The Nature
of Cities
Festival

coming to
Cali, Colombia
October 2026

cover image: Downtown Cali, by Johannes Bud, CC BY-SA 4.0

Collaborate with us in Colombia

Our journey to Cali, Colombia has just begun. The Festival is more than just a single event—it’s a movement of art, science, and urban practice for the future of cities. We’re already dreaming up actions for the upcoming festival.

If you also have urban dreams that are ready to become reality, say hello to us at:

TNOCFestival@thenatureofcities.com

What is The Nature of Cities Festival?

WE ARE A LIVING LABORATORY where science, art, practice, and local wisdom converge to reimagine cities.

WE ARE A CELEBRATION that connects ideas, science, creativity, and collective action.

WE ARE A HIVE OF ACTIVITY whose participants are the thinkers and doers who are making cities better for nature and all people.

Attendees at TNOC Festival 2024 in Berlin

Why Cali, Colombia?

Colombia holds the heart of the planet’s biodiversity.

Cali is a place of resilience and creativity, alive with rivers, music, and community.

This city invites the world to join the TNOC Festival, for our first-ever journey into Latin America.

SIGN UP TO STAY CONNECTED

Image by Futbolero, CC BY-SA 4.0

In Partnership with Humboldt Institute

We are honored to walk this path with the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt.

Humboldt brings deep scientific knowledge, a Latin American lens, and a spirit of collaboration that resonates with TNOC’s own values. Together, we weave science, art, and community into the heart of TNOC Festival 2026 — ensuring its roots in Colombia grow into a legacy for people and nature alike.

Organized by

Partner Organizations

PARTNER WITH US

Thinking of supporting this extraordinary laboratory, celebration, and action for nature and cities?

Say hello to us at:

TNOCFestival@thenatureofcities.com

THE 2024 FESTIVAL / BERLIN

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN DREAMS AND REALITY IS ACTION

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

A SELECTION FROM OUR DIVERSE PROGRAM OF EVENTS AND SESSIONS.
PREVIEW MORE FESTIVAL CONTENT, INCLUDING SEED SESSIONS AND FIELD TRIPS, ON THE SCHED PLATFORM.

ARTS HIGHLIGHTS

The Forum for Radical Imagination on Environmental Cultures (FRIEC) at TNOC presents Echoes of Earth.

Each of us has a power, to remember the voices of the Earth in the places where we each live, and to cultivate a culture that honors this. The works in the TNOC Festival exhibition aspire to bring echoes from past to future, and to foster deep, sustained connections between people, practices, and the natural world.

THAT WAS JUST A PEEK!
MORE SESSIONS, KEYNOTES, TALKS, WORKSHOPS, ARTS, AND EVENTS ON THE SCHED PLATFORM.

VIEW COMPLETE PROGRAM

AN EVENT WITH A LASTING IMPACT

we encourage participants to publish essays, roundtables, findings, and other outputs after the event at TNOC’s website, which reaches over 100,000 readers a month, from 75+ countries

we curate a growing network of collaborators — a community that continues to work together after each festival

we are slated to publish a digital book of tools and insights on action, co-produced by the participants of the Festival, with editorial leadership from TNOC

Past TNOC Events

2019 SUMMIT – PARIS

2021 FESTIVAL – VIRTUAL

2022 FESTIVAL – VIRTUAL

About The Nature of Cities

We are The Nature of Cities (TNOC), and the word “of” modifies Nature to mean the character of cities, which we view through a green and blue and community lens. We believe the route to cities that are better for both people and nature is through transdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration. The mission of The Nature of Cities is to curate joined conversations about urbanism across ways of knowing and modes of action. We create transdisciplinary, publicly available, and widely disseminated programs, events, knowledge, and engagements for green city making. We strive for cities worldwide that are resilient, sustainable, livable, and just.

About the TNOC Festival Logo

Our Festival logo was designed by Frida Larios. It conveys a sense of human connection among us as we steward nature and community in cities. The seeds depicted in the logo are shared ideas both dispersed and gathered. Hands are common in Mayan symbology and can mean both to throw or scatter and to receive. In many traditions, the open hand signifies greeting, welcome, and openness.

Donating to the TNOC Festival

Thank you for considering a donation to TNOC festival. For this festival to be a success, attendance must be diverse and transdisciplinary in every sense, from south to north, and east to west. But often people, and especially practitioners, can struggle to pay for even modest registration fees. By donating to TNOC festival, you help support free entry for those who cannot pay and help us keep registration fees very low. We want to ensure that anyone who wants to attend the festival can do so. Thank you for generously supporting this effort.

A gift of any amount helps. We are grateful for your generosity.

Sincerely,
TNOC Festival team

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