The Global Association of Neohumanist Educators (GANE) held an international conference July 11-16th on the theme “Neohumanism in Action: Inspiring Wisdom, Courage and Love”. The conference was hosted by Asociația Educației Neoumaniste (AEN) in the beautiful mountains of Sinaia, Romania, with 93 participants representing 27 countries. The conference brought together representatives from universities, ministries of education, NGOs and many experienced practitioners of Neohumanist education, environmental education and futures studies. It brought together participants from around the globe. Together they explored transformative ideas, innovative practices, and new narratives for the future of education, in order to generate a New Cosmic Story, to lead us towards the next steps in the evolution of human consciousness and the transformation of society toward greater justice, sustainability, wisdom and joy.
PLENARIES
In her Opening Remarks, Viorica Preda, Inspector for Early Education at the Ministry of Education, Romania (1998-2024), shared the remarkable tale of the evolution of Early Childhood in Romania. After the Opening Remarks, the conference began with an eloquent elaboration of the Cosmic Story – a new narrative for designing education based on neohumanist perspectives – by Professor Kathleen Kesson. It was followed by Eric Jacobson’s presentation on translating that neohumanist vision into reality. All of the speakers in the morning plenaries gave fresh visions for moving into a future that reflects neohumanist consciousness. Many of the relevant issues facing humanity depend on this mindset, such as how to approach ecological perils, how to appropriately harness the potential of emerging technologies, and how to create pathways towards a hopeful future.
Emergence and Awakening: The Unfolding of a New Cosmic Story
Kathleen Kesson
Worldviews are stories we tell ourselves about the nature of the universe, our human origins, our values, our ways of knowing, and our purposes. The mythic stories of the past are important, but they no longer give us an accurate picture of the universe we now dwell in. We are in between stories now, hungry for a new cosmic story that can explain what we now know about the universe and how that new story can provide a pathway into the future of a vibrant life. Neohumanism, the reconceptualization of the old story of sketches the blueprint of such a new story. It is a story that calls for a far richer, more insightful understanding of human possibility, one that decenters human “exceptionalism” in favor of a new ecological consciousness, one that promotes harmony and cooperation between humans and non-human others, and one that cultivates wisdom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=441EqhA9RR8
Making It Real: Bringing the New Story Down to Earth
Eric Jacobson
The Progressive School of Long Island is one of the longest running and successful Neohumanist schools in the world. Inspired by the vision of Sarkar over 40 years ago, the school has stayed true to an evolving vision of how to best support each child’s unique interests, skills, and talents, while nurturing a strong sense of community, justice, and service for the greater good. This keynote addressed the very practical ways that the PSLI brings the “new cosmic story” into every aspect of its curriculum and the daily life of the school, demonstrating the value of an educational approach that balances academic rigor, intellectual development, and character education with the cultivation of the subtle human qualities – emotional connections, intuition, meaning, care, compassion, and empathy – necessary to birthing a bright new future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYBeSrxBh_A
The Hidden Inner Dimension of Education
Didi Ananda Devapriya
In our modern, secular society, deeply influenced by the scientific materialist worldview, how can the inner dimension of life be addressed within education as an intrinsic, subtle part of the human experience that needs conscious nurturing care to sprout and develop? Didi explored how to find common ground and build bridges across differences in belief systems, so that this spiritual, inner dimension of life can be reclaimed from its marginalized position and cultivated in inclusive, universally relevant and respectful ways. There will be a practical exploration of how to integrate simple practices that promote wellbeing, resiliency and introspection, as well as practices that promote developing caring and connectedness in learning communities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ8nzEf4-Ms
Seven Uses of the Future for Educators
Sohail Inayatullah
In this interactive presentation, Inayatullah presented seven ways to use the future. These include: the personal context, learning from the future, the challenge of the used future, emerging disruptions, alternative futures, narrative, and inner transformation. Case studies from around the world – BRAC Bangladesh; Ministry of Education, Norway; WHO; FAO, the Louvre; Government of Malaysia, Government of Australia; the Australian Meat Industry; Government of Brunei; Edmund Rice Education; and the Government of Mongolia – were used to demonstrate these uses. The core take-away for partpicipants was enhanced futures literacy
Empowering Future Change-makers: Teaching Neohumanist Activism to Students
Howard Nemon and Christy Shaver
This session addressed the importance of integrating spiritual-based social activism as an essential part of Neohumanist education. Cultivating spiritual and moral values, an awakened rationalistic mentality, and the skills to overcome exploitation in society requires a systematic educational approach. This presentation explored how to inspire and empower K-12 students to become change-makers on the individual, interpersonal, community, and broad social levels.
Article on this topic in this issue of Gurukula Network
Writing a Future: Constructive and Neohumanistic Storytelling
Dr. Ivana Milojević
How do the stories we tell shape the world we create? In this session, Dr. Ivana Milojević examined storytelling as a vital educational practice for imagining and building just, inclusive futures. By analyzing examples of both dystopian and utopian storytelling, she highlighted the ethical and pedagogical implications of the narratives we construct. Participants were engaged in a dynamic discussion on how neohumanistic and progressive educators can use storytelling to inspire hope, agency, and transformation in their communities. More information: https://tales.metafuture.org/
Exponential Thinking: Integrating the Rapid Pace of Technological Change – Aaron Frank
The unprecedented development of digital technologies is one of the most consequential forces shaping modern human society. In this session, participants gained insight into the mechanisms driving this rapid change and a framework for how educators can situate these shifts within the context of Neohumanism. Core to this session was, first, understanding the nature of exponential growth and why technologies develop at such an astonishing speed. Next, due to this technological development, the ways that small teams and individuals are now capable of achieving what was only possible for well-funded governments or corporations only a short time ago. And finally, while technology alone won’t solve the world’s problems, it is our obligation as educators to ensure that morally, rationally, and spiritually elevated individuals are able to leverage technology to address some of the tremendous global emergencies we now face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTH8PU8aMBo
Cultivating Ecological Kinship: Love and Responsibility in Neohumanist Education
This panel discussion explored the intersection of ecology, kinship, and love within the framework of Neohumanist education, featuring insights from Teia Ciulacu, Marilyn Mehlmann, and Ruai Gregory. Each panelist brought a wealth of experience in promoting sustainable practices and community engagement, emphasizing the importance of nurturing a profound connection to nature and each other. Facilitated by Kathleen Kesson, the discussion delved into how educators can foster a sense of ecological responsibility and love for all living beings and encourage students to become active stewards of the planet.
There were twenty-seven workshop presenters. Two of the conference workshops are featured in this issue of this newsletter.
WORKSHOPS
Over 25 hands-on workshops were offered that integrated philosophy, social action, and practical applications. Participants learned about practical strategies, creative methodologies, and holistic teaching approaches related to the themes of the conference.
https://neohumanisteducation.org/conference-education-2025/workshops/
SHOWCASE
Thirty-two initiatives from all over the world were displayed in this Showcase session. Details of those projects can be found here:
https://neohumanisteducation.org/conference-education-2025/showcase/
EVENING PROGRAMS
In the evening programs participants learned about groups they can get involved in. Details and videos here: https://neohumanisteducation.org/conference-education-2025/evening-programs/
The GANE – Global Association of Neohumanist Educators evening shared a video virtual tour of inspiring and innovative educational initiatives from around the world, and celebrated the remarkable achievement of the Neohumanist College that was founded after our last conference.
The AMAYE – Ananda Marga Association of Yoga Educators evening opened with a compelling video highlighting AMAYE’s global initiatives, followed by a hands-on session that showcased the many creative ways that yoga, meditation, and yogic philosophy can be integrated into diverse cultural settings and educational formats.
The PRSI – Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar Institute evening explored the breadth and depth of the legacy and initiatives of Shrii P.R. Sarkar. The program included an engaging video introduction to his global contributions, a trailer for an upcoming documentary on Neohumanism, and highlights of the transformative Ananda Nagar development project.
The Cultural Program concluded the conference with a joyful celebration of our rich cultural diversity through music, poetry, storytelling and games.
CLOSING PROGRAM
The Closing Program brought the conference to a meaningful close by weaving together the key themes, insights, and connections that had been explored. We reflected on our shared experience through video highlights, offered each other expressions of gratitude, and appreciated the bonds formed during our time together. The program also featured special musical performances and a lighthearted Romanian folk dance led by the children of the AMURTEL Family—inviting everyone to join in the spirit of unity and celebration.
AFTER CONFERENCE PROGRAM
The after-conference tour included a visit to the Children’s home and Master Unit in Panatau run by AMURTEL and a visit to the Morningstar Preschool in Bucharest.
The greatest achievement of the conference was to enhance sweet bonds of friendship among participants, uniting inspiration and energy towards furthering the evolution of neohumanist consciousness on earth.
Many thanks to the conference organizing team, to all the presenters and to all the participants
Conference Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_smcUjdWPs
“A very well planned, well organized, inspirational, new ideas in the making and lots of learning.”
“Thank you so much for everything. It was amazing. I’m very happy and it’s a great honour for me to meet the world’s leaders in Neohumanistic education. I believe that this experience will really help me to do good things.”
“World class!”
“Really a top-notch conference”