Society 5.0 Festival
3 & 4 November 2026 | The Social Hub & Volkshotel
With an inspiring mix of talks, hands-on workshops, interactive installations, and boundary-pushing performances, the festival brings together creatives, researchers, designers, technologists, educators, policymakers, and citizens. It’s a collective space to explore the fusion of digital and physical worlds, spark new ideas, and co-create visions of a more inclusive, sustainable, and human-centred future.
Theme 2026: Reimagining Autonomy
In a world shaped by platforms, data flows, apps and devices that mediate our lives, autonomy is under pressure and ready to be reimagined.
Concerns about autonomous technologies, addictive algorithms, and dependency on big tech are increasingly shaping public debate. Autonomy is often framed as the ability to think and act independently, free from external influence. But in practice, our actions are always embedded in social, technological and ecological systems.
At the Society 5.0 Festival 2026, we approach autonomy as a relational practice – not something we possess individually, but something shaped and sustained collectively through our relationships with others, technologies, and environments. Autonomy, in this sense, is not a fixed state but an ongoing collective practice of safeguarding the personal freedom of interconnected individuals.
We invite creatives, researchers, educators, technologists, and citizens shaping our future, to explore autonomy as a relational and situated practice. What does it mean to act autonomously in a world of intelligent systems? How can we design for autonomy while acknowledging interdependence? And what role do education, research and creative practice play in shaping these perspectives?
Through talks, workshops, installations and performances, the festival creates space to critically examine and collectively experiment with new forms of autonomy. Forms that balance control and care, resistance and responsibility.
Highlights
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Keynote: Romain Brette
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Marshmallow Laser Feast
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Keynote: Joey Zeelen
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Keynote by Rebecca Gomperts
Schedule
Tuesday 3 November
14:00-15:00
Registration
Have your ticket ready, collect your badge, and enjoy a coffee
15:00-16:15
Plenary session
Words of welcome, performance & keynotes
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Words of welcome by Esther Hammelburg
Opening • Riet, Volkshotel -
Opening by moderator Abdelrahman Hassan
Opening • Riet, Volkshotel -
Performance: to be announced
Performance • Riet, Volkshotel -
Keynote: Romain Brette
Keynote • Riet, Volkshotel
16:15-16:45
Break
Enjoy a tea or coffee and explore the installations and bookstand in the courtyard
16:45-18:15
Plenary session
Keynotes & Closing day 1
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Keynote: Joey Zeelen
Keynote • Riet, Volkshotel -
Keynote by Rebecca Gomperts
Keynote • Riet, Volkshotel -
Closing
Closing by José Teunissen & Sabine Niederer • Riet, Volkshotel
18:10-19:30
Drinks
Wrap up the day with drinks and good company and a drink
All day
Expo
The courtyard comes to life: all-day installations to explore
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Dark tech in progress: Student prototype showcase
Showcase • Expo in Volkshotel -
If these plants could talk – An interactive sonic installation
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
Make Me Less
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
Resonance of Silence
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
Layering Histories – Exploring Interdependent Autonomy in the Negotiation of Layered Pasts
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
A Good Conversation: How digital spaces shape our dialogue
Installation/Intervention • Glass room, Volkshotel -
What the algorithm hides
Installation • Expo
Wednesday 4 November
09:00 – 09:45
Registration
Have your ticket ready, collect your badge, and enjoy a coffee
09:45 – 11:00
Plenary session
11:00 – 11:20
Short break
Enjoy a tea or coffee and explore the installations and bookstand in the courtyard
11:20 – 12:30
Workshop round 1
Dive into the first round of workshops
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WE ARE… you and me
Workshop • Riet, Volkshotel -
Designing Dark Tech: A Speculative Prototyping Workshop
Workshop • Meeting Room 2, The Social Hub -
The Hidden Cost Of AI
Workshop • Fransje, Volkshotel -
Value Roulette
Workshop • Meeting Room 1, The Social Hub -
Autonomy at Work: Reimagining Resistance in the Digital Workplace
Workshop • Truus, Volkshotel -
Puppet meet Robot by Ulrike Quade Company
Workshop • Parool theater, The Social Club
12:30 – 13:30
Lunch
Enjoy a fully vegetarian lunch
13:30-14:40
Workshop round 2
Join the second round of workshops
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Sensory Autonomy in Spaces: Why it matters to neurodivergent people and why it should matter to you
Workshop • Meeting Room 1, The Social Hub -
Breaking the Grid: Mesh Communication Beyond Big Tech
Workshop • Meeting Room 2, The Social Hub -
Should we ban students from using AI?
Fishbowl discussion • Fransje, Volkshotel -
Abundant Intelligences: Reimagining AI through an indigenous lens
Discussion • Truus, Volkshotel
14:40-15:05
Short break
Enjoy a tea or coffee and explore the installations and bookstand in the courtyard
15:05-16:15
Workshop round 3
Wrap up the afternoon with a final set of workshops
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When support feels like control: designing social robot interaction for autonomy
Workshop • Conference Room -
Exploring Algorithmic Mediation and Perceptions of Autonomy in Online Discussions
Workshop • Meeting Room 2, The Social Hub -
Tending to Curiosity in Times of Uncertainty
Workshop • Fransje, Volkshotel -
Let’s be candid!
Workshop • Truus, Volkshotel
16:15-16:45
Break
Take a longer break to connect with others or explore the installations
16:45-18:00
Final plenary session
18:00-21:00
Closing drinks
Wrap up the festival with drinks, music and good company
All day
Installations
The courtyard comes to life: all-day installations to explore
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Dark tech in progress: Student prototype showcase
Showcase • Expo in Volkshotel -
If these plants could talk – An interactive sonic installation
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
Make Me Less
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
Resonance of Silence
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
Layering Histories – Exploring Interdependent Autonomy in the Negotiation of Layered Pasts
Installation • Expo in Volkshotel -
A Good Conversation: How digital spaces shape our dialogue
Installation/Intervention • Glass room, Volkshotel -
What the algorithm hides
Installation • Expo -
Embodied Transition: From Thinking to Sensing
Workshop • Parooltheater, The Social Club
Speakers
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Romain Brette
Theoretical Neuroscientist, Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics, Sorbonne Université
Romain Brette
Theoretical Neuroscientist, Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics, Sorbonne Université
About the speaker
Romain Brette is a theoretical neuroscientist exploring how we understand intelligence, cognition, and the brain itself. In his work, he challenges the computational metaphors that dominate modern brain theory, questioning ideas like neural “codes” and the brain as a machine. Author of The Brain, In Theory (Princeton University Press), Brette moves between neuroscience, philosophy, and biology to rethink what cognition really is, from human perception to unicellular organisms.
Romain Brette
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Barnaby Steel
Creative Director, Marshmallow Laser Feast
Barnaby Steel
Creative Director, Marshmallow Laser Feast
About the speaker
Barnaby Steel is an artist and creative director of London-based experiential artist collective Marshmallow Laser Feast. Barnaby’s art practice centres on the senses; enticing audiences into states of expanded perception, a space where the boundaries between bodies blur. His work is deeply rooted in scientific observation as a window that allows us to look through and beyond our own experience, to understand the complexities of things hidden from the naked eye. His work steps outside the human-centred worldview, exploring the threads that weave us into relationship with the more than human world.
Barnaby Steel
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Joey Zeelen
Founder and Managing Director of Studio Øutlier
Joey Zeelen
Founder and Managing Director of Studio Øutlier
About the speaker
Joey Zeelen is the founder and Managing Director of Studio Øutlier, a cultural insights and strategy studio based in Amsterdam and London. Previously EMEA Managing Director at Crowd DNA, he works with brands including Nike, IKEA, Meta and the BBC to understand what’s shaping culture and where it’s heading. Joey believes brand relevance isn’t about collecting more data, but about developing a sharper sense of what’s happening around us.
Joey Zeelen
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Rebecca Gomperts
Medical doctor & Founder/Director Non-Profit Organization
Rebecca Gomperts
Medical doctor & Founder/Director Non-Profit Organization
About the speaker
Rebecca Gomperts is a physician, artist and reproductive rights activist who has spent decades challenging the barriers that shape access to healthcare. She founded Women on Waves, Women on Web and Aid Access, using ships, the internet and telemedicine to rethink how reproductive care can reach people who need it. Her work sits at the intersection of medicine, technology and activism, asking what happens when we stop accepting existing systems as the only way forward.
Rebecca Gomperts
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Ola Bonati
New media researcher and developer
Ola Bonati
New media researcher and developer
About the speaker
Ola Bonati is a concept developer on the Life team within the Designing Regenerative Technologies project from Waag Futurelab. Her work explores alternatives to tech dystopia, seeking kinder, more sustainable practices for both people and the planet. Previously, she has worked as a researcher, storyteller and designer, creating critical media pieces on the role of big tech in everyday life. Since joining the perma-computing community in 2021, she has been actively engaged in workshops and talks, introducing creative professionals and the public to this regenerative approach to technology.
Ola Bonati
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Jonathan Evans
Educator
Jonathan Evans
Educator
About the speaker
Jonathan Evans is a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Creative Business and Lectorate Diversity Issues at Inholland University of Applied Sciences. His work explores neurodiversity, creativity, media, popular culture and critical pedagogies in higher education. He brings together lived and academic insight, connecting research with educational practice. He led a project with OBA Next Labs on neurodiversity programming between March 2025 and June 2026, and has co-developed education at the University of Amsterdam, shaping inclusive approaches to learning and teaching across contexts.
Jonathan Evans
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Marise van Noordenne
Creative technologist, Researcher, Educator
Marise van Noordenne
Creative technologist, Researcher, Educator
About the speaker
Marise van Noordenne is a creative technologist, researcher and educator at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Her background combines Creative Technology (BSc), Media Technology (MSc) and studies in Artificial Intelligence. Her work explores provocative and speculative design methods for AI literacy and explainability, focusing on how interactive and experiential prototypes can support ethical reflection and a deeper understanding of complex AI systems.
Marise van Noordenne
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Jolijn Friederichs
Critical Maker, Artistic researcher & Educator
Jolijn Friederichs
Critical Maker, Artistic researcher & Educator
About the speaker
Jolijn Friederichs is a critical maker, artistic researcher and educator at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. With degrees in Fashion Design (BSc) and Digital Design (MSc), her work explores how Value Sensitive Design can be integrated into technological making, focusing on responsible innovation and the ethics of hyper-personalisation. She investigates how design practice can help students engage with ethical boundaries and systemic effects of digital technology. Together with Marise van Noordenne, she leads the Dark Tech Studio within the HBO-ICT programme and develops the Dark Tech Method as a critical approach to making in a digital society.
Jolijn Friederichs
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Bernadette Schrandt
Lecturer & Researcher
Bernadette Schrandt
Lecturer & Researcher
About the speaker
Bernadette Schrandt has a background in media and performance studies, and has worked as a researcher, lecturer and project lead at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences since 2013. Her research focuses on how cross-disciplinary differences are negotiated and balanced in practice, situated at the intersection of sustainable immersive production, heritage and dialogue. With a broader interest in our relationship to our (digital) material environment, she explores how the meanings of sustainable production processes can be expanded. Central to her work is how judgements about these processes are formed and made in practice.
Bernadette Schrandt
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Rick van Kersbergen
Lecturer & Researcher
Rick van Kersbergen
Lecturer & Researcher
About the speaker
Rick van Kersbergen has a background in Applied Artificial Intelligence and works as a lecturer and researcher at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, within the Responsible IT research group. His work focuses on Sustainable AI and the practical conditions under which artificial intelligence can be developed and used responsibly. With a particular interest in the hidden environmental costs of AI, he explores how the energy use and infrastructure behind AI systems can be made more visible, measurable and actionable. In his teaching and research, he connects technical AI development with wider questions of ecological sustainability, responsible innovation and digital autonomy.
Rick van Kersbergen
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Willemine Willems
Lead Dialogue program Digital Futures, Rathenau
Willemine Willems
Lead Dialogue program Digital Futures, Rathenau
About the speaker
Willemine Willems leads the dialogue program ‘Digital futures’, which explores the social aspects of digitalisation in terms of social relations, democracy and living environments.
Willemine Willems
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Marcio Fückner
Lecturer & Researcher
Marcio Fückner
Lecturer & Researcher
About the speaker
Marcio Fückner is a senior researcher at the Responsible IT Lab at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and a lecturer on the Master of Applied AI programme. His research focuses on methodologies for building responsible AI systems. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Software Engineering and Computer Science from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná in Brazil, and a PhD in Computer Science from the Sorbonne University Alliance (UTC) in France. He works with research and education partners, government agencies and media organisations to develop AI in ethical and responsible ways.
Marcio Fückner
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Merel Noorman
Associate Professor Responsible AI
Merel Noorman
Associate Professor Responsible AI
About the speaker
Merel Noorman is Associate Lector of Responsible IT, with expertise in responsible AI, AI regulation and governance, philosophy of technology and the societal impact of technology. Her work sits at the intersection of AI, ethics and governance, drawing on a background in Artificial Intelligence, Science and Technology Studies (STS) and philosophy of technology. A central theme is the democratisation of AI: how society can maintain a grip on increasingly complex technologies and sustain democratic oversight through transparency, explainability and embedding societal values in design and use. She collaborates with practice partners on responsible sociotechnical solutions for the challenges of digital innovation, with particular attention to public services, media and the creative industries.
Merel Noorman
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Joao Loupatty
Lecturer Data, Technology and Ethics
Joao Loupatty
Lecturer Data, Technology and Ethics
About the speaker
Joao is a lecturer at Smart Media Production at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, where he teaches about AI, ethics, media and new technology. Alongside his work in education, he is an artist whose practice explores Indigenous heritage, speculative futures, immersive storytelling and the relationship between new technologies and colonial histories. He regularly gives talks and workshops on AI, inequality, ethics and Indigenous perspectives on technology. Through his contact with the Abundant Intelligences research group and with Bima Satria Putra, Joao brings these international and Indigenous perspectives into the Dutch conversation around AI.
Joao Loupatty
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Laura de Groot
Researcher Digital Futures, Rathenau
Laura de Groot
Researcher Digital Futures, Rathenau
About the speaker
Laura de Groot is a researcher within the dialogue programme Digital futures.
Laura de Groot
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Flann Naji
Researcher
Flann Naji
Researcher
About the speaker
Flann Naji is a researcher at the Lectorate Diversity Issues at Inholland. His work focuses on embedding neurodivergent perspectives across society and higher education, with a particular attention to lived experience. He studies the experiences of neurodivergent students and the structural and cultural shifts needed to build more inclusive academic environments. His work extends into cultural and public spaces, supporting learning contexts where neurodivergent students feel valued, supported and able to participate fully.
Flann Naji
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Linda Kool
Research Coordinator Digital Society, Rathenau
Linda Kool
Research Coordinator Digital Society, Rathenau
About the speaker
Linda Kool is research coordinator within the theme Digital Society, which focuses on societal, ethical and political implications of emerging digital technologies.
Linda Kool
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Abdelrahman Hassan
Moderator
Abdelrahman Hassan
Moderator
About the speaker
Abdelrahman Hassan is a creative technologist, AI strategist, digital anthropologist and poet based in Amsterdam. His work brings technology, critical thinking and poetry together to imagine more liberating ways of living with AI. Moving between industry, culture and civil society, he works with organisations including IKEA and Decathlon, and develops workshops, reading groups and speculative rituals. Abdo asks who AI should serve, what futures it might open up, and which worlds we choose to build.
Abdelrahman Hassan
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Brett Perry
Dancer & Educator
Brett Perry
Dancer & Educator
About the speaker
Brett Perry is a dancer, choreographer and educator exploring movement as a tool for connection, creativity and change. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he has danced with companies including Trey McIntyre Project and Ballet BC, and now works as a freelance artist. Brett also brings his practice into education, leadership and social innovation, helping people develop greater body awareness and adaptability. At the heart of his work is a simple idea: the body often knows things the mind hasn’t figured out yet.
Brett Perry
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John Michael Schert
Dancer & Educator
John Michael Schert
Dancer & Educator
About the speaker
John Michael Schert is a leadership advisor, speaker and founder of JMS & Company, where he works on systems change across business, government, philanthropy and academia. A former ballet dancer and co-founder of Trey McIntyre Project, he brings the creative process into conversations about leadership, power and organisational behaviour. His multidisciplinary approach helps people navigate complexity, challenge established ways of working and find new ways to create change. John Michael holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School.
John Michael Schert
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Ulrike Quade
Artistic Director, Ulrike Quade Company
Ulrike Quade
Artistic Director, Ulrike Quade Company
About the speaker
Ulrike Quade is a theatre maker and artistic researcher exploring how technology shapes the way we see ourselves and each other. As artistic director of UQC, she uses performance as a space to experiment with AI, robotics and digital networks. Drawing on her background in Japanese puppetry and scenography, she brings technology into physical, tangible encounters. Working across art and science, Ulrike creates new ways to explore urgent questions about technology, bodies and society.
Ulrike Quade
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Sorcha Ní Bhraonáin
Dramaturg & Researcher
Sorcha Ní Bhraonáin
Dramaturg & Researcher
About the speaker
Sorcha Ní Bhraonáin is a dramaturg-researcher at UQC. Her work engages with critical and creative inquiry into digital technologies through cultural analysis, science & technology studies and artistic research. Her writings on art and technology have been published by Edinburgh University Press, Routledge and Amsterdam University of the Arts.
Sorcha Ní Bhraonáin
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Roberta Maimone
Choreographer
Roberta Maimone
Choreographer
About the speaker
Roberta Maimone is an Italian choreographer, dancer, performer and movement director based in Amsterdam. Working across dance, mime, puppetry and lights, she developed the MEM method, focusing on physical articulation and gesture as carriers of meaning. Her work was previously presented at Nederlands Dans Dagen 2023, the International Choreographic Competition Hannover 2024 and Amsterdam Fringe Festival 2026.
Roberta Maimone
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Pauline Hoogweg
Designer, Lecturer, Researcher
Pauline Hoogweg
Designer, Lecturer, Researcher
About the speaker
Pauline Hoogweg writes, designs and works as a designer-researcher at the research group Creative Media for Social Change (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences) and as a lecturer at the Communication & Multimedia Design Program. She studied at the Royal Academy of Art The Hague, at the St Joost School of Art & Design Breda and at the University of California Berkeley. She is the author of 22 + 9 (poetry book), Moed je doen! (a survival guide for doing your dream project) and De wereld maakt een koprol (a picture book). In her work, she focuses on creating space for people to explore, connect, and imagine. She loves to work on projects that spark energy and bring people together.
Pauline Hoogweg
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Madeleine Groenland
Lecturer & Researcher
Madeleine Groenland
Lecturer & Researcher
About the speaker
Madeleine is a lecturer and researcher exploring how media and technology shape the way we understand society. With over 20 years of experience in higher education, she teaches at the intersection of media, culture and social change, and coordinates graduation projects for Creative Business students. Trained as a photographer, she brings a visual perspective to questions about technology and society. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Applied Philosophy, deepening her interest in the ethical questions emerging from our changing media landscape.
Madeleine Groenland
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Lamia Elloumi
Lecturer & Researcher
Lamia Elloumi
Lecturer & Researcher
About the speaker
Lamia Elloumi is a researcher and lecturer in the Master Applied AI programme at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. Her work focuses on inclusive AI, human-centred design and the role of emerging technologies in education. She leads participatory research projects exploring how technologies such as AI systems and social robots can support autonomy, reflection and well-being. In collaboration with autistic students and community partners, she investigates how interaction design shapes trust, control and user experience in educational contexts.
Lamia Elloumi
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Musa Murchison
Oratory Glory
Musa Murchison
Oratory Glory
About the speaker
Musa Murchison (she/they) is a cultural geographer, teaching artist and creative strategist exploring how work can become a space for personal and collective possibility. Over the past 15 years, they have worked across 19 countries, supporting leaders, organisations and communities to rethink systems, stories and ways of working. Musa is President of Oratory Glory, a communications consultancy and creative studio focused on co-creating more equitable futures through research, storytelling, creative practice and collaboration.
Musa Murchison
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Stuart Acker Holt
Filmmaker & Photographer
Stuart Acker Holt
Filmmaker & Photographer
About the speaker
Stuart Acker Holt is an Amsterdam-based visual ethnographer, photographer and filmmaker. He creates unconventional research methods that turn strangers into participants, using street interviews, nomination trails and playful challenges to spark honest, unscripted encounters. His work explores how people behave, connect and tell stories in real-world settings. He is also the founder of The Most Interesting Person and a lecturer at Fontys University of Applied Sciences. His photography and films have appeared internationally, including in The Guardian, The New York Times and Reuters.
Stuart Acker Holt
Follow our trail
In 2025, we launched the Society 5.0 Most Interesting Person Trail – a human-powered video series. Each month, a new voice shares their perspective on the intersection of humanity and technology, and nominates the next, expanding the trail beyond our network. Through this, we foster connection and highlight diverse perspectives to help shape a desirable technological future.
Student Hackathon
Around the Society 5.0 Festival, a hackathon is organised for students. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students tackle real-world cases from our partners, supported by experienced coaches. Together, they explore new ideas and develop creative solutions for a more inclusive, sustainable and human-centred future.
Applications are open until 5 October.
Discover previous editions
Discover previous editions of the Society 5.0 Festival and explore the ideas, projects, and conversations that have shaped the festival over the years.
FAQ
The festival takes place across two venues, located directly opposite each other:
The Social Hub Amsterdam City
Wibautstraat 129, 1091 GL Amsterdam
View on Google Maps
Volkshotel
Wibautstraat 150, 1091 GR Amsterdam
View on Google Maps
Both venues are just across the street from each other and are easily accessible by public transport, bicycle or taxi.
The nearest metro station is a 4-minute walk away, and Amsterdam Amstel train station is approximately an 8-minute walk from the venues.
Please check your spam folder first as it may have ended up there. If you’re still having problems receiving your confirmation email with your ticket(s) please email us at society5@hva.nl. We will respond as soon as we can.
All attendees must register for the festival itself in advance. However, separate registration for individual sessions or workshops is not required. Workshops are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note that space is limited – once a workshop is full, no additional participants will be admitted.
Yes. Complimentary coffee, tea, water, and a vegetarian lunch will be provided during the event. Additionally, food and drinks can be purchased at The Social Hub café on site.
Everyone is welcome! Our venue is wheelchair accessible, with accessible toilets and seating throughout. Assistance dogs are welcome, and quiet zones are available. We currently do not provide sign language interpretation, but you’re welcome to bring your own whisper interpreter or support person.
Let us know if you need this or have other requirements. Questions? Contact us at society5@hva.nl.
The festival itself is a fully in-person experience. Sessions will not be live-streamed or recorded.
Great to hear that you would like to contribute! Please email us your ideas at society5@hva.nl.
Yes. Society 5.0 has been organised in previous years, each edition exploring the intersection of technology, society, and innovation from a human-centred perspective. Every year brings new insights, diverse speakers, and hands-on workshops – continuing to grow as a platform for meaningful exchange and future-oriented thinking.
Read more about the previous editons.
About
At the Society 5.0 Festival, we explore new ways of working to shape a desirable future society. During this two-day festival – filled with workshops, performances, installations, and talks – creatives, researchers, citizens, technologists, educators, designers, students, and (policy)makers come together to access, generate, sense, and reclaim our hybrid future.
The Society 5.0 Festival is organised by the Centre of Expertise Creative Innovation (CoE CI), an impact network for the creative industry, in which the Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam University of the Arts, Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Mediacollege Amsterdam, Media College Amsterdam and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences collaborate.
Meet the partners making this year’s festival possible: VPRO Medialab, The Social Hub, and EIT Culture & Creativity.
