Background
The Darwin Dialogues is a new initiative bringing together Darwinians, as well as practitioners, policy-makers and researchers from beyond the College community, to share their perspectives on pressing global challenges.
Launched in April 2026, the programme will host two events annually.
What sets the Dialogues apart is their commitment to genuine conversation. Each event will bring together a wide range of voices, approaches and attitudes, with space for open and unhurried exchange. Participants may leave with new connections, new ideas, or a new way of seeing a global problem.
We are delighted to announce that the inaugural Darwin Dialogue will take place on 29th and 30th September 2026, exploring the theme of Peace and the Unsustainable.
Peace and the Unsustainable
Peace and sustainability are both widely recognised as urgent goals. Yet, they are often discussed separately and treated as distinct aims: with peace understood as the absence of war, and sustainability as the existence of durable environmental, economic, and social systems.
This first Darwin Dialogue will bring the two concepts together, examining their many areas of overlap and intersection. In particular, it will ask what this interplay reveals about the unsustainable conditions that shape contemporary societies and global interactions.
The Dialogue will involve participatory and creative sessions designed to encourage a diversity of perspectives to emerge.
Some questions and themes that might be explored include:
Cause and effect: how do unsustainability and conflict shape one another?
- How might unsustainable practices (eg environmental degradation) fuel conflict, or make lasting peace harder to achieve?
- In what ways might war, in turn, drive unsustainability?
- Can war ever leave behind a sustainable legacy?
Definitions: how should we define peace and sustainability?
- Can a society that is built on unsustainable foundations be called peaceful, so long as it is not at war? Is peace merely the absence of war?
- Can a society be described as sustainable if it is not peaceful?
- Do these definitions shift depending on whose vantage point we take?
Policy issues and trade-offs: what does pursuing both peace and sustainability demand?
- What should a policy transition toward peace and sustainability look like?
- Can such a transition be achieved without triggering conflict and instability?
- What responsibilities do individuals have to play in confronting peace and the unsustainable?
Overall, this dialogue invites participants to examine the relationships between peace and sustainability, and to ask whether either can be understood without reference to the other.
Event details
- The Darwin Dialogue 2026 will take place in the Bradfield Room, Darwin College, on Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th September.
- Registration will open in mid-July 2026.
- Timings are still to be confirmed, but the event is likely to be scheduled from 10am to 5pm on 29th, followed by a dinner, and 9am to 3pm on 30th.
- Registration for this Darwin Dialogue will be open to all Darwin students, Fellows and staff, but final numbers will be limited to around 40 participants
For further information, please contact Zara Goldstone, Global Challenges Coordinator, on zg251@cam.ac.uk
