Hosted by EIGHT / ΤΟ ΟΧΤΩ, critical institute for arts and politics, Athens.
Free to attend
How can we disentangle care from its transactional value to imagine possibilities of collective support that go beyond state-sanctioned ideas of how we should care, who does the caring, and who receives care? In this series of conjunctures, we want to move beyond conventional ideas of care to explore the creative, sensual and sensorial, yet often invisible and immaterial aspects of care.
We turn to creative practices that explore possibilities between human and non-human symbiosis while challenging the very notion of what counts as aesthetic production when it has no object-oriented outcome. We examine how everyday activities can be considered as both a form of labour as well as care for oneself and one’s community: from the labour of upkeeping communal resources and shared archives to the overwhelming administration of performing the rituals that come with celebrating life or mourning death. We are interested in theorising and analysing but also putting into effect the many ways that our interconnections can provide us with an ethics of living well. We even dig a little deeper to examine psychic explorations of care by turning to the less explored field of psychoanalytic ecofeminism and what it unravels in relation to how we treat and perceive the natural environment.
We propose 3 days of training in the form of “unlearning circles” around three themes with which we will consider care beyond the visible.
Following a feminist approach, this training school uses the format of circles for collective sharing to break hierarchies of knowledge while promoting intersectional, inclusive and creative practices of togetherness. Each circle will be organised by a member of the COST Action “Toolkit of Care” in collaboration with an invited guest. We are asking for participants to submit applications in line with any of the following three themes.
Ecofeminism Between Affect & Psychoanalysis
Hosted by Diana Georgiou with invited guest Lauren Guilmette
This circle introduces the work of the extraordinary thinker Teresa Brennan (1952-2003), her more well-known psychoanalytic feminist writing from her posthumous 2004 book, The Transmission of Affect, and her less-known ecofeminist work that preceded this one, Globalization and Its Terrors (2002), where she offers a theory of what she calls bioderegulation: “how the speeding up of contemporary capitalism… means that neither the environment nor the people who live in it are given the opportunity to regenerate… [which] leads directly to pollution induced, immune-deficient and stress-related disease.” In her own experience, the speeding up of capital looked like vending machines and pizza delivery, and while our technologies may be more advanced today, Brennan’s concern about these personalised services and their promises of instant gratification rings all the more true decades later, as does her declaration that we must re-learn the biological rhythms from which capitalist production has pulled us out of sync.
What might it then mean, from an ecofeminist perspective, to bioreregulate? To this end, we are excited to share snippets of Brennan’s unpublished work found among her papers at the Feminist Theory Archive (Brown University). We will explore a world-making myth and kinship ritual (circa 1997) and a short-lived image-text project which Brennan created with graphic artists based in London (circa 1985). These unfinished works offer points of inspiration for the image-text (zine) piece we envision co-creating in our time together and act as nodes for thinking through key ideas.
Writer and cultural programmer Diana Georgiou (Goldsmiths, University of London) along with Philosophy and Gender Studies professor Lauren Guilmette (Elon University), open out an invitation to think alongside Teresa Brennan’s work in dialogue with ecofeminist texts by her contemporaries, Val Plumwood and Vandana Shiva, as well as more recent work by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, for resources and ideas to counteract and/or care for the maladies induced by the speeding up of life in the West.
Breathing along with Others
Hosted by Christina Grammatikopoulou with guest Cornelia Sollfrank
Through breath, air is shared and co-created by all living beings—all people and species that have ever existed on the planet. Biological, environmental, technological, cultural, and even political factors can impact our breathing by affecting our bodies, the quality of the air, or even quite literally taking our breath away. This circle aims to open an intersectional perspective on breathing, demonstrating techniques for breathing together, collectively thinking on how to make the air more breathable for those who suffer from multiple forms of oppression, and eventually fostering connections with each other and with our environment. These breathing practices are enriched by cultural knowledge, such as pranayama, and technological insights, like data collection.
Cornelia Sollfrank, the renowned German digital artist and pioneer of Cyberfeminism, through her most recent project Breathing Data (2022-2024), and in collaboration with Christina Grammatikopoulou, art theorist and author of the book Technofeminist Resistance: Aesthetics and Strategies of Dissent from the Streets to the Screens (Bloomsbury, 2026), will explore how fostering care for others and the environment begins with caring for one’s own breathing.
Thinking with Land and Other Species
Hosted by Penny Travlou and guest Mouries Collective
Feminist thinking about care with land and other species offers a distinctive lens on the intersection of environmental ethics, social justice, and creative practice. Grounded in principles of empathy, interconnectedness, and resistance to domination, feminist perspectives challenge patriarchal and extractive systems that have historically exploited both women and nature. This approach emphasises the cultivation of nurturing relationships with the environment and other species, moving away from hierarchical power dynamics towards forms of mutual care and respect.
This circle invites participants to reflect on how we define “progress” and “development.” Dominant paradigms often equate progress with growth, expansion, and consumption. A care-centred perspective, however, suggests that progress might instead be measured through the health and well-being of all living beings, including non-human ones. The Mouries Collective will share a practice of giving attention and time, grounded in their relationship with the locality of Athens—its beings, complexities, and gifts. In this circle, we will open a space for exchange, where participants can learn from one another’s approaches to nurturing relations within the urban environments we inhabit. The circle will engage with situated practices and move outdoors, with an invitation to visit nearby public green spaces.
Penny Travlou, Senior Lecturer in Cultural Geography and Theory (University of Edinburgh) and member of Arts Collaboratory School together with Mouries Collective, an interdisciplinary group of female artists, researchers and therapists based in Athens, aim to challenge the dominant human-centred worldview by looking at a holistic approach based on interdependence, respect, and responsibility.
What is expected
20 applicants will be selected for this 3-day training school that seeks contributions from academics, artists, creatives, activists, theorists, and researchers who have developed or are developing ideas, frameworks, and/or projects. We accept proposals with an open format approach (from textual, oral, audio-visual to performative modes of presentation). A digital open-source zine will be produced with the works of the participants as well as the harvesting of notes/drawings co-created during the circles.
Each selected participant will be expected to attend the full 3-day training school, share their work/practice/research (between 15 mins and 1 hour), participate in discussions and activities, and contribute to the creation of a digital zine.
Important dates
● Applications deadline: 22 April 2026 – 12pm UTC.
● Selection notification: 27 April 2026.
● Training school: 12-14 June 2026.
The training school is free to attend. While we will be selecting 20 participants, we are only able to reimburse expenses for up to three participants, with reimbursement according to COST travel reimbursement rules (please see below for more details).
Please indicate in your application if you would like to be considered for reimbursement.
Selected long-distance participants shall have their travel expenses reimbursed (up to 350 EUR for long-distance travel and up to 199 EUR to cover accommodation and subsistence) according to COST travel reimbursement rules: https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2026/04/COST-TRR-Rules-2025-2026-updated.pdf
This training school is part of the COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology)- funded project: TOOLKIT OF CARE (TOC), CA21102 (https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA21102/)
How to Apply
To Apply, upload your proposal (no more than 500 words and up to 3 visuals), a short biography (max. 150 words) using this form. Please indicate the timeframe (between 15 mins to 1 hour) required for your contribution and describe clearly what format it will take. We recommend compressing your PDF document so as not to exceed 5MB.
For any questions or clarifications, please contact Diana on diana.georgiou@icloud.com
Who can apply?
Practitioners/researchers of any nationality or place of residency affiliated with an academic or other legal entity[1] in one of these countries: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary,[2] Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Republic of North Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine (government controlled territories), United Kingdom, as well as in one of the EU Member States Outermost Regions (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion Island and Saint-Martin, Azores and Madeira, and the Canary Islands).
We especially encourage Young Researchers and Innovators[3] and individuals affiliated to COST Inclusiveness Target Countries to apply. We will consider gender balance and geographical diversity in our selection.
Committee
This COST funded Training School for Toolkit of Care was conceived and developed by Penny Travlou, Christina Grammatikopoulou, and Diana Georgiou who form the selection committee.
*TOC is an international project led by an interdisciplinary group of creative practitioners, academics, researchers and arts organizations that specialize in creative technologies and that have considerable experience in the production and dissemination of this kind of knowledge across Europe and internationally, who have come together to form a “critical network of care”. The network will collaborate to share their collective expertise and technical knowledge employed in creative ways to develop knowledge and methodologies of care. The main aim is to produce a well formulated and integrated TOOLKIT OF CARE comprising articles, prototypes, audiovisual documentation, technical manuals, theoretical analysis, and data. It will act as a model of how to successfully share knowledge and expertise across different geographical regions and social groups.
**COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation.
https://www.cost.eu/
[1] A non-exhaustive list of examples of such an affiliation: work contract, enrolment in a PhD or Post-Doctoral programme, voluntary service in a NGO, and Emeritus professorship.
[2] Following the CSO decision of the 16 October 2023, considering the new guidance from the European Commission, as of 1 November 2023 until further notice, individuals from universities maintained by public interest trusts established under Hungarian Act IX of 2021 and concerned by the Council Implementation Decision 2022/2056 (see entities listed in Annex I of the Hungarian Act IX of 2021) are allowed to participate in COST activities without receiving financial support from the COST Association (either grants or via reimbursements). Individuals from the flagged institutions can apply to get funded via the Guarantee Fund established by the Hungarian government. The Hungarian Act IX of 2021 is available in Hungarian. You can use one of the frequent translation web-based tools in order to get an English translation. A non-exhaustive list of the affected Hungarian legal entities is available here.
[3] A researcher or innovator under the age of 40.