Colin Ward Festival of Anarchic Ideas, Tactics & Action
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Kairos (84 Tottenham Court Road)
London, England
https://www.kairos.london/event/colin-ward-festival-anarchic-ideas-and-…

Doors open at 11.30am; Event starts at 12pm; Ends 6pm, followed by drinks

To explore the work of author and social theorist Colin Ward, we're holding a day-long festival of anarchic thinking, strategising and making. Through short talks, discussions and workshops, we’ll consider how his pragmatic anarchism could help us create alternative spaces in the city, and build infrastructures of mutual aid, autonomy and resistance.

During his career, Colin Ward advocated the creation of cities, places and spaces based upon respect and bottom-up networks of self-help and participation: city-making as a mutual project. His books and writings celebrated moments where people had taken the opportunity to do things differently. For him, anarchy appears wherever people make space for it and nurture it: these are his ‘seeds beneath the snow’.

The day will include: A series of ten minute talks on the key ideas that run through his work - including Ecology, Protest, Autonomy and Play - followed by small group discussion; Two short talks on why Colin's ideas are still so relevant today; A choice of workshops exploring tactics and strategies for action; and a final full group discussion of what has emerged during the day.

Speakers, contributors and workshop leaders will include:
Tim Waterman, Professor of Landscape Theory at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Ruth Kinna, Professor of Political Theory at Loughborough University and author of "The Government of No One: The Theory and Practice of Anarchism"
Paul Dobraszczyk, architectural writer, photographer and lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL;
David McEwen, architect and co-founder of Unit 38
Roman Krznaric, social philosopher, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford University’s Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing and Author of History for Tomorrow
Carl Levy, professor of politics at Goldsmiths College, University of London and author of Anarchists and the City: Governance, Revolution and the Imagination
Rhiannon Firth, Lecturer in Sociology of Education at UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society
Jere Kuzmanic, urbanist and researcher at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya

This event - being organised in collaboration with Alicia Pivaro (London School of Architecture) and Paul Dobraszczyk (the Bartlett School of Architecture) - will give activists, students, creatives, and anyone curious to find out more about Britain's most famous anarchist, a hands-on experience of his ideas and how they might be applied today.

Throughout the day we'll collect emerging ideas and concepts - through visual note-taking, a mapping exercise and a participatory glossary - to help plan a route towards an alternative city beyond the event.

SCHEDULE

11.30am: Doors open
12pm: A series of ten minute talks on Colin Ward's key ideas - Tim Waterman on Ecology, Paul Dobraszczyk on Protest, Ruth Kinna on Autonomy and David Ewen on Play - followed by small group discussion
1.30pm: Complementary Lunch
Vegan soup with bread
2.15pm: Short talks: Why are Colin's ideas so relevant today?
2.45pm: Workshops - Building the Anarchic City
“The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently” (David Graeber)
We'll break into four creative workshops where we'll develop Colin Ward's ideas into tactics and strategies for action: a Poster & Collage Workshop, a Making Spaces Workshop, a Tactics & Strategies Workshop and a Role Play Exercise exploring the barriers and opportunities needed to create a just, sustainable and equitable city.
4pm: Tea break and ideas pin up
4.30pm: Wrap-Up Session
6pm: Drinks and socialising

Kairos, 84 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TG

Entry is free but advance registration is essential to help with our planning.

Please note that this events will largely take place in our basement space and we do not have a lift so our venue is not fully accessible. Please get in touch if you have accessibility issues via events@kairos.london.

Date
Oct 18, 2025 11:30 - Oct 18, 2025 23:59