Kaya: Sanctuaries of Aliveness

Co-hosted by the Nile journeys, and the World Ethic Forum

July 2026, Nairobi, Kenya

Kaya is a journey of re-rooting, remembrance, and re-imagining. Born from the partnership between the World Ethic Forum (WEFo) and Nile Journeys, Kaya is both a project and a living metaphor: a sanctuary where communities, cultures, and ecosystems come together to practice what it means to be alive in connection.

Taking place in Kenya in 2026, Kaya unfolds through two main events: the Firekeepers Gathering, an intimate space for stewards to reflect on our way of being together, and Public Events in Nairobi, which open these conversations to wider society through dialogue, art, exhibitions, and cultural celebration.

What is Kaya?

Kaya draws its name and inspiration from the sacred forest groves of Kenya’s coastal peoples. Traditionally, these groves were protected sites of cultural, ecological, and spiritual significance, embodying values of rootedness, guardianship, and collective well-being. In this spirit, Kaya is envisioned as a sanctuary of Earth’s aliveness—a place where ethic is not abstract debates, but lived, embodied, and ritualized through dialogue, art, and presence.

As the 5th Edition of the World Ethic Forum, Kaya will take place in Kenya in 2026, hosted by Nile Journeys. It will gather elders, artists, youth, changemakers, and community stewards to pause, reflect, and explore how we may live regeneratively in times of planetary crisis.

Embodying a culture of care and kinship; towards a collective practice.

Firekeeper Circle Gathering

Annual in-person convening of the World Ethic Forum tending to the fire, water, earth and air practicing radically shared aliveness. We will meet and learn from the more-than-human and people of the land, their relationship to stewarding aliveness and deepen our work together.

Public Festival

Designed for broader public participation, this festival will bring together members of civil society, youth, creatives, policy makers, academics, and the general public in a series of immersive engagements rooted in the themes of Kaya. The program will entail arts- and performative elements, conversations and dialogues, workshops, thematic journeys in the city and its natural spaces, surrounded by a food exploration from the region.

Join us in co-creating Kaya

Organizations and individuals who wish to partner—whether through content collaboration, in-kind contributions, financial support, or by joining the dialogue are warmly invited to be part of this unfolding journey of Kaya.

Together, let's explore what our future shared aliveness looks like.

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