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31 May - 2 JuneBjäre peninsula, Skåne

Why we're gathering now

In a world that often feels rushed and divided, some of the best insights come from slowing down and having honest conversations with people who see things differently. It’s in those moments, when we listen with curiosity and speak with openness, that new ideas can take root. As a wise man once said, "It is people not like us who make us grow." This gathering is built on that belief: a chance to meet others, explore big questions, and make sense of a changing world together in good company and a beautiful place.

In the Liminal: A Gathering for a Changing World is a 48 hour get-together for anyone looking at the world and thinking about their role in it, and about what’s needed now. In a time shaped by uncertainty and change, this is a chance to reflect, learn from others, and reconnect with a deeper sense of direction. Through meaningful conversations, shared exploration, and time in nature, we’ll support each other in finding insight, connection, and energy for what comes next.

We live in a time when old systems are unravelling - geopolitically, ecologically, economically, existentially. For many, the future no longer appears as a continuation of the past. The ground beneath us shifts, and the stories that once guided us feel brittle or hollow. Yet amidst all this, something else is stirring, quietly, sometimes painfully. A deeper reckoning. A reorientation.

This 48-hour gathering is for those who feel the ache of these times and who carry questions that just won’t let them go. It’s for those who suspect that the work ahead isn’t about fixing the old, but tending to what’s emerging in its ruins and compost. It’s a time to retreat and reflect. To recalibrate your thinking. To hear perspectives that stretch your frame. To engage in thoughtful, honest conversation. To step into collective sensemaking, without pressure to perform or produce.

We won’t offer solutions or roadmaps. But we will listen; to each other, to the land, and to the deeper currents that might shape what comes next. This is a space to sit together in the liminal: not a pause before the next thing, but a threshold in its own right.

All you need to know

The retreat takes place on the Bjäre Peninsula, between Ängelholm and Båstad. This is a liminal landscape shaped by meeting points and transitions. Bioregionally, it is nestled just below the ridge of Hallandsåsen, where the forests of Sweden meet the open fields of Skåne and Denmark, in one of Sweden's most fertile farming regions. Also, it lies close to Öresund, where the salt water of the North Sea merges with the brackish Baltic. This is a place between bioregions, cultures, and histories; a borderland long shaped by shifting boundaries and migrations. Its layered ecology and quiet beauty make it an ideal setting for reflection. Perhaps the land itself holds the tension and possibility of the in-between?

Practicalities 

Dates:  Beginning at 13.00 on Sunday 1 June Ending at 14.00 on Tuesday 3 June

Location: Sessions will take place at a suitable location, and outdoors in nature

Accommodation: Those participants who need accommodation can stay in AirB&B's in the vicinity, where rooms can be booked.

Getting there: Pick-ups can be arranged at Ängelholm or Förslöv train stations (2 hours from Göteborg, 1 hour from Malmö, 5 1/2 hours from Stockholm). 

© MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors

About the Program

”In the Liminal” is shaped to invite reflection, connection, and renewal through a mix of gently held structure and spacious, organic exchange. We’re currently preparing process and content and here is a “menu" of what the gathering may include. Most likely this range of topics will need to be narrowed down so please let us know what speaks to you, or other things that you need help with.

  • Conversations that Matter: Facilitated sessions will guide us through shared questions: where we are, what’s unraveling, and what might be possible. These are not panels or performances, but grounded, participatory dialogues shaped by the themes that emerge.
  • Offerings from Participants: Some in the circle will bring reflections or provocations drawn from their own work and experience. These contributions will help stir the pot and open new directions in our shared inquiry.
  • Voices from Elsewhere: We’ll hear from a few friends in East Africa, India, China, and the US, for glimpses of how the world looks from where they are, and what they’re sensing in these shifting times.
  • Seeds of Action: There will be space to share ideas, projects, long-held questions that feel alive, or things that might want tending beyond this gathering. It’s also a time to speak up if there’s something you’re working on and could use help with.
  • Morning Grounding: Each morning begins with optional yoga or qigong – ways to root into the body, the breath, and the day ahead.
  • Walks that Talk: Time in nature, walking and talking in pairs or small groups, letting the land and movement shape the conversation.
  • Voice and Expression: We’ll explore voice, breath, and creative expression. Not to perform, but to reconnect with what’s alive in us.
  • Music, Poetry, and Silence: Threads of music and poetry will be woven through the days, sometimes as invitation, sometimes as pause. Beauty, rhythm, and stillness as companions on the path.
  • Creative Use of AI: We’ll explore how AI can support our collective inquiry, not as a replacement for human wisdom, but as a reflective companion. It may help us surface patterns, map ideas, or co-create meaning from our dialogues. We’ll also explore how it might deepen our listening (even to the more-than-human world) by slowing us down and opening space for unexpected connections to emerge.

Organizers and hosts

Alexander Crawford is a designer, curator, and facilitator of meaningful conversations and collaborative processes. He brings a global, systems-aware perspective to everything he does. He’s especially drawn to questions of transition: how societies navigate complexity, rethink economies, and create space for new ways of living and leading. A former research director at the Tällberg Foundation and program manager at the Swedish Institute, he’s shaped international forums and leadership programs from Sweden to China. Alexander is also a seasoned analyst of trends and transformations, with a soft spot for radical transitions, new economic thinking, future scenarios, and tech as a catalyst for change. Beyond the professional sphere, he’s active in several non-profits and start-ups. These days, he focuses on co-creating spaces - meetings, retreats,  excursions, dialogues - that invite exploration, clarity, and connection. FRSA. He divides his time between Stockholm and Southern Sweden.

Brita Staal is a climate strategist, impact investor, and systems thinker who brings clarity and courage to the work of transition. She has led climate risk and sustainability strategies across sectors, from building the NGO Protect Our Winters Europe to shaping policy and innovation through the Exponential Roadmap Initiative. As a columnist, speaker and moderator, Brita is known for her ability to connect science, business, and human stories, making the abstract tangible and the urgent actionable. She co-founded the climate tech company Mitigrate and held board roles in regenerative ventures like ClimatePoint, Ogoori and Øygrid. Whether advising EU research programs or facilitating local adaptation projects, Brita works at the intersection of mitigation, resilience, and regeneration. She believes in hope as a choice—and in the power of honest, science-based action for future life.

Jan de Man Lapidoth works with stewardship, purpose-driven enterprising, and developmental cultures, brought forward as emerging possibilities in times when old cultures, structures and systems come to their end. As a life-long student of leadership and organisational culture he has formed a deep inner journey that develops holistic, relational and minimalist perspectives. Through the lens of stewardship Jan emphasises that we all are invited to choose service over self-interest. He believes that (re)weaving purpose, values, and relationships creates more potential than perfectly applying tools, models and methods. Jan is a creative and grounded facilitator that thrives in complex, uncertain contexts, not as a subject-matter expert, but as a process guide that navigates the spaces between people, ideas, and living systems. He is increasingly focused on mentoring younger changemakers and supporting the emergence of wiser and nature-connected leadership. Based in Stockholm and its beautiful archipelago.

Ida Lod is a versatile artist and facilitator who works across disciplines, blending music, performance, and transformative voice work for both groups and individuals. Through the use of song, spoken word, violin, movement, and interaction with her surroundings, she explores the profound connections between our inner and outer landscapes. Recurring themes in her work include the interplay of masking and unmasking, the intimate relationship between the human body and the earth, the realm of dreams, and the power of transformation. Often drawing on animistic perspectives, her performances frequently resonate with the depth and presence of ritual. As a facilitator, Ida Lod guides individuals and groups in discovering and connecting with their unique creative voices through embodied and transformative practices. Some of her current projects include the performance ritual 'Owl Woman,' 'Connection Through Music' with patients in hospice care, the music theatre ritual for children and their adults titled 'Dream of the Dream,' and 'Embodied Leadership workshops,' which focuses on embracing vulnerability and cultivating deep listening.

What is Liminality?

Liminality is the space in-between – between what was and what is yet to come. The word comes from the Latin limen, meaning threshold: a point of entry or beginning. It is a threshold, a time of transition when old structures no longer hold, and new forms are not yet clear. In such moments, uncertainty can feel overwhelming, but it can also open space for insight, creativity, and transformation. This retreat embraces liminality not as something to resolve quickly, but as a place to listen more deeply to ourselves, to each other, and to the world. By pausing at the threshold, we can find renewed clarity and strength to navigate change with presence and intention.