In Short

🧭 What: Participant-driven Working & Community event for people ambitious to reduce and prevent suffering for all sentient beings, near and long-term. 

📅 When: 27-31 August 2026 (program runs from Thursday afternoon to Sunday evening)

📍Where: Berlin, Germany, Sterntal-Havelland

Save the date, stay updated & get notified as soon as applications open by following us on:

a) the Effective Altruism Forum 

b) LinkedIn

c) Facebook, or

d) Discord

In Detail

About the Event

This participant-driven working and community weekend will bring together around 50 ambitious, international attendees and project representatives eager to reduce and prevent suffering long-term.

In advance of the Summit, attendees will be required to and supported in preparing their own content contributions thoroughly. From the opening of the application process until the start of the event, you will have several months and multiple opportunities for individual pre-event support and preparation calls to  answer questions you may have and strengthen the impact-focused reasoning behind your content.

Content will be developed with the following questions in mind: 

• What is your SMART Theory of Change for your individual contribution? 
• What are your considerations in regard to near-term impact (importance/tractability/neglectedness (ITN), risk/benefit ratio and counterfactuals?
• What are potential long-term projections (evolution, obstacles, risks and benefits, counterfactuals) for the next 10, 50, and 200 years?
• And what are your personal fit, motivation, personal development and career plans?

Programme and Focus Areas

The program will include content contributions from all participants, focusing on impact opportunities with near-term applications and great scalability and sustainability potential for the long-term future. Cause areas may be:

• Global Health & Wellbeing
  • Incl. Compassionate Genomics
• Farmed and Wild Animal Rights & Wellbeing
• Institutional Decision-Making & Global Peace
  • Incl. Safeguarding Democracy
• Artificial Intelligence - Risks & Opportunities
• Moral Philosophy & Moral Psychology
• Effective Giving & Earning-to-Give

In addition to these and other topics, the summit will feature sessions that promote personal growth and community, such as Circling, playful activities, and self-reflection sessions using participation-promoting workshop tools like Liberating Structures.

Accommodation and Catering

Participants will enjoy all-vegan full-board catering and accommodation in two spacious, barrier-free guest houses, with shared rooms ranging from doubles to six-bed dormitories.

A limited number of participants may also join as day guests - for example, if they prefer or require a more private sleeping arrangement.

How to Get Involved

The event organisers will be reaching out directly to some particularly exciting project representatives to invite them to the event. 

However, you are also warmly encouraged to contact the organising team if you would like to present your own project, or if there are specific individuals or organisations you believe should be represented and align with the impact-focused reasoning outlined above.

Please feel free to contact the organisers via compassionate.future [at] gmail.com.

Please apply if…

…you think this event could increase your impact! 

The following criteria will primarily guide the selection of volunteers and attendees:

• Volunteers: 
  • Suitability for assisting in a broad range of tasks
  • High-quality content contributions and expertise 
• Attendees: 
  • High-quality content contributions and expertise 
  • “Low-hanging fruits” of impact: applicants who are positioned to launch high-impact projects or careers soon, and whose impact would greatly benefit from attending the event
• Community and Diversity Goals:
  • Growing a diverse and resourceful community
  • Identifying applicants with strengths in fostering an inclusive, positive & healthy community atmosphere

The organisers are committed to making the application process valuable and a connecting experience for all applicants, while ensuring the event's maximal impact.