Crisis – Perspectives from the Humanities: kick-off conference for the 10 funded projects

Knowledge Exchange for Slow Hope: Reflections from the HERA Kick-Off Conference in Nottingham

After slowing down and taking time to reflect, the HERA kick-off conference, Knowledge Exchange for Slow Hope, offered more than a meeting for ten funded humanities-led research projects. Held in Nottingham on 24/25 November 2025, the conference brought together researchers, facilitators, and partners to build relationships, exchange ideas, and rethink how the humanities can engage with crisis, past and present, over the coming years.

Funded under the HERA Crisis – Perspectives from the Humanities call, these projects share a thematic focus on crisis and a commitment to meaningful knowledge exchange.

Discover the projects

The conference was designed to challenge conventional academic formats and timelines, creating space for reflection, conversation, and connection; a vision led by Professor Jenny Wüstenberg in her role as HERA Knowledge Exchange Facilitator, who coordinates collaboration across the ten funded projects and fosters cohort relationships to maximise the impact and visibility of humanities research on crises.

Rethinking Crisis through the Humanities

Participants repeatedly returned to questions about what the language of crisis does: which voices it amplifies, which experiences it sidelines, and how it shapes political, institutional, and public responses.

Rather than accepting the crisis as a given, discussions emphasised the importance of historicising and reframing it. The humanities play a crucial role here, offering tools to interrogate narratives and explore alternative ways of understanding urgency, resilience, action, and hope. The event helped to draw attention to issues that matter, from environmental degradation to social injustice.

Slow Hope as a Practice of Knowledge Exchange

The conference allowed for a slower pace, with time set aside for informal conversations, shared walks, and meals, where connections formed and ideas developed naturally.

This approach was also reflected in the program design. Alongside roundtables on “Crisis, Resilience, Action and Hope” and on funding in the humanities and social sciences, participants joined a Theory of Change workshop, skills sessions on podcasting, policy briefs, and social media, and a Methods Café that supported learning across projects.

Engaging space was another important dimension. Walks to Wollaton Hall and Park, and optional visits to sites such as Bromley House Library and Standing In This Place, helped situate conversations within local histories and environments. Connecting with the natural world and with historical traces proved refreshing, intellectually generative, and supportive of collective learning.

Looking Ahead

The conference also encouraged self-reflection. Could things have moved even more slowly? Participants suggested ideas such as device-free sessions, longer meetings with more breaks, and more opportunities to move around. These questions remain open, as part of an ongoing discussion on how to make knowledge exchange more inclusive and effective.

As the project progresses, the kick-off conference in Nottingham showed that giving the humanities time, space, and careful structure can lead to deeper conversations about crisis, collaboration, and hope. As HERA Chair Jaideep Gupte reminded participants, Europe is stronger when it thinks together, and Knowledge Exchange for Slow Hope offered a glimpse of what that collective thinking can look like in practice.

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