with clients.

Strengthens the spiritual and ethical foundation.

Connects members based in different parts of the world.

In order to do this, we meet once a year.
Next year's conference will be in Bertinoro, Italy, from June 14^th till June 19^th 2025.

ASD

The ASD is not based in one physical location. It exists through individual members, applicants and guests who, once a year gather for a five day conference. The conferences are held in inspirational locations all over the world. During the conference participants aim to inspire each other and deepen the foundations of the work. A facilitating group (consisting of four members) has the role to prepare these conferences, together with a local host group.

The ASD provides the opportunity to work on personal development through dialogue, research in action, practical and physical exercises and networking with peers. Each year the facilitating group designs a conference theme fitting with the current worldly topics and findings in the field. For its members' the ASD is an important platform to share and collaborate on hypotheses and new findings to help with personal development and to assist others in their development too.

Our History

The Association for Social Development was founded in 1987. It grew out of the NPI (Netherlands Pedagogical Institute) which was founded in 1954 by Bernard Lievegoed. Bernard Lievegoed was one of the early pioneers of organisation development.

Members

Members of the Association are individuals who as developmentally orientated professionals commit themselves to work towards its aims, recognise each other as professionally competent, and strive to develop this competence further.
The membership to the ASD is possible through the personal recommendation of a member. This ensures that held expectations do not veer too far from reality.
For getting in contact, find a member in your region or
send us an e-mail.

What we do

The ASD is a body of individual members and applicants who, in their daily lives, work in organisational development. Members and applicants specifically chose the ASD for working across borders within the scientific spiritual field.

We do this by:

Exchanging Ideas

Organisational development work is non-standard. We need each other to exchange ideas on how to facilitate our clients in an ever changing context. Conversing on a theoretical and practical level is an important part of our yearly meeting.

Deepening the roots of our work

The ASD stems from the work of Bernard Lievegoed who continued on the findings of Rudolf Steiner. Lievegoed was the founder of the NPI in the Netherlands, a consultant practice collective in Zeist. The NPI now no longer exists. The ASD is the continuation of the NPI as an association in a non-commercial entity.

Cooperating with each other in working with clients

When working with clients we might appreciate working with colleagues with other skill sets than our own, but who also work from the same philosphy and theory of man. Whatever the situation, the ASD is a community in which we can work together on our clients’ matters with the same philosophy.

Strengthening the spiritual and ethical bases of our work

At the ASD we believe that the inner life of man and the spiritual world want to connect. We also believe that human development exists through collaboration. We bring these beliefs into practice with (group)conversations, theoretical and explorative exercises inspired by the conference theme. A highlight of the conference is a guest speaker who is exercising the same beliefs in the business environment.

Connecting to the regional orientation..

ASD members work together intercontinentally and within regions. When deemed needed by the members a regional ASD meeting will be held. Do you want to know if ASD members are active in your region?

...With a global consciousness

Many ASD members and applicants work with international clients. We and our clients are influenced by global factors, therefore our awareness is global. In between the annual conferences project groups are initiated to support each other in our day to day work. We value the fact that these groups are unobstructed by boarders and travel.

Get in touch

The membership to the ASD is possible through the personal recommendation of a member. This ensures that held expectations do not veer too far from reality.
Please contact us - we will gladly connect you with a member in your region.

We look forward to hearing from you!