Opening on Monday, April 13, the 2026 Right Livelihood International Conference is bringing together a global community for four weeks of free and open sessions exploring how education can strengthen democracy, collective intelligence, and just futures.
Running until May 15, the Conference features Right Livelihood Laureates, students, faculty, and community partners across continents. It combines asynchronous learning with participatory dialogue and collaborative action, creating space for shared inquiry and exchange.
The conference aims to address the question of what kind of education is needed for democratic, just, and life‑affirming futures. It will cover a vast range of topics, from defining international law at the world’s highest court with 2025 Laureate Julian Aguon to the importance of localisation with 1986 Laureate Helena Norberg-Hodge, from protecting the earth’s soil with 2000 Laureate The Land Institute to the impact of cyber-intimacy with University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Lecturer Jeanne Proust.
The conference is hosted by the Santa Cruz Center, seat of the Secretariat for the Right Livelihood College (RLC), our global education initiative founded in 2009 in partnership with universities. By connecting academics and civil society organisations with Right Livelihood Laureates, the RLC fosters a growing network dedicated to advancing and amplifying the work of change-makers.
Rather than advocating specific outcomes, the conference frames education as a democratic practice and positions the Right Livelihood College as a steward of dialogue, student voice, and long-term institutional learning.Explore the conference programme and register online to join conversations on the most pressing challenges facing humanity.
