CARN Conference 2026: Towards a Just and Humane Society
What does it mean to live, learn and work together and how can we re-imagine this? Join the Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) during its annual international conference to explore new pathways towards a society that values dignity, justice, and mutual responsibility. The HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht co-organises this conference, taking place on 5, 6 and 7 November 2026.
The CARN network is an international network for action research (a research methodology in which research takes place while changes are being made in practice), committed to improving the quality of professional practice. This year's conference theme is: Towards a Just and Humane Society. From 5-7 November, CARN 2026 brings together over a hundred citizens, professionals, educators, researchers, and policymakers. We will share experiences of joint experiments and collaborative and participatory research projects at the local, regional, national and even global levels. Find out about topics ranging from nurses and clients co-creating health trajectories, including neuro-divergent students and the role of art in refugees’ lives.
We will learn from each other and co-create new forms of participatory research practice.
Key themes
- Wellbeing and empowerment of children and young people
- Quality of life and inclusion for older adults, people with disabilities or chronic illness, migrant and refugee people
- Professional learning and ethical development
- Emerging social movements and grassroots initiatives
- Peacebuilding, community resilience, and civic engagement
- Designing caring and sustainable environments and inclusive public spaces
- Systemic change, power and empowerment, and political influence
For wohm
Citizens, professionals, educators, researchers, and policymakers with an interest in changing society through action research.
Programme
The programme is highly interactive. It includes worshops, roundtables, and presentations.
Keynote speakers include:
- Dr. Carmen Martinez Vargas – Assistant professor in Education and Social Justice, School of Social Sciences, Lancaster University
Cultivating Decolonial Justice in Participatory Cosmologies: Insights from the Capability Approach - Prof. Dr. Sandra Schruijer – Professor in Organisation and Management, School of Governance, Utrecht University
The role of the researcher in action research from a systems psychodynamic perspective - Dr. Jur Koksma – Associate professor Transformative Learning, Health Academy Nijmegen & Radboudumc
Transformative learning for a caring and sustainable society - Dr. Arthur Kok – Assistant professor, School of Transforming the Economy, Fontys University of Applied Sciences
Action research as applied humanities - Dr. Hanke Drop – Associate professor Arts Therapy Studies, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht
Leaving the crow's nest. Participatory research practices exploring what it means for young refugees to find their way in Dutch society
Registration
Register for this conference at the conference website.
About CARN
CARN is an international network for action research. It was founded in 1976 and has grown to become an international network drawing its members from educational, health, social care, commercial, and public services settings. CARN supports and improves the quality of professional practice, through systematic, critical, and creative inquiry into the goals, processes and contexts of professional work. CARN aims to encourage and support action research projects (personal, local, national and international), accessible accounts of action research projects, and contributions to the theory and methodology of action research. HU-researcher Famke van Lieshout is in this year’s organising committee.