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  • Jul 21
  • 11 min read

The Hague Center team welcomes you to share in our stories from the heart of our practice.

Left to right: Lisette Schuitemaker - long time friend and supporter of THC, Anita Floris (Board), Natascha van den Ban, Marriane de Jager (Board),

Anne-Marie Voorhoeve (Co-founder), Pieter Wackers, Diana Claire Douglas.

( Not shown from core team and board: Alicia Stammer, Haseena Patel, Henry Mentink (Board), Kara Stonehouse

And from the THC co-creative collective: Aansan Yee, Adrian Iacobus, Anna Freedman, Mona Rabie, Rodrigo Martinez Romero)




This is a sacred virtual space filled with Heart Songs from The Hague Center Team - themes and experiences that make our hearts sing, guidance on the path. This journey is a shared one, and we all contribute to the weaving of the Golden Thread that makes its way through our lives - to YOU, reading this, thank you for being with us..      

With Love, 

Anne- Marie Voorhoeve, co-founder and Integral Alignment Steward,The Hague Center



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One of my best friends in the 1960s was Winnie-the-Pooh. What I love about him is the way he feels free to break the normal logic. That resonated because I often did that myself, in order to make sense of the changing environments we lived in (Dutch, Arab, British, Chinese Malaysian, American).



According to Benjamin Hoff, author of The Tao of Pooh, Pooh is following Taoïsm. 

Anyway, reading Pooh helps me in this new reality I find myself in - this alchemical journey of healing of cancer.


Being a patient in the Netherlands in the medical system that works counter intuitively for me, breaking down so much of the body's healing capacity in order to strengthen it in the end ... It's tough. And I acknowledge and comply with the “Yes” to treatment that I and we as family have given, supported by integral holistic treatment.


In general I am doing okay, coping with the weekly treatments. 


I have come to learn that my journey has to do with a systemic re-balancing of former lives. What this entails … well, the Pooh Way is to not ask about this process and to focus on finding the Honey... which for me stands for the Joy of Life itself. And trust that healing will unfold in ways I cannot even imagine.


And so I find myself regularly with our dog and cat outside around our house in nature, in awe of its beauty, with fruits, flowers, roses, songs of the birds, Dutch skies and a little Zumba now and then ... and inside: in a few of those emergent zoom conversations with some of you, that expands the love in my heart even more …


Some topics we touch upon are described in these HeartSongs, while others are jewels I cherish... and all ... well, as Pooh would say: It is the same thing as enjoying honey! 


In gratitude and love, Anne-Marie





The pulse from the core team


HONOURING ERVIN LASZLO


The Club of Budapest International Network gathering, Budapest July 2017 


We take this opportunity to honour Ervin László, who passed on from this life on 29 June 2026.  For many years Anne-Marie and Ervin worked together in different contexts for a “global shift” toward a more peaceful, equitable, and sustainable world. With Pieter Wackers and THC she supported the Club of Budapest. We honour Ervin’s evolutionary contribution to the world and his contribution to the many lives he personally touched.  Our world is richer for having had his wisdom and now for his legacy which will live on through his many books, the Club and the László Institute of New Paradigm Research.


In the words of dear Carita and the family, “Together, may we all strengthen the field of love and coherence that surrounds, supports, and transports him on and beyond this mortal life.”



SOULS IN ROLES IN RESONANCE

Integrity at the Center 

By Anita Floris 


Our team has been enlivened by our explorations of using sociocracy lightly in conscious governance, while sensing and listening deeply to the spirit of The Hague Center as our primary guide. We took time and care to define and practice the roles in our organ’isation.  Last Heartsong we explored the Energetic Wellbeing Tenders Role. This time it's about the Integrity Guardian.  


My name is Anita Floris and I have stepped into the role of Integrity Guardian of THC chosen with a sociocratic nomination process. It is so interesting to notice that by having accepted this role, it has empowered me to intervene when questions around integrity arise in me. Would I otherwise perhaps ignore or park these question marks, now they alert me to my responsibility. I am not a ‘medler’, but I have been given permission to ask, to take a pause from everything that is going on and reflect on where we stand. It is a beautiful opportunity to make use of the skills I have been trained in and the sensitivities I have that I can now bring into the service of our cocreative collective. This is a role that is close to my heart and I feel truly called to do.  


In THC we have agreed on purpose and principles and hold them high. We have our own personal integrity and interior experiences, they don’t stand alone, we are embedded in the culture around us, including our volunteers, supporters, partners, grant givers and so on, with specific requirements and legal obligations. Are we sure these are aligned? Do our actions reflect that?  


We appreciate that we all do our best to show up and contribute to THC, and that sometimes we have blind spots and slip up, and these need to be addressed. Part of our commitments and practices are that we all contribute to be open, to look into our actions and motives and to create a supportive and loving environment that enables us to be open to both receiving challenges and giving them.


As Integrity Officer I might take the lead, or I support others in having a compassionate conversation. Central to our inquiry is always to support opening our awareness, our growing insights and development, and strengthen our integrity.


We all feel that we can help evolve the power of conscious governance by practicing it in real life, together. It means we make the moves and do the hard learning that makes the difference in how we evolve.


Integrity Guardian

Role Holder: Anita Floris (1 December 2025)

Purpose: Sensing and safeguarding integral alignment with ethics, and also legal requirements

Accountabilities:

  • Hold the perspective that what we do as an organisation is ethical, done with integrity as well as within the parameters and spirit of the law.

  • Provide guidance - and if needed documentation, clear policies and procedures - regarding ethical topics. 

  • Be the first point of contact and space holder for questions regarding integrity or legal issues, and for anyone in the organisation experiencing or noticing ethical misalignment issues. If needed, define the process for handling those issues and ensure we follow it as an organization. 

  • Aligning with tension and harmony navigator and integral alignment

  • Fulfill the role of ‘vertrouwenspersoon’ for the Dutch foundation of THC

By Diana Claire Douglas 


Inspired by our love for All-Life, THC.FI, co-founded by Anne-Marie and Diana Claire is a holon of The Hague Center for Global Governance, Innovation and Emergence. It is a Center for deep inquiry into big questions using an experiential and embodied practice we call Constellating for the Collective (C4C) - a branch of Systemic Constellation Work (SCW). 


C4C is a creative process with many options for how we find the question or issue to be explored, name the elements of the system, map the system of elements, listen to the messages from the Field, and gather insights from the process. Our explorations are in service of the Whole. 


As a facilitator of Constellating for the Collective, I appreciate Bert Hellinger’s “discovery” through phenomenological experiments, of two things that distinguish SCW from other processes: 1. There is a Knowing Field, a sacred container within which we can explore and experiment. 2. As human beings we have the ability to tune into the Knowing Field - we are the antennae receiving and broadcasting information and energy from the Knowing Field. This is Representative Perception. 


Representative Perception is shifting from thinking, imagining, and intuiting to in-forming and sensing. Although this is our natural state most of us learned to shut down this awareness. Developing Representative Perception is one of several benefits of participating in Constellating for the Collective sessions.


To learn more (link to full article) What is Representing?


As Ervin Laszlo said to the Constellation Community, “The 'new' paradigm, where everything in this universe is eternally connected with everything else,  opens the door to an entirely new possibility of understanding Representative Perception and where the concept of the 'Knowing Field' or the 'Akashic Field' makes sense.” 


Constellating for the Collective is an experiential process. The Knowing Field welcomes you to try it  out!


THC.FI offers Constellating for the Collective facilitation for individuals and groups who  wish to explore deep questions.  Diana Claire Douglas is author of Whole Systems Design: Inquiries in the Knowing Field (a manual on facilitating Collective Constellations) and can be contacted here for inquiries about Constellating for the Collective. 

  






Artists Catalyzing Evolution - Sacred space we call home. 

 By Kara Stonehouse 


As part of the evolutionary leaders, I have been a member of the Artists Catalyzing Evolution (ACE) monthly meeting for several years. This space has grown into an intimate, safe container where we all feel held with so much love and divine devotion, where prayer sweeps us up and holds us, where pain is allowed space and healing happens.  Recently, we experienced a particularly rich session, where we shared about our experiences with our loved ones contemplating birth and death and new birth giving hope to those near death. We explored how dialoguing with family members about our feelings and desires around death can be so healing.  Many shared how the Graceful Passages audio by Gary Malkin has been a balm as the sound track to these tender moments. 


The Ace synergy circle is excited to be building the ACE Gallery, hosted by Julie Krull within the collaborative Connection Field in Mighty Networks. Here is a sneak peak of a post from ACE member and  Poet Charles Gibbs. 



As part of that, I have shared a Love Organized art gallery.   Join the Connection Field Mighty Network to check it out!!   You can find there a link to my TEDx talk “BECOMING LOVE ORGANIZED “ which launched on May 28th for my birthday with an absolutely beautiful party blessed by the singing of Tatiana Speed!   I am very much enjoying practicing artful distributed leadership with the Love Organized project team and Guardians.   It is a joy bringing my voice and art into my mission for new governance and finance systems.  We would love your involvement and support at www.loveorganized.com






Reflections from the Holomovement Wave in Portugal May 28th - June 2nd

By Kara Stonehouse


The Wave was a time of beauty. The music and production were truly divine and a young, enthusiastic crowd was highly engaged in the event.  We started with a breath work journey, improvised music in the evenings with the amazing duo Jurgis and Amikayla and many others.  The new Holos networking app is very inviting.   Hats off to the team!   I was honoured to graphic record and be a full part of this sensational event.  My highlight was the Ocean Bloom presentation of a diver with deep patience and presence  telling touching video stories of extraordinary encounters with whales.  Lynne Twist was a gem as expected and Lynne McTaggart Power of 8 was excellent again.  The transformation stories she tells are so clear and convincing. She shows crime reducing 40% in intention experiments with just 10 minutes of group  intention over 6 days.  



On the Activation Day - the breakout groups had exceptional synergy and energy.  A tech collaboration project emerged called Trust Flow that is continuing very well. 


I can feel our movement maturing and cohering into a whole body capable of the transformation we dream of!! 



World Peace Forum 2025

Video for 14th Luxembourg Peace Prize event 

By Haseena Patel


The 14th Luxembourg Peace Prize event, an initiative of the Schengen Peace Foundation, took place on June 19th.  (The World Peace Forum is also an initiative of the Schengen Peace Foundation).  This is an event that Anne-Marie, as Laureate of the prize, and organiser of World Peace Forum 2025 South Africa, would have attended and spoken at. To convey her message, we created this short video about last year’s World Peace Forum as organised by THC and partners.  In the photo above, President of the Schengen Peace Foundation, Vicki Hansen, presents the Luxembourg Peace Prize for Outstanding Peace Process  to Janet Jobson, CEO of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, to honour Archbishop Tutu posthumously  at the 2025 Forum in Cape Town.  



Reflections from World Unity Week 2026: A New Beginning

June 21-28

By Kara Stonehouse & Haseena Patel 



For the seventh time, we  co-produced World Unity Week  with Unity Earth and SINE Network.  It was a lovely, coherent gathering with a mixture of larger events planned by the organizers and open slots for the community to bring their voices forward in Room ONE.  Hubcast Media professionally produced daily Feature sessions for UETV. All replays are available: https://unity.earth/world-unity-week-2026-uetv/     Some noteworthy sessions from The Hague Center were the session on Doing Peace Differently with Jay Naidoo from South Africa, Bridging Continents, and the Commons Economics session with Hunter Lovins and a panel of next generation economics builders. 


Ben Bowler shared a rich reflection on WUW 2026, noticing we all enter the Big Tent from different doors of perception and language.   We keep and honour our diversity as we discover and celebrate our Unity.   https://unity.earth/the-great-tent/


There was a core group of 10-20 people among the 100+ attendees, who seemed to attend every single session, especially co-producer Shawnda Clawson of the Earth Mother Network was the queen busy bee, spreading love, care and  deep presence in each session.  We honoured her and the women holding space of World Unity Week with a hand created watercolour painting and hand written notes of appreciation. 


As we all continue our missions and witness acts of compassion as we journey together over the 99 days of Peace through Unity taking us to Peace Week in September, we are reminded to report on all the great work we do to make it visible on the Compassion Games website.


Thanks for all the sweet nectar of World Unity Week! 


UPCOMING EVENTS 
UPCOMING EVENTS 

Global Mayors Academy Launch 

By Pieter Wackers


THC is proud to be a co-founding partner in Living Cities Earth, where we continue the work on cities and ecoregions we’ve been doing together with Integral City for more than a decade. Living Cities Earth is a growing ecosystem of people and projects united by the idea of cities as living systems — a field where researchers, practitioners, and dreamers of a different kind of urban life have found each other and begun weaving their work together. Our goal has always been to bring it into action, to let this vision take root in real cities and real lives.


That's how the Global Mayors Academy came to be, with its City Leaders Program — a six-month journey for city leaders (not just mayors) in small and medium-sized cities, combining learning with real projects in their own cities. So much of humanity lives in these cities, and if we can help city leaders make their cities a better place to live, and at the same time plant some seeds of unity and interconnectedness, this could be a very strong acupuncture point. 


Alongside the City Leaders Program there is a shorter program on leadership maturity, and we're happy to share that the next one will be in person, in Amsterdam, July 25–26. We'd love to see you there — you can find more and register at


GMA Meeting with Mathias Müller, mayor of Lichtensteig - Switzerland





Haseena, co-founder of Leave No Girl Behind International, is co-creator of the I Woman Rise Leadership Accelerator - a 12-week, heart-centred, global, life-centric program for women to UN-Become who they are not and live the truth of who they are, creating the world they dream about, from the inside out.  To get a taste of  the program, join us for a free 2 hour Live Virtual Experience on August 22, 2026 at 4pm CET


Peace Week Sept 21st  - September will be here before we know it!!  Would you like to be featured in Peace Week this year in a THC hosted panel discussion?  Reach out to Kara@thehaguecenter.org or Haseena@thehaguecenter.org  to coordinate. 


The Hague Center is partnering to promote the ORIGIN festival October 17th 2026.  

This fits well with our World Peace Forum work in South Africa and Solstice Unites activities in New York City    https://ourorigin.earth/




 
 

Welcome to The Hague Center Heart Song One! April 20th, 2026


The Hague Center team welcomes you to share in our stories from the heart of our practice



We invite you to thread your needle…


This is a sacred virtual space filled with Heart Songs from The Hague Center Team - themes and experiences that make our hearts sing, guidance on the path. This journey is a shared one, and we all contribute to the weaving of the Golden Thread that makes its way through our lives - to YOU, reading this, thank you for being with us..      

With Love, 

Anne- Marie Voorhoeve, co-founder and Integral Alignment Steward,The Hague Center


The pulse from the core team


Happy Birthday to The Hague Center!


As The Hague Center for Global Governance, Innovation and Emergence develops into its 18th year, and our charitable foundation turns 12 years old this month, we are reflecting on how we are maturing as an organization.   In the Netherlands, a foundation is called a ‘Stichting’ and this word tickles us how that resonates with our purpose as a weaver of golden threads as we work to fulfill our mission to serve the emergence of heart-centered planetary governance with all domains of life, visible and invisible.  


Our team has been enlivened by our explorations of using sociocracy lightly  in conscious governance,  while sensing and listening deeply to the spirit of The Hague Center as our primary guide.  Because we all hold this capacity together, we are spiritually aligned with our personal purposes within the whole of the ‘organ'isation’, which is more like a living being with organs than a top-down pyramid or a consensus circle. We will be sharing more about our process and the roles under the Souls In Resonance heading. 


Being part of the THC core team and organ’isation is a nourishing part of our lives where we are held with deep care to grow and serve the whole to the best of our abilities, and to continually expand those abilities.  We offer great gratitude to the field of you who we work with on this great mission for life, for love!  Thank you for all the inspiration, for reading here and being who you are! 



This is a space for Anne-Marie to keep us updated on her healing journey as she feels called to share.  We get to add to this energy, feel the collective energy and share in the journey of someone who is so dear to us.  Anne-Marie is surrounded with love and support, including Power of 8 intention groups of the THC core team and other circles.


May we all honour this space and together BE a support network for our dear Anne-Marie as she heals to Perfect health.


With love THC team 



Dear friends, 


Recently I have found myself being plunged into an unexpected journey.  

I have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Through walking this path as I heal, I am sure there will be new and deeper ways of looking at the world, learning on another level about healing the feminine, at the heart, the place of the mother and the Earth.  


I am beginning medical treatment in the Netherlands on Wednesday 22 April - Earth Day, which is also my late mother’s birthday, the 22 Prayers of Women of Mother Earth, and more - a special day indeed… I feel the love, intention and healing with that, and also with the care of family and friends, of the THC team, and with several Power of 8 groups supporting me. 


What is sent to me by so many of you across the world with such kindness is truly nourishing.  



In loving gratitude, Anne-Marie



Souls In Roles in Resonance

Recently, we have been expanding the team, deepening our purpose with the Spirit of The Hague Center, and defining our roles more precisely with purposes, accountabilities, and identification of essential connections with other roles.  


The newly defined role of Energetic Well-Being Tenders has been particularly engaging for team members Natascha and Alicia, who feel increased agency and inspiration after taking the role as a duo and co-creating their purpose and processes with it.  This work quickly became useful and in the center of our core meetings as we navigated several emerging issues in our field.  The energetic work helps us to stay grounded and heart-centered. Just as other lenses we use such as treating tensions as important information to be worked through,  and the praxis of pattern sensors,  zooming in and then out to hold a larger perspective.   This Energetic support is sometimes 1:1 for individuals in relation to THC topics, sometimes as organisational grounding for projects such as our Cohere+ complex EU grant, and sometimes as the ‘away team’  holding the field's intention  while we are out and about at events.  We feel held, and deeply appreciative to have this as part of our praxis and field.  


We created the roles from the tasks we are each naturally fulfilling. What has surprised us is that the naming and defining the roles and accountabilities in our current state brought a new level of energy and commitment to the whole organisation. We are now continuing with completing our holons decision making structure which we will write about more another time. 



Calls to connect

By Haseena Patel


Bridging Continents Weekly Calls take place at 10:30am CET every Thursday for an hour, facilitated either by Anne-Marie (founder of this beautiful space) or I, and sometimes by one of our core members.  This is an hour of emergence-in-action, silence, alignment and sharing of the call to Peace that we hold close to our hearts - inner Peace and our contribution to collective Peace.  Participants have been inspired to contribute to what is emergent for them, e.g. bioregional ceremonies, Healing for Rising, and other events.   

 Some descriptions of joining the calls:  “a space that feels like home” (Kara Stonehouse); “this space is for holding and centering us as we weave our special gifts into this new world we co-create for, in deep connection, deep listening and just being” (Annelies Weijschedé); "My weekly cup of warm love to continue my journey in life." (Amelie Picard). 


New participants who want to experience emergent conversations are welcome - please reach out to us at info@thehaguecenter.org











Upcoming events by THC and partners we are excited to share


Earth Week Celebration - A Better World on Hubcast - April 22nd


Greenland Peace Mission – Where Land Is Free, 19-24 April 


World Unity Week Assembly - online - April 29th

 

Holomovement Wave in Portugal May 28th - June 2nd


Becoming Love Organized Tedx Talk Launch - May 28th (Kara's Birthday)


Bridging Continents - Colombia & Amazon in June 


14th Luxembourg Peace Prize, ECCL European Convention Center - Luxembourg- June 19th 


Solstice Unites - online - June 21st 


World Unity Week June 21-28th 2026 - A New Beginning





 
 

My colleague Haseena just asked me, "If you could wave a magic wand this week, what would you have happen?"

I answered, "When our Amplify Eachothers' Light team goes on The Awakening World this week, it goes really well.... and 12 people sign up?! " I noticed the 'goes really well' part felt good and bright and I could picture it and feel the event going really well. Then the '12 people sign up' part was shy and constricted, I said it quickly and shyly. My shoulders went up and my head went down. I didn't really believe 12 people would magically sign up.


Sarah McCrum, celebrated author and trainer on the Energy of Money, plays a game with us called the Money Gods. You make a request, and the Money Gods mirror back the energy you are actually requesting. I feel the money gods would have said,

"Yes, the event will go really well, and two people will sign up." Maybe that is realistic. Thatt is what I actually saw and believed in the moment.


I also want to make sure I am setting up my energy transmission and body language for the best possible outcome. When I talk about the course and invite people to join and pay, imagine they share my joy and excitement of the six of us evolutionary sisters working together to create this course and community. I imagine the listener to feel the uplift that we are already experiencing, and feel safe and held in our care. I hear my voice and see my body language exuding the potential and power of what we are offering.

People feel drawn to go deeper with us. This presence is what Sarah McCrum has mastered. We are elated that she will be our special guest trainer on October 24th!!


The 'selling' part is so scary and old patterns get in the way. Nobody is going to come to my party, is a sad old wound from my teen years. We organized a 1:1 call with a potential particiapant to practice and model a discovery call that helps someone decide if they will join the course and pay. I accidentally didn't show up for the call! My colleagues were confused and disapointed because I am usually so capable and moving things forward. This is my 'not good enough' sabotage pattern that comes up when I get close to being successfull in my purpose. I forget to show up for an important call. It even happened when meeting with Sarah McCrum to inivte her to the program. I was just sick. But I managed to appologize and share my pattern story and rebook the calls.


This sub-conscious part of myself is where I have to continue to do my homework. I can apply what I learned in Feminine Power with Dr. Claire Zammit. I can visit the younger version of myself who decided I am no good and give her care and love. I tell her "You are good enough for God, and good enough for me, just as you are."

I relax the pattern of trying to do too much to prove how good I am and then slipping up because I am over committed and need more quiet time and family time. Sound familar? Do old patterns creep up on you too when it counts the most!? This is where the nervous system support and Feminine Power coaching come into the course to help us feel safe in the process of becoming visible and streching our comfort zones with money and purpose.


So what is my next step? I will set a much more open and confident intention. I will relax into the joy of the sisterhood and and growth we are experiencing together. Relax into the knowing that we are skilled enough to host this transformative journey and it will be very valuable to people. I will slow down, and speak slowly from my heart. I will relax into knowing that my compasionate sisters have my back, even when I make a big mistake, we can recover together. This is all the difference between me concluding I am just not good enough or me brushing myself off, giving myself compassion, and continuing on with the next steps.


I have distilled the keys of thriving in my purpose in a simple mantra...


Ask for help, make it simple, never give up.


"Dear Money Gods, I can see and feel our event going really well. I see us attracting 12 evolutionary women to our program by October 10th, 2023.




 
 
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