graphic facilitation – Claudio Nichele

15/11/202518/11/2025

Reflections after the graphic recording at SG REFORM staff away day

On 12 November 2025, I had the opportunity to visually capture the discussions as a graphic recorder during the first away day for staff of SG REFORM, a Directorate-General of the European Commission.

While we often discuss transformation and innovation theoretically or empirically, SG REFORM lives it.

Their teams emerged from the merger of two departments (DGs) during the COVID crisis, rapidly developing innovative solutions like the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), which is now deployed to tackle almost every crisis the EU has faced since.

At SG REFORM, they are trailblazers exploring uncharted territories, blending traditional and modern work methods to tackle complex issues collaboratively in a matrix structure. In these challenging times, including workload and political pressures, their management trusts the dynamism and expertise of their remarkably young team.

I am proud to be a colleague, in a way close to these people who are shaping the future of the EU with resilience, expertise, and creativity. I didn’t know them well before, but my role as graphic recorder for their internal event gave me an added perspective and allowed me to forge an emotional connection. It helped me focus on the individuals, the teams, and their overall work context. That’s not necessarily what I conveyed visually, but that’s the impression I got.

My post on Linkedin

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31/10/202518/11/2025

Believe in people and let them fly

Last week, during the Evidence-Informed Policy-Making (EIPM) community meeting in Brussels, I had the chance to do what I love: bringing ideas to life through graphic recording. But this time was special. I was joined by five colleagues I had recently trained in sketchnoting with Célia Pessaud.

For them, it was their first live recording experience. They stepped forward with curiosity, courage and trust, and they did beautifully. Seeing them in action filled me with joy and pride. It reminded me that leadership is not about doing things alone, but about creating the conditions for others to grow and shine. Célia and I wanted to share not just the techniques of visual thinking, but also the confidence to use them. And that’s exactly what happened.

I deeply believe that visual thinking belongs to everyone as a tool for reflection, communication and collective sense-making.
To the five visual thinkers who joined me that day: thank you. You made the invisible visible and you made me proud.

If you are a member of the European institutions and also want to learn the basics of sketchnoting, search for “StartSketch” on EU Learn, our training platform.

My post on Linkedin

EIPM event - graphic recording with new practitioners

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09/04/202517/04/2025

Third meeting of the European Citizens’ Initiative network

Here is my graphic recording from the 3rd meeting of the ECI network, the European Citizens’ Initiative.
For a full day, European partners working to promote and communicate this unique tool of participatory democracy gathered at the invitation of the Secretariat-General of the European Commission. Their goal? To explore how they could better collaborate so that more EU citizens are aware of and make use of the initiative.
From my external perspective, one key takeaway stood out: to truly reach citizens, we must meet them where they are, with stronger, more effective communication. This means better campaigns, clearer tools, and more resources. Partners also expressed the need for financial support from the EU and called for a simplification of the administrative procedure, so that reaching the goal of one million signatures becomes more realistic. Incentives, encouragement, and active support from the Commission would help initiators stay motivated throughout the process.

And you, have you heard of this unique European tool for participatory democracy?

I would like to thank Barbara Walentynowicz and Adriana Mungiu for trusting me for the second consecutive year with the graphic recording; and thank Mira Bangel and Marina Lynch with whom the facilitation of the event is so natural and efficient.

ECIgathering_20250408_CommunicationChallenges

ECIgathering_20250408_Knowledge CaféSessions1of2

ECIgathering_20250408_Knowledge CaféSessions2of2

ECIgathering_20250408_QuestionsToDiscuss

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23/03/202517/04/2025

Inner development goals (IDG) walk

What talents and skills already exist within me, or lie dormant, just waiting to be nurtured and developed? What inner strengths do I already have? What other skills could I cultivate to continue evolving and, in turn, become an agent of change, within my team, my organisation, or even society? How can my personal growth meaningfully contribute to my work environment and the world at large in these times of great transformation, uncertainty, and conflicting viewpoints?

Last week, I joined a group of colleagues from the European Commission for a reflective walk in the forest, immersing ourselves in these questions. Our focus? A deep dive into the five dimensions of the Inner Development Goals (IDGs), a powerful framework for personal and collective growth.

Surrounded by nature, still caught between winter’s lingering quiet and the bold arrival of spring, our conversations took on a different depth. Thinking and connecting in the great outdoors is profoundly different from doing so within four walls, no straight lines, no artificial constraints, just the wind, the sun, the scent of trees, and the grounding feel of stones beneath our feet.

This experience left me wondering: Have you explored the IDGs for your own inner growth and the growth of your team? How do you integrate inner development into your professional life?

In the photo are my visual notes taken live during the walk in the forest.

Inner development goals, IDGs - Sketchnotes

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24/11/202416/12/2024

Graphic recording and Communities of Practice

Developing a community of practice is both an art and a challenge. Growing it dynamically and organically, keeping it vibrant, and ensuring it thrives requires specific actions, continuous energy, and unwavering dedication at every stage of its life cycle. While elements like clear purpose, committed sponsorship, strong governance, and an engaged core team can lay a solid foundation, what truly drives a community forward is the passion of its members for their craft.

The HR professionals’ community of the EU institutions exemplifies this beautifully. Through their commitment, energy, and collaboration, they have created a space that feels alive, which is warm and dynamic. I have the privilege of following this community closely, through my normal job but also through my activities as a visual thinker within the EU institutions.

Recently, they invited me for the graphic recording of their meetup and to facilitate a Knowledge Café. The focus of the Meetup was on “trends in the world of Human Resources”.

What stood out to me was not only the relevance of the topic but also the enthusiasm, goodwill, and deep engagement of the members in the room and online, extending even to other EU bodies. Their passion for the discipline of HR is truly inspiring.

This event was particularly special for me because I wasn’t working alone. I had the joy of being joined by two talented colleagues from my own community of sketchnoters, @reiter_petra and Sara Serrano Perez . After attending the sketchnoting training I provide within the institutions with Celia Pessaud , they accepted my invitation to join me for their very first live sketchnoting experience. Their work was remarkable, especially for beginners, and gives me so much hope for the future of visual thinking in our institutions. Seeing their joy and pride in their work warmed my heart and reinforced my belief in the power of communities to nurture and inspire.

The EU institutions are evolving and innovating, often more than it seems from the outside. Vibrant communities of practice, paired with an increasing number of colleagues embracing visual thinking, are at the heart of this transformation. I’m grateful to witness and contribute to this journey.

Graphic recording at the EU HR Professionals community meet-up

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10/12/202312/08/2024

Graphic recording of the JRC senior management seminar

As member of the JRC and as visual thinker, I was invited to capture visually the main insights of the JRC senior management seminar. During two days, I listened to a few hundred managers taking stock after one year of the launch of an innovative way of working in transversal modes in our organisation, the so-called JRC portfolios. The program was a fair balance between keynotes, informative presentations, exchanges, and conversations in world café mode. My challenge was to create the graphic recording of all this in order to provide a visual but also emotional memory that would be useful to the participants and those who were not present.

On the substance

Overall, the results after one year are positive. There is a deeper understanding among the managers of the benefits of collaborating and working together on cross-cutting themes to “do even better science to support EU policies”. There are of course issues to resolve, while navigating a complex organisation and world, but by working together, everyone agreed that we would be able to overcome it all.

How I worked

Aware that I would not have been able to capture the essence of extremely technical, dense and tense conversations over two days, I put together a small team of volunteers to help me. They were instructed to write down points and insights that were important to them on post-its (when they wanted and if they could) and bring them to me. This is how dozens of post-its arrived at me at the end of each intervention. Thanks to them I was able to refine my live visual notes by confirming or correcting my own notes, or by covering what I had missed.

Personal take-aways

The intensity of the program spread over three days, and the exhausting trips to and from the hotel which was very far away, should not have impacted my concentration and my ability to listen. So I relied on a few small moments of meditation during the days, whether it’s a walk outside the conference center or stacking stones in balance inside. This is really what allowed me to keep my concentration and manage my mental fatigue.

I was moved when some of the colleagues who helped me with the harvesting said at the end that they had listened to the speeches with much deeper attention than usual. They experienced the basics of harvesting, this technique in the art of hosting which first consists of listening at different levels. Without them I would not have been able to create such rich and deep visual notes. Harvesting important events can only be done correctly with and as a team.

I want to express them my gratitude and to the other colleagues with whom I had the privilege of working closely, for their support, their help, their kindness, for the coffees brought, their smiles, for their comforting looks, for who they are. Beautiful people.

This blog post is available on Linkedin as well

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26/11/202221/08/2024

Visual thinking at the service of the collective and its intelligence

To better support the change in the ways of working within the European Commission, a group of colleagues from different teams have decided to join forces in a collective. The idea is to bring together within the same entity all the existing teams which support, facilitate, advise on change, whether they come from the field of HR, organisational development, coaching, consulting, IT, science, governance, data and knowledge management, facilitation, etc. A few days ago, 40+ members of these teams came together for the first time. I had the privilege of being part of these colleagues as a participant and as a host with Ildikó Faber, Mira Bangel, Snezha Kazakova, Fania Pallikarakis, Antonella Tarallo, and Suvi.

One of my roles was to bring visual thinking to the day’s sessions. To help get to know each other better, a session was about creating a competencies visual map. I proposed to colleagues to use wool threads to link their name to competencies, teams and entities on a large board. The session was very dynamic and the result very visual.

To create a common understanding of the mandate of the new entity, we used an hand-made illustration of its 3 pillars. During the session, it was easier for my colleagues speakers to support their explanations and stories with the illustration, while the participants could more easily understand what was presented.

Visual thinking at the service of the collective

Visual thinking is a work tool that is increasingly used at the European Commission. A tool for making sense, which helps to clarify ideas, to better understand and remember.

This post is available as a LinkedIn article also.

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