Dynamic Knowledge: moving together in practice. How to learn without teaching
9–13 May 2026 · Salt → Albanyà → Muga River (Girona, Catalonia, Spain)

The Walking Assembly 2026 is a nomadic, field-based gathering for artists, researchers, educators, and collectives interested in walking as a form of knowledge-making, relational practice, and ecological inquiry. Building on the Walking Arts and Relational Geographies encounters held in Catalonia in 2022 and 2024, the 2026 edition marks a decisive shift: from conference to assembly, from encounter to movement.

Rather than relying on conventional academic formats, The Walking Assembly proposes an experimental model in which knowledge emerges through shared walking, presence, and collective experience. Learning is understood not as something transmitted or taught, but as something that arises through movement, attention, and being together in place.

Organised by Nau Côclea with an international curatorial team, The Walking Assembly 2026 takes place within the framework of the HO1 POCTEFA cross-border project (Spain–France).

Concept & Theme

Dynamic Knowledge: moving together in practice. How to learn without teaching

The Assembly starts from the recognition that certain forms of knowledge are embodied, relational, ecological, and situated—and cannot be fully grasped through disciplinary research or formal instruction alone. Walking is proposed as:

• a mode of knowing grounded in movement, care, and attention
• a commons based on hospitality, reciprocity, and co-creation
• a way to explore relationships between human and more-than-human worlds

Water, and specifically the Muga River, serves as both guiding metaphor and material presence throughout the Assembly, foregrounding flow, transformation, accumulation, erosion, and return as pedagogical forces.

Structure

Part 1 – Confluence in Salt (Saturday, 9 May 2026)
A one-day open Confluence hosted in Salt (near Girona), bringing together up to 120 participants. Moving beyond traditional conference formats, participants share materials in advance and engage on site through conversations, walks, workshops, and collective sessions. Highlights include a public conversation with Tim Ingold, and an introduction to the walking expedition and thematic walkshops. As part of the parallel programme, expedition participants will take part in an experiential walk in the Urban Gardens of Salt with the Milfulles Association, while non-expedition participants are invited to a counter-mapping workshop led by Luce Choules.

Part 2 – Walking Expedition along the Muga River (10–13 May 2026)
A four-day, three-night nomadic walking expedition based in Albanyà, limited to 30 selected participants. Working in small groups, participants engage in sustained dialogue with the river and its landscapes through themed walkshops, including:

• The river that sees us – Clara Garí and Marc Caellas
• Walking, Writing, and the Commons of Attention – Geert Vermeire and Fred Adam
• Personal and Other Pilgrimages – Claudia Zeiske
• Walking on Water – Pau Cata

Evenings are dedicated to collective reflection and sharing. A live photographic fieldwork process, coordinated by Luce Choules, will form an evolving expedition archive.

Participation & Application

Participants may apply for:

• Confluence only (€75, all day, included welcome coffee and catering / lunch), (€35, morning talk Tim Ingold only, included welcome coffee),  by simple registration by e-mail
• Confluence + Walking Expedition (€380, included full day program in Girona with lunch menu and one night (shared) accomodation in hotel, transport from/to Girona-Albanya (Muga), 3 nights accommodation in Albanya (shared bungalows), and food in Albanya (collective cooking)) 

Applications for Walking Expedition must include:

1. A 500-word statement of interest
2. A 250-word biography and three links to relevant work
3. Indication of participation preference

Deadline: 28 February 2026
Walking Assembly: 9–13 May 2026

Send to artdelcaminar@gmail.com 

For the Walking Assembly, there will be no academic papers or independent workshop proposals; instead, participation is grounded in shared presence, contribution, and collective engagement facilitated by walking and talking together, through a public conversation with Tim Ingold and 5 curated walkshops by the curatorial team.

Curatorial Committee: 

Clara Garí, Geert Vermeire, Claudia Zeiske, Pau Cata, Luce Choules

Organiser: 

Centre de Creació Contemporània Nau Côclea 

Partners:

Department of Geography at the University of Girona, Associació Milfulles (Salt), Ateneu Popular de Salt, Centre d’Art et Photographie Lumière d’Encre (Céret, France), Made of Walking (Belgium), walk · listen · create, Locative Media Supercluster, Temporal School of Experimental Geography

Full open call