The Norwegian CONVIVIUM team participated in the Lofoten Conference 2026, entitled “Sustainability and Preparedness — Two Sides of the Same Coin” 04-05 February 2026   in Svolvær, Lofoten, Norway.

CONVIVIUM presentation in plenum — a shared session about cooperation between research institutions and local communities (05.02.2026)

“CONVIVIUM — Sustainability and preparedness through hospitality”

We talked about hospitality and conviviality (in Illich’s sense) that are social preconditions for resilience: they enable human systems to absorb the unforeseen, vulnerability, and diversity without collapsing. According to Ivan Illich, hospitality places the quality of relationships ahead of efficiency. The collective dimension of preparedness depends on cooperation, which in turn rests on relationships and conviviality—the capacity to act together.

CONVIVIUM workshop (05.02.2026)

“Roots and Direction—Food Culture as Preparedness”

This workshop was an invitation to a conversation about preparedness, food heritage, and community in Lofoten—today and for the future.

Today, during the conference, participants were served a meal made from surplus ingredients—prepared by Lofoten’s young chefs of tomorrow. This meal is more than food; it tells a story about resources, know-how, and community. It embodies the idea behind the CONVIVIUM project, which literally means “coming together over a meal.”

In a time of climate change, geopolitical uncertainty, and fragile supply chains, food becomes more than nutrition. It becomes an expression of how we steward nature, care for one another, and build strong, resilient local communities.

Through the “Roots and Direction” workshop, you are invited to reflect on—and work with—food and food culture. You will experience surplus food as a resource, take part in a dialogue about food as cultural heritage in Lofoten, share your own experiences and ideas, and help shape projects that explore the role of food culture in the Lofoten of tomorrow.

When we share a meal, we share memories, comfort, and experience. When we share ideas, we share dreams, knowledge, and care. It is precisely in this meeting between food and words that the foundations of resilient communities can be built.

The workshop proposed a taste of four methods we’re developing in Norway and that we will later test in other countries to eventually present them in a free guide and recipe book.

• Surplus Table connects cultural heritage with contemporary food, preserves traditions, and strengthens community.
• Dialogues on food heritage — past, present, and future — three approaches:
  • Oral history
  • Hybrid Forum
  • Utopia Workshop

Around 30 people attended the workshop. After an artistic opening that used kitchen sounds as a performance to invite us into the themes of cooking and food, we briefly introduced the different methods and invited participants to explore one of them in depth for an hour. This was followed by a report-back from each session to the full group and a collective discussion. As the discussions went on, a boat glided by outside the window. Positive feedback and good dialogues: researchers were satisfied with the results and outcome.