John Vervaeke and Thomas Hübl join Rebecca Henderson at the Second Renaissance Online Conference
December 5–7, 2025 - 25 earlybird tickets remaining. Join a gathering of practitioners, thought-leaders and those passionate about responding to the metacrisis and seeding a Second Renaissance.
Our world is showing signs of multi-systemic breakdown. The systems we built to sustain us now tremble under their own weight. The crises of ecology, meaning, and belonging are not separate events but intertwined symptoms of a deeper civilizational turning—rooted in the very stories that shape how we see ourselves, each other, and the world.
Join, John Vervaeke, Thomas Hübl and Rebecca Henderson at the Second Renaissance Online: Transformation in a Time of Metacrisis. They invite us to explore how wisdom, science, and community action can meet the complexity of our moment with depth, discernment, and heart.
Newly Confirmed Keynote Speakers
We are thrilled to share our confirmed keynotes and panelists for this three-day online gathering of dialogue, practice, and inquiry with visionary thinkers and facilitators shaping the global conversation on transformation, meaning, and renewal.
John Vervaeke
Professor, Cognitive Science and Psychology, University of Toronto
John Vervaeke, PhD, is an award-winning professor at the University of Toronto, specializing in psychology, cognitive science, and Buddhist psychology. He is Director of the Cognitive Science program and leads the Consciousness and Wisdom Studies Laboratory. Vervaeke’s teaching and research emphasize insight, consciousness, intelligence, rationality, mindfulness, and the 4E model of cognition. He is widely recognized for his acclaimed YouTube series “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis,” “After Socrates,” and authorship of “Zombies in Western Culture.”
Thomas Hübl
Founder, Academy of Inner Science
Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator known for integrating wisdom traditions with science to address personal and collective trauma. He has taught over 100,000 people worldwide and authored Attuned and Healing Collective Trauma. Hübl developed the Collective Trauma Integration Process and has led programs fostering healing and dialogue around historical wounds, notably those following the Holocaust. He is a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Wyss Institute and co-founded The Pocket Project, an NGO dedicated to global trauma integration. Hübl holds a PhD focused on collective trauma healing.
Thomas Hübl and John Vervaeke join our previously confirmed speaker:
Rebecca Henderson
Professor, Harvard Business School
Rebecca Henderson is a research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a fellow of both the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She also has more than twenty-five years of major public board experience. Rebecca’s research explores the degree to which the private sector can play a major role in building a more sustainable economy. She is an author of a number of publications, including Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire. Rebecca is currently researching how inner capacities lead to climate action in education, business, and politics.
The Invitation
How do we live—wisely—at the end of an old world and the beginning of another?
How can we grow the capacities our time demands: emotional resilience, relational maturity, intellectual discernment, and collective presence—and apply it to transform our systems and support cultural flourishing?
Across three days, we’ll explore:
The inner foundations of societal resilience and wisdom-based action
The role of trauma and healing in the renewal of culture and systems
The emergence of a Second Renaissance—integrating science, art, and spirituality
How AI, metamodernity, and education shape the new architectures of meaning
Practices of embodiment, co-creation, and collective intelligence
Featured Voices and Panels
Across the three days we also welcome 8 panels across a variety of topics including education, health, spirituality, climate, youth, art, community and AI, led by:
Sylvie Barbier (Life Itself)
Kam Bellamy (Springboard Foundation)
Aterah Nusrat (Osher Center for Integrative Health - Harvard)
Rufus Pollock (Life Itself)
Jadzia Tedeschi (Climate Majority Project)
James Baker (Intentional Society)
Liam Kavanagh (Climate Majority Project)
Panelists to date include Schuyler Brown, Cheryl Hsu, Amanda Zamparo, Christine Vatovec, David Victorson and Bruce Barrett, with more to be added soon.
The Details
🗓️ December 5–7, 2025 5pm - 9pm CET | 8am - 12pm PT | 11am - 3pm EST
🌐 Online
🐧Early Bird Tickets until 7th November - only 25 remaining
🔗 Register Now - https://www.2rcon.org/events/second-renaissance-online-conference
🤫 Use discount code WISDOM25 for a further 25% off all tickets
The Unconference
The Second Renaissance invites you to participate in the emergence of a wiser, more resilient world through participant-submitted unconference workshops.
What is an Unconference?
An unconference is a co-created format, using a lightly structured approach. Once registered you can start to propose your own sessions—dialogues, workshops, embodied practices, or experiments in shared inquiry. Whether you want to lead or simply participate, the Unconference is designed to support peer-to-peer exchange, deep listening, and creative emergence across the 3 days.
Join us for a one of a kind conference where connection and sharing underpins a programme designed to weave the metacrisis, wisdom, art, science, and community practice into new shared forms of response and renewal.