ECOPOLIS 2026 on 5 December!
On 5 December, ECOPOLIS, Fair(er) Futures Festival will once again bring together thinkers and doers, writers, artists and activists from various countries for a day full of inspiring conversations, hopeful ideas and new perspectives.
For we are living in a time of great challenges: think of climate disruption and growing inequality. This raises numerous questions. How do we build a future that works for everyone once again? And what do we need to imagine that future, and also to shape it?
We ask the big questions – such as those posed by Anna Tsing: what is the art of living on a damaged planet? Questions that are very much on the agenda in the face of extreme heatwaves and wildfires. And they show that, ultimately, this is a matter of justice – not only here but also in the Global South. For those who contribute the least to ecological disruption are hit the hardest. Nepal is a painful example of this. And that is what we need to talk about.
That is why ECOPOLIS remains a place to stimulate your imagination and push boundaries. Because only if we can imagine a better society can we shape it.
DISCOVER OUR SPEAKERS
LOCATION
Jeroen Oomen
Wim Peumans
Stef Craps
You can hear these voices at Ecopolis
On 5 December 2026, we’ll be bringing ECOPOLIS to De Markten. The line-up includes Tine Hens, who, together with composer Ellen Jacobs and musician Birsen Ucar, will be presenting her book Archief van mogelijk verlies (Archive of Possible Loss). This moving book won the 2026 Nature Book Prize. It is an incredibly topical book, following this scorching summer in which so much of nature went up in flames. In the book, Hens writes about plants, animals and natural phenomena on the brink of extinction: lapwings, eels, flocks of starlings, but also snow, silence and darkness.
Also not to be missed: the Danish bestselling author and activist Emma Holten, who radically challenges the current economic system. In her book Deficit. How Feminist Economics Can Change Our World, she draws a direct line between the exploitation of unpaid care work and the depletion of our planet. She advocates for a feminist economy in which human and ecological wellbeing take centre stage. Holten is an internationally respected gender policy adviser who advises organisations including Human Rights Watch.
We also welcome Jeroen Oomen, co-author of Captured Futures – Rethinking the Drama of Environmental Politics, perhaps the most important book on environmental politics of the past decade, according to Nature.
Also on the programme: discussions on four topical themes:
- Decolonise the economy, save the climate – On the colonial roots of our economic system, resource extraction and what a just green transition might look like. Featuring, amongst others, Jonas Van der Slycken and Sandrine Ekofo. Plus a surprise guest from abroad.
- A plea for bioregionalism – On our connection to the landscape, soil, rivers and local communities. Writer Wim Peumans will be in conversation with thinkers and practitioners of this new, hopeful approach.
- From ecological mourning to active hope – On loss, wonder, engagement and the role of literature and culture in dealing with the ecological crisis. Professor Stef Craps asks authors such as Tine Hens how they deal with these issues.
- Healthy eating for a healthy planet – On the need for a food revolution towards a fair and resilient agricultural system. Drawing on his book Grondgenoten (“land companions”), Dirk Holemans engages in conversation with an organic farmer.
You can also get creative yourself during a stamping workshop, led by graphic artist Lotte Andries.
Finally, there are also city walks and ‘Slow Tables’ (to create space for deep listening).
