your-hearth-summit-journey-begins-stop-2-hear

Stop 2: HEAR Stop 2: HEAR

Your Hearth Summit Journey Continues

As all roads begin to converge, the Hearth Summit in June in Ljubljana, Slovenia grows ever more tangible. Your seat by our collective fire is confirmed, and we continue our shared journey towards the Hearth.

We have arrived at the second of four stops on our road to the HEARTH. These short stops along the way offer meaningful glimpses of what awaits, inviting you to start tuning into the essence of this gathering. As the event draws closer, you will also receive separate emails with important logistical details.

With no further ado, dobrodošli (welcome) to our:

The Sound of a Growing Movement

For over a decade, The Wellbeing Project has been nurturing and catalysing a shift in the social change sector’s culture towards individual, collective, and ecological wellbeing. But three years ago marked a turning point—a capstone moment when the first Wellbeing Summit for Social Change in Bilbao set something profound in motion. A pulse, a rhythm, a ripple that has since traveled across lands, carried by the voices and hearts of those who heard its call. From that moment, a new shape emerged in the global wellbeing movement, breathing fresh life into the work of The Wellbeing Project and those who walk this path.

There was a whisper, then a murmur, then a chorus—a call from our community with a deep longing to bring the wellbeing conversation home. To weave it into the fabric of local changemaking. To recognize and strengthen the unique gifts of each region while embracing the invisible thread that binds us all. And so, torches were lit. The fires of belonging were kindled. The movement began to evolve.

Brave souls stepped forward, carrying the flame into their communities and gathering changemakers around shared hopes and dreams. The regional Hearth Summits became sacred spaces—where the wisdom of the land, the stories of its people, and the heartbeat of the movement converged. Each one is a gift, each one a thread woven into the larger tapestry of a world reimagined.

Across borders and languages, through stories and shared moments, something has taken root—a movement locally led and deeply rooted, globally connected, and universally human.

And in less than three months, all of these roads will lead us all to one place, by one fire, to one shared moment—the global Hearth Summit.

A Global Gathering Shaped by Collective Listening

There is undeniable power in people coming together across the world.

Throughout history, gatherings have forged alliances, exchanged knowledge, and sparked transformation.

Today, the very foundations of our systems seem to weaken under the weight of a polycrisis—including climate change, inequality, leadership, and growing polarization. Disconnection from the self, others, and the land is widening, as is the gap between younger and older generations. In this moment of unraveling, we face an urgent call to gather.

With intentionality as our ally, and listening as our compass, we have deeply engaged with our global community to weave together the threads of regional movements—we asked ourselves:

Why should we gather, at the global level, for a second time in 2025?
How can we, together, hold complexity and make sense of our collective reality to foster a thriving humanity?

You, our community, told us the way and a collective call to gather emerged.

The Hearth Summit is our answer to these questions and needs—a courageous invitation to big ideas, bold actions, and brave hearts. A space to nurture a new generation of changemakers and cultivate a whole new culture of social change and changemaking, both at the global and regional levels.

This is why we HEAR. This is why we gather.

The Magic Recipe of this Global Gathering

To anchor our shared journey not only in new ideas and perspectives but also in lived experience, shared wisdom, and meaningful connection, the Hearth Summit creates space to embrace perspectives beyond our own.

This experience will be:

Enhancing our understanding of wellbeing and its intersection with the challenges of our time, to shape new ways for a thriving future

To spark bold new thinking and strengthen the way we do changemaking, you can expect disruptive plenaries, panel discussions, workshops in larger and smaller formats, and intimate conversations that will balance knowledge-building, perspective-challenge, inspiration, dialogue, skill-building, and more.

How do we want to live together? This central question will be the connecting thread woven throughout the Summit, shaping discussions, conversations, and speaker sessions. It will serve as the lens through which we explore each topic, shaping a program that explores critical themes in the social change sector.

Leading voices from nearly every region—including South and West Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and the Middle East—will ignite reflection and imagination, bringing diverse perspectives to the Hearth.

Amplifying the voices of our global community, celebrating the role each of us play in this movement to foster a deeper sense of belonging

Through different layers of connection you will get to feel part of the larger movement while experiencing the Summit in a way that feels personal, meaningful, and shared.

Beyond, and as vital as, structured sessions, we will come together for social moments creating spaces that hold both closeness and expansiveness and offer opportunities to reinforce our sense of community. From Family Circles –small group gatherings for grounding and reflecting– to sharing meals at the Hearth Feast –a shared, seated dinner initiative born from our Ecological Belonging track– to other spontaneous encounters, our collective voices will weave together.

Using a universal language to connect, communicate, inspire, and transform

The Hearth Summit will be interweaving the arts, where creativity serves as both a language and an experience. Commissioned artworks will help us mirror our collective work on-site, while a performing arts program will flow throughout the gathering, inspiring moments of expression, resonance, and transformation for posterity. More than something to witness, the arts will be participatory and experiential, inviting each of us to engage, contribute, and shape the unfolding story.

Beyond these threads, a solstice ceremony will also anchor our time together, providing a shared rhythm that marks transitions, deepens our presence, and strengthens our collective experience. As we navigate the depth of our gathering with hope, curiosity, openness, love, and kindness, our encounter will serve as a lasting imprint—helping us carry the essence of belonging forward, long after we part ways.

Build a locally rooted global movement. Share the diversity of the local perspectives and create a universal conversation

Building on local gatherings, the Hearth Summit will highlight the diverse voices from the fifteen countries that organised regional Summits between 2022 and 2025. The intention is to amplify the local perspectives from these regions and introduce them to the global conversation, enriching the dialogue around Wellbeing in the Social Change sector.

Through collaboration with regional Summit organizers, the global Hearth Summit will bring together a variety of speakers and facilitators from different regions to lead workshops and sessions that will offer a window into the local knowledge, approaches, thought systems, and perspectives from different cultures. Through this immersion, the Heart Summit will not only challenge existing norms but also provide fresh, innovative ideas that will inspire and support changemakers across the globe.