Annual General Exchange 2026

Economies, Capacities and Topologies : 5 days of collective investigation into DIY organising and Arts Activism now.

5th – 8th / 9th November 2026

BOARC, Merseyside

After a 2-year hiatus AGE is finally back and we’re excited for this year’s format.

For 2026, in all its intensity, we’ve settled on three themes that seem, perhaps, the most urgently discussed at BOARC between our users. We are asking folks who are invested in these topics to put their thinking forward – through a light touch presentation, that will gain some weight when we are together. So many amazing people come through the building, many doing really inspiring work – this is intended as point in which there is active crossover and a sharing of knowledge and strategy. Aimed towards hope, solidarity and getting down to what matters.

For those of you who are new to our Annual General Exchange (AGE): this has always been time for thinking collectively about the politics and challenges of the moment. It’s always speculative, heartening, gets both nebulous and precise as it evolves a group conversation over terrain yet unknown. As a user-lead space, during AGE, BOARC gets to think through issues important to its development, whilst the questions addressed resonate widely enough to impact all of us that look to activate social change through our practice – in whatever form that takes.

We expect thinking to move, ideas to expand, relationships to form and everyone to come away a bit more pointed in their direction thanks to the tool of collective criticality.

The themes in view are broad, they interlace and entangle – we’ve offered some notes, hints, questions not yet answered, paths that need wandering. These are just a flavour: consider them very open prompts or starting suggestions. Please feel free to be specific, be vast, be geeky or unsure. These are the woods our collective brain gets to forage in. Come with your academic-side-hustle, life-long case study, midnight rumination or evidence from your work sector. We are open and in total trust that what’s given will get us where we are going.

The Thematics

Economies: Imaging Alternative Economies, Measure Metric & Mean.

> What happened to criticality? The importance of para-academic strategies.

> Thinking outside of finance – co-operative methods and energetic exchange.

> Searching for scale in a disembodied world.

> Renter capitalism – what hope lies where.

> The changing face of class under turbocapitalism.

> The not so hidden costs: The death drive of capital and psychology of willing ignorance.

Capacities: Radical Networks of Care & Frameworks for Deep Adaption.

> Beyond the welfare industry: Alternatives to identity driven healthcare.

> 15 years into accountability practices, where are we now?

> Breaking learned helplessness: de-habituating state control from our relation to neurodivergence.

> Intolerable grief and its impact on the collective imagination.

> The fractal relation between individual, social and political health – when cracks can no longer be patched.

> Raising conscious kids in a time of black mirrors and ethics of abandon.

Topologies: The Global Terrain

> The death of ethics – 3 years into the current genocide in Gaza, what have we learnt of the human condition?

> Passive aggression as a legacy of the UK’s colonial heritage – its role in fascism’s rise.

> Time as a human construction – the stasis of culture, is there movement below?

> The Systemic Field – lessons from the eastern traditions in non-duality.

> Para-political repetitions – understanding contemporary exertions of power that eschew the framework of liberal democracy.

> Stirring the silent majority – in a digitized world will alienation ever activate the masses.

The Format

The First 3 Days

The first 3 days will be made up of participant presentations that contribute to or are adjacent to the 3 themes.

These are intended to be light work. There is no need to come with a fancy powerpoint or fully elaborated thesis. We are just asking interested/ing folks to throw their hat in the ring by speaking for their current research, the findings generated through their practice, or social strategies they are currently thinking with.

Your presentation might not be the heart of your work but representative of a questions you’ve been seeking answers for. In this challenging moment we are after the thing that makes you say: “Others need to know about this and… I need to know what they think about it too”. Be it doom laden or hopeful, micro or macro. Your academic-side-hustle or life’s current case study.

We bracket an hour for each input, a presentation could take 20 mins with questions and break out time, or you might choose to take the whole hour to talk.

We are hoping for 5 or 6 per day and have a few suggestions already.

Before dinner we’ll do a collective diagramming session – this is a tool BOARC has been using and basically involves splitting into small groups to try trace, map and move through some of the key idea’s emerging – it is great, fun and effective.

The evenings will be reserved just for Joy! Music, films, dancing, flirting, feasting – generally letting off steam and enjoying each other’s company.

Day 4

We’ll go into expanded practice – working with other more physical and creative tools. We don’t know what yet. We imagine Systemic Constellations will be in there (as an example) but if you’ve a nice meeting or discussion structure please suggest it.

We’ll have BOARCS AGM and some form of party.

Day 5

The team at BOARC will have a day capturing stuff, drawing things up into policy, anyone invested in the project or DIY spaces more generally is very welcome to join. The contribution of others is necessary and always really appreciated. We are looking to set up a working group/steering committee as the project goes forward and this will be in the background of some of our conversations.

We are offering a 4th night of free accommodation for those wishing to stay and work with us.

Cost & Booking

BASIC

£160

Covers 3 nights stay & 4 days of food

The 4th optional night is free for those staying to work with us on BOARC.

BOARC is an unfunded DIY project. This gathering is being organised by a voluntary team. If you’d like to contribute towards the cost of the running the program (organisers childcare, transport, etc.) the suggested donation is £40-60

We are offering a few discounted places at £100 for those in extreme financial hardship (long-term unemployment, full-time carers, on benefits) please get in touch.

DAY RATE

For those local, it is possible to come for the day.

The cost is £25 p/d which includes 2 collectively prepped meals.

We will also offer 2 hardship places, per day, please get in touch.

BOOKING

To get involved get in touch: enquiries@bidstonobservatory.org

If you just want to show up, great. Your presence is enough.

If you’d like to present, just write a couple of lines about what you are thinking of / working through and which thematic you see it sitting best with.

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More Info

Accessibility

Bidston Observatory is a historic building and presents some access challenges. Sadly the site includes multiple staircases and there is no lift. We are committed to making the event as accessible as possible and encourage anyone with access requirements to get in touch with us in advance so we can discuss how best to support your visit.

Parking and Tranport

We have free onsite parking. Info on transport connections can be found here: https://bidstonobservatory.org/practical-info/