Santorini | 23–25 October 2026

A 2.5-day immersive experience at the intersection of wellbeing and regeneration of landscape and ecological belonging.

 

 

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A gathering rooted in place

Impact Hub Athens, in collaboration with the Wellbeing Project, is hosting the Hearth Summit Aegean 2026: a place-based gathering in Santorini, bringing together people, ideas and practices to explore how places and communities can thrive through ecological, social and economic regeneration.

Engaging the wider Aegean bioregion as a living system, the Summit approaches Santorini not as a backdrop, but as a place shaped by volcanic land, water scarcity, tourism, climate pressure, ancient knowledge, cycladic culture and diverse communities.

Hearth Summit Aegean 2026 explores how regeneration and wellbeing can be practiced in real places, here and now.

Program At A Glance  | 2.5 days. Five ways to experience Hearth.

 

From collective reflection and place-based learning to cultural encounters and community meals, every element contributes to a holistic experience rooted in connection with people, place and possibility. 

Every day unfolds in a different landscape.

From contemporary art and industrial spaces, to canaves and vineyards, fields and workshops to beaches, the Summit moves across the island, allowing each place to become part of the learning experience. Rather than gathering in a single venue, we discover the Aegean region through the landscapes, people and initiatives that shape its culture, ecology and future.

The programme unfolds through five complementary dimensions of the Hearth experience:

Cognitive sessions

Ideas that challenge perspectives and inspire action.

Explore the ideas shaping regenerative futures through keynote talks, participatory dialogues and collective reflection.

Featured Sessions

A Time Traveller’s Guide to Regeneration

Explore regeneration as a practice for systems transformation through a journey across time, where ancient knowledge, storytelling, music and future imaginaries come together to inspire new ways of thinking. 

The seeds that bring us together

A narrative journey of a seed that carries stories of biodiversity, culture, food traditions and ecological belonging across the Cyclades.

In Times of Scarcity: Stories of Resilience

What can island communities teach the world about resilience, innovation and designing for a future with scarce resources?

Planted Debates: Resilience or Growth

Live podcasting with global destinations’ leadership around the tensions between tourism, economic development, local community wellbeing and ecological resilience.

Experts Riddle: The Post-Tourism Aegean

Can the islands imagine an economy beyond conventional tourism? A collaborative challenge exploring regenerative business models for the future.

Sensory sessions

Learning through place.

Discover Santorini through immersive experiences rooted in the Aegean landscape.

Featured Sessions

Learning from Place: Exploring Pathways

Four immersive pathways invite participants to experience Santorini through its landscapes, people and practices. Each journey combines field exploration, local encounters, a shared lunch and a hands-on workshop, transforming the island itself into a place of learning.

  •  Zero Waste Island | Circulating materials in nature
    Explore circular material flows through beach restoration, creative reuse and hands-on making, followed by Precious Plastic & Basket Making workshop
  • Water & Earth | Symbiosis; a geological tour
    Discover traditional water management, regenerative agriculture and permaculture practices rooted in the island’s landscape, followed by Permaculture Lab workshop
  • Biodiversity | Indigenous Species
    Walk the Caldera while discovering native biodiversity through natural pigments, ecological storytelling and creative expression, followed by Nature Silk Prints workshop
  • Landscape | The Green Sea of Vineyards
    Experience Santorini’s vineyards while exploring regenerative viticulture, climate adaptation and the future of the wine sector, followed by Sector in Transition workshop

 

 

 

 

Participatory sessions

Ideas into shared practice.

Working alongside local community, practitioners and one another, participants explore regenerative ideas through experimentation and hands-on practice. 

Featured Sessions

Radical Futures

Step into a series of bold future scenarios for the Aegean and challenge assumptions about resilience, climate adaptation and societal transformation.

Bioregioning Initiatives Clinic

Collaborative pro- action café where participants become experts, helping initiatives for regeneration to strengthen and scale their impact.

Learning from Place: Hands-on Workshops

As part of the Learning from Place experience, each pathway culminates in a hands-on workshop, inviting participants to deepen their learning through making, experimentation and collective practice. Hosted by local partners across Santorini, these workshops transform insights from the field into shared experiences and practical exploration.

  • Zero Waste Island  | Precious Plastic & Basket Making
    Transform discarded materials into new objects through a circular plastic design and traditional basket weaving.
  • Water & Earth | Permaculture Lab
    Hands-on permaculture workshop; learn about the indigenous species of the Cycladic islands, the permaculture design principles and practice them by planting and restoring a natural landscape. 
  • Biodiversity | Nature Silk Prints
    Be part of a co-created art piece by crafting botanical silk prints using natural pigments and the textures of the island landscape.
  • Landscape | Sector in Transition
    Explore how regenerative practices are reshaping the future of Santorini’s wine landscape through dialogue and local practice; from pruning, to irrigation and other nature based.

 

Social sessions

The power of gathering.

Through shared meals, curated gatherings and moments of pause, the Summit community connect with one another, the place and experience the Aegean through community.

Featured Sessions

Trapezomata 

As part of the Learning from Place experience, TRAPEZOMATA reimagines the traditional Greek communal and family meals as a place of learning. Each thematic lunch celebrates local food, shared stories and regenerative practices on specific themes, inviting participants to experience the culture and ecology of the Aegean through the table.

Hearth Feast

Dinner experience where conversations unfold around local food, storytelling and music, inviting the Summit community to taste regeneration together.

Regenerating the Aegean – Pitching Lunch

Participants become micro-funders and ready to give back to the place that hosted us. A lunch, 5 pitches and a collective decision for the project with the greatest potential for impact that gets the money to advance their work.

Making community

Curated moments that invite connection, reflection and encounters inspired by the people, flavours and rhythms of the Aegean.

 

 

 

 

Emotional sessions

Reflection through art and culture.

Explore regeneration through artistic expression, storytelling and cultural encounters.

Featured Sessions

PANIGYRI: Lighting up the Hearth

The Hearth light up; the mystic folklore melodies start. The summit’s gathering transforms into a contemporary Cycladic panigyri celebrating local culture and shared belonging. 

Music for the Sea

Immersive music & light experience inspired by the sounds of the sea, inviting reflection on our relationship with nature and ecological belonging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The starting point

From Athens to the Aegean islands

In 2024, Hearth Summit Athens brought together 243 participants and 81 speakers from Greece, Europe and the United States to explore how life in cities and villages can become more liveable, resilient and rooted in wellbeing.

The Summit opened conversations around wellbeing and impact economies, housing, sustainable tourism, water circularity, biodiversity restoration, community energy, decentralisation and the role of industries and civic actors in shaping this transition.

What emerged was a shared exploration of what might be possible if wellbeing was placed at the centre of how we design our communities, economies and our relationship with our habitat- the land, the sea, biodiversity and each other.

Hearth Summit Aegean 2026 continues this journey, shifting the lens to bioregional regeneration.

From Cities to Bioregions

A Bioregional Approach to Wellbeing

Hearth Summit Aegean explores how villages, islands and cities are embedded within broader living systems shaped by land, water, culture, ecology and local economies.

Moving beyond administrative boundaries, the Summit approaches the Aegean islands as an interconnected bioregion shaped by interdependence, limits, resilience and possibility.

Through regeneration, place-based thinking and bioregioning practices, it examines how wellbeing can emerge through stronger relationships between people and place.

Wellbeing is shaped across systems.

Why Santorini?

A living system in transition

Taking the Hearth Summit to Santorini is an intentional act.

Overtourism, water scarcity, ecosystem fragility, biodiversity loss, rural communities and cultural strain are not abstract challenges here. They are daily realities shaping how communities live, adapt, and survive.

The Summit enters this landscape to explore what these realities can teach us about resilience, ecological belonging and place-based regeneration, and where new possibilities for living, working and caring for place may emerge.

Who joins the Summit

A living ecosystem of voices

Local communities of Santorini, Cyclades and the Aegean coastal areas and islands

Residents, farmers, fishers, winemakers, tourism professionals, local businesses, cultural actors and civic organisations.

Policymakers & public sector representatives

Local, regional and national authorities, public administration representatives and institutional actors.

Researchers, startups, networks & professionals

Innovation ecosystem practitioners working across regeneration, tourism, innovation, circularity and sustainability.

Entrepreneurs, investors, business owners

Who create a new kind of business, where economy and impact intertwine.

Artists & creative practitioners

Musicians, designers, curators and cultural practitioners working with place, ecology, heritage and community.

Civil society organisation and philanthropic institutions representatives

Organisations and institutions working on regeneration, environmental restoration, placemaking, participation and community empowerment.

Support the Summit

Why Partner with Hearth Summit Aegean?

Support a curated, place-based gathering that brings together people, ideas and practices shaping regenerative futures for the Aegean and beyond.

Whether as a sponsor, partner or in-kind supporter, your organisation can:

Connect with a cross-sector ecosystem

Meet practitioners, institutions, entrepreneurs, cultural actors, local communities and changemakers.

Adopt or co-create a session


Co-create a keynote, workshop, field experience, artistic moment or curated dialogue connected to your mission and expertise.

Create visibility through experience


Go beyond logo placement by becoming part of the participant journey, from shared meals and hospitality to storytelling, culture and local encounters.

Support place-based impact


Help root the Summit in Santorini’s communities, landscapes, knowledge and realities.

Amplify stories that matter


Help the ideas, people and practices emerging from the Summit travel beyond the island.

Join the Summit

Hearth Summit Aegean 2026 is an open invitation to step into a different way of thinking and experiencing.

 

We invite practitioners, community leaders, policymakers, and creatives to come together to explore and shape what it means to live and act regeneratively embedded into the landscape.

Book your spot

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