ZinderSpace : Safe, Brave & Alive

Reflections from our recent STEMM learning ecosystem gatherings

Last week, we came together in a series of gatherings as part of the STEMM unfolding learning ecology. What emerged went beyond safety or bravery — it felt like a Zinder Space.

A Zinder Space is a place of aliveness, warmth, and joyful resonance. A space where something vibrates beneath the surface — like sunlight shimmering on skin, or the hum of curiosity before a question is asked.

It welcomes beauty, play, reflection, and connection. It’s not just about safety or bravery, but about aliveness: Where people feel the warmth of connection, The thrill of discovery, And the freedom to glow, wonder, and move.

In a Zinder Space, we dare to feel, laugh, linger, create, and be touched. Joy and depth are not opposites here — they’re dance partners.

With deep gratitude to co-hosts Ielde Vermeir , Michelle Holliday and Fayez Alabbas . They embodied the role of Zinder Host — stewards of aliveness.

Zinder Hosts sense what is alive in the group and make space for it. They slow down time so not-knowing can surface. They help the group orient to what is becoming meaningful — toward coherence, beauty, and depth. They hold a grounded field where emotions, tensions, and silence are welcome. They give subtle language or shape to what’s emerging when the collective rhythm begins to soften.

A Zinder Host: – doesn’t lead the group, but listens it forward – doesn’t create the space, but lets it arise – doesn’t push for outcomes, but clarifies the longing already present

And how do we know, days later, that these were truly Zinder Spaces?

Because something still hums. Not just the memory of connection — but a felt sense that what happened mattered. Warmth in the chest. A quiet sense of rightness. And a subtle confidence: That the work we’re doing is not only good — It is necessary.

After-zinder is when joy, depth, and purpose have danced close enough to touch — and left a trace.

We need more of these places — Spaces where epistemic justice becomes tangible, Where hope breathes, And collective wisdom is invited to speak.

Een Zinder Host: is niet de leider, maar een luisterende richtinggever maakt niet de ruimte, maar laat haar ontstaan wijst niet de weg, maar verheldert het verlangen dat al aanwezig is.

Original LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/zinderspace-safe-brave-alive-marianne-schapmans-qydne/