Nous |
Powering the Future of Human Rights
June 15-17, 2026
Pendley Manor Hotel
Tring UK
A bold and urgent rethink for robust human rights futures
We are nous
About Us
We are a dynamic initiative focused on powering the future of human rights through political organizing, consensus building, fostering natural and strategic allyship and mobilizing new narratives. We believe the origin of all initiatives is the soul (nous) and turning towards the soul and human self is an urgent political act for human rights to not only survive but thrive.
We recognize that the advancement of human rights can no longer rely primarily on moral authority or legal obligations. The future of human rights work must be understood as part of political strategy, economic decision-making, and security governance. This requires new models of leadership, investment, and collective action rooted in popular power.
We believe futures methodologies will play a key role in this shift—not only in anticipating change, but in enabling actors to collectively explore alternatives, test assumptions, and align around actionable directions under conditions of uncertainty.
We are graciously hosted by the Colmena Fund.
Strategic Intent
From 15-17 June 2026, we are hosting the opening convening, the Inception Convening in London, UK.
The Inception Convening aims to produce a shared futures framework to guide long-term thinking on the future of human rights. The Inception Convening will deliver on four interconnected workstreams:
Identify
- Future forces/trends (technological, cultural, political, economic), emerging challenges, and allied/oppositional forces.
- Political goals/objectives, locating human rights as a strategic tool for groups pursuing specific political objectives.
- Disruptions and narratives that are making human rights more (ir)/relevant or more real to wider constituencies.
- Unseen alliances and emerging oppositions that could amplify or undermine people-led human rights change.
- Mapping key uncertainties and tensions shaping different possible futures.
Forge
- A political strategy to arrive at bolder, enduring, human rights futures rooted in popular power.
- Translating preferred futures into pathways, including milestones, leverage points, and strategic interventions.
Reframe
- How rights are advanced, how resources are allocated, and how justice is ‘delivered.’
- How dignity is ensured as a non-negotiable outcome of political and economic decision-making.
- Challenging dominant temporal assumptions and enabling longer-term, intergenerational thinking.
Reimagine
- Alternatives to the current global, regional, and national architecture through speculative design and futures prototyping.
- Models of global public investment, governance frameworks, and resource allocation to make our preferred futures possible.
PROVOCATIONS
What Is a Provocation?
A provocation is a short-form thought piece that interrupts conventional human rights thinking and unfolds new spaces for political (re)imaginations on the future of human rights. Unlike traditional analysis or commentary, provocations are designed to:
Provocations are intellectual interventions with political intent designed to generate productive friction that comes from bringing new ideas and new perspectives into the room.
How Provocations Connect to the Broader Project
Together, provocations build a coherent body of work that articulates an alternative vision for human rights futures. Individual pieces contribute to a larger narrative project, connecting discrete insights into a cumulative argument about where power lies and how it might be shifted. Provocations are integral to the broader work of the Nous initiative, serving multiple functions across the project.
As input for convenings, provocations can seed discussions at intimate gatherings, providing starting points for collective exploration, thinking, and creative reimaginings.
As a movement resource/contribution the human rights field writ large, each piece is designed to be useful for human rights practitioners, policymakers, community organisers, and changemakers in their daily work, and grounded in actual political processes.
The ambition of Nous is that over time, provocations become a living archive of political thinking on human rights futures, documenting how strategic understanding evolved through this two-year initiative. Future organisers, researchers, policymakers, and movements can draw on this body of work as they develop their own approaches.
Our first Convening
Join us at Pendley Manor for our inaugural strategic gathering, where we'll collectively map the terrain of human rights futures and build the foundations for what comes next.
June 15
Day 1: Arrival & Grounding
Start: 4 p.m.
June 16
Day 2: Signals → Futures
Moving from signals into futures work with an orientation to futures methodologies and temporal frameworks
June 17
Day 3: Synthesis & Carrying Forward
Synthesis session to distil key insights and commitments to carry forward from this gathering
End: 4 p.m.