Caux IDG Forum 2026: Call for Contributors for Workshops and Candlelight Conversations

Call for Workshop and Candlelight Organisers!
Would you like to share your inspiration, ideas, and skills with other participants at the Caux IDG Forum this summer on the theme “The Alchemy of Forgiveness”? We look forward to receiving your application! Applications will be accepted until 20 April 2026.

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Dear future Workshop & Candlelight Organisers,  

This year’s Caux Inner Development Goals Forum explores forgiveness in an era of polarization, examining how this human capacity can contribute to understanding, reconciliation, and renewed relationships within communities and societies. The Forum invites participants to reflect on forgiveness across personal, relational, collective, and ecological dimensions, and to explore how it may support more constructive dialogue and cooperation in a divided world.

We invite you to create transformative workshops & candlelight conversations during the Caux IDG Forum that engage participants in exploring forgiveness through multiple ways of knowing,  including dialogue, reflection, arts-based practices, embodied approaches, and interdisciplinary perspectives.

Workshops may explore themes such as: self-forgiveness, reconciliation in relationships and communities, collective healing and historical memory, and our relationship with the natural world.

We are seeking interactive, engaging, and experiential workshops for Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4 of the Forum that encourage meaningful participation, shared learning, and the exploration of diverse perspectives on forgiveness.

Discover the provisional programme here

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Understanding Forgiveness as a Pathway to Regeneration and Belonging

This workshop stream invites contributions exploring forgiveness as a human capacity that can support reconciliation, renewal, and a sense of belonging in times of division and polarization. Forgiveness can open pathways for transforming pain into understanding, rebuilding trust, and strengthening cooperation within communities and across cultures.

We welcome workshops that engage forgiveness in its many dimensions, including:

• Self-forgiveness – exploring compassion, learning, and personal growth.
• Forgiveness in relationships – practices and perspectives that support dialogue, reconciliation, and restored trust.
• Forgiveness and the natural world – reflecting on human responsibility toward the Earth and our interdependence with living systems.
• Collective and historical dimensions of forgiveness – addressing inherited wounds, intergenerational trauma, truth-telling, and processes of reconciliation and decolonisation.

Contributors may draw on multiple ways of knowing, including academic research, contemplative traditions, community practices, artistic expression, and embodied or experiential approaches. We particularly encourage proposals that bring diverse cultural perspectives on forgiveness into dialogue, highlighting how different traditions approach healing, restoration, and reconciliation.

Workshops may also explore how forgiveness connects with the themes of inner development, social transformation, and ecological responsibility, reflecting the work of International of Change, the Inner Development Goals Foundation and the Alef Trus’s Nurturing the Fields of Change programme.

Through this call, the Forum seeks to create a space where scholarship, practice, and lived experience meet, fostering meaningful exchange and new perspectives on forgiveness as a resource for personal, relational, and societal renewal.

Participants and facilitators are invited to contribute to a dialogue that honors diversity of experience while exploring shared pathways toward trust, belonging, and a more regenerative future.

Workshop Guidelines

Day 2:  Dimensions of Forgiveness

Intention: Encourage reflection on the personal and human dimensions of forgiveness.

What we are looking for:

• Reflect on how individuals understand forgiveness.
• Discuss common challenges and questions about forgiving.
• Consider how personal values shape views on forgiveness.

Day 3:  Personal Choice and Forgiveness

Intention: Highlight forgiveness as a voluntary process shaped by personal choice and boundaries.

What we are looking for:

• Recognize forgiveness as a personal choice.
• Discuss boundaries, responsibility, and accountability.
• Explore different viewpoints on when forgiveness may or may not occur and forgiveness as a process

Day 4: From Me to We: Forgiveness in Relationships and Society

Intention: Examine forgiveness in relational, social, and collective contexts.

What we are looking for: 

• Explore the role of forgiveness in relationships and communities.
• Discuss examples of reconciliation in social life.
• Consider how forgiveness can help break cycles of revenge, bitterness, and conflict.

Workshop Format & Submission Guidelines

• Each workshop lasts a total of 3 hours (180 minutes), including a 30-minute break between sessions.
• We encourage facilitators to combine theory and practice and to design interactive, participatory, and experiential formats (no lectures) that support reflection, dialogue, and shared learning among participants.

Candlelight Conversations - Guidelines

Within the workshop application form, a dedicated section is available for those interested in hosting a Candlelight Conversations session.

Held at the Caux Palace during the Caux Inner Development Goals Forum, these sessions are designed to encourage intimate, meaningful exchanges in a calm and reflective setting.

The evening will begin with a violin performance to set a peaceful tone, followed by small-group discussions on a variety of topics and in multiple languages.

Event Details:

• Location: Caux Palace
• Date: 14 July 2025, 20:00–21:30
• Duration: 90 minutes (including musical prelude, formation of groups and session)
• Atmosphere: Rooms illuminated with electronic candles to create a warm, intimate ambiance

Schedule:

1. Musical Prelude
   • All participants gather in the main hall for a violin performance.
   • This opening moment is intended to establish a calm and contemplative atmosphere.
2. Formation of Discussion Groups
   • Following the prelude, hosts briefly present their sessions.
   • Participants then select the discussion group they wish to join.
   • Group sizes are limited to maintain an intimate and engaging environment.
3. Conversation Sessions
   • Once participants choose a group, they remain with it for the entire session.
   • This encourages thoughtful selection of both topic and facilitator.
   • Each participant carries a candle when joining their group.
   • Rooms are softly lit with electronic candles to enhance the sense of closeness and reflection.

Discussion Groups:
Each group is guided by a designated conversation lead, responsible for facilitating dialogue and ensuring smooth flow and time management.

How to Apply?  

• Fill out the Application Form until 20 April 2026. Please ensure all documents are complete before submission.
• If you have questions or need guidance on shaping your workshop, feel free to reach out by EMAIL.

Thank you for being part of this transformative journey. Together, we are building the inner capacities needed for global change.  

We look forward to your innovative workshop proposals!

The Caux IDG Forum Organising Committee  

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