We are thrilled to announce our next year’s in-person multi-day gathering co-organized by the World Ethic Forum and Nile Journeys with the overarching theme of earth sanctuaries. Over the course of seven days, between June 27 and July 4th 2026, we will gather in Nairobi to explore how we can foster and enliven regenerative sanctuary spaces for the times we live in.
The overarching theme is inspired by the notion of Kaya, the ancestral forest sanctuaries of the Mijikenda people, who tend to and take care of these spaces that have long served as communal, spiritual, and ethical centers. This co-curated gathering will learn from Kaya in its diverse activities, becoming a shared space to explore, deepen, reflect and be inspired by the many sanctuaries of our time: ecological, cultural, artistic, and social spaces and environments where people come together to care for life – human and more-than-human.
Our intention with Kayas or earth sanctuaries is to anchor global conversations on ways of being together with grounded practices that emerge from indigenous and earth-based practices, regenerative traditions, and cultural resilience. Rather than offering fixed answers, the wisdom of Kaya inspires our invitation to hold space for exploration and cross-cultural learning where participants listen, feel, remember, reimagine and enliven pathways toward collective shared aliveness.
TThe public part of our invitation will be anchored at the Nairobi National Museum of Kenya, with satellite programming across some of Nairobi’s neighbourhoods and cultural sites. Workshops, exhibitions, performances, dialogues, film, and participatory journeys will unfold through the city, creating a living map of contemporary sanctuaries.
This is an invitation to co-create, listen, experiment and bring your own kinship notion akin Kaya, your own practices of sanctuary, towards our shared aliveness into dialogue by direct participation, content partnership or financial sponsorship.
Event Structure
1. The Firekeeper Gathering (June 27 – July 1, 2026)
Our annual in-person convening of our Firekeeper Circle to deepen inquiry on essential collective capacities and practices in our seven thematic strands fostering a culture of care and kinship.
The gathering will hold deep inquiry through ritual, dialogue, and artistic practice, tending to fire, water, earth, and air as living teachers of aliveness and care. It serves us a compass for the broader gathering at the public festival, to cultivate ground, and to co-design threads for the upcoming years of inquiry.
2. Public Event (July 3–4)
This is an open invitation to the world. The Nairobi National Museum serves as home base, while the festival extends across different nodes, from community centres to parks.
The program will feature workshops, exhibitions, performances, film screenings, and participatory journeys, inviting the public into an exploration of sanctuaries old and new.
Examples of activity formats will include:
- Workshops & thematic labs
- Site-based performances & installations (sound, dance, spatial art)
- Exhibitions on community and ecological regeneration
- Film screenings & story circles
- Dialogue rooms & roundtables
We invite organizations, communities, movements, and individuals interested in contributing to this event to reach out to us. Whether through content, time, or resources, your input is welcome. If you have wisdom, practices, or stories that promote regeneration and shared aliveness, we encourage you to connect with us and see how your voice can be part of this journey.
Let’s enliven sanctuaries where our radically shared aliveness is remembered and renewed.
To receive latest updates about this event, please sign up for our newsletter below: