FIVE DAYS · FIFTY PEOPLE

THE VALE FORUM

NEAR HAMBURG·2–6 DEC 2026·50 PLACES

You know the feeling. A room full of people who get it, a week that rearranges something, and a goodbye that takes three hours. We're opening that room again — five days this December, with old friends and new ones.

Hosted by The VALE – a non-profit training young leaders across Europe since 2018.

See the five days
WHEN
Wednesday 2 – Sunday 6 December 2026 – five days, residential
WHERE
A venue near Hamburg – with one day in the city itself
WHO
Fifty youth leaders from across Europe – VALE alumni and new faces
COST
€40–120 sliding fee – travel reimbursed, the rest is covered
APPLY BY
30 August 2026 – applications open on the 15th
Participants at a past VALE gathering sitting close together in conversation
You've been here before Somewhere in this photo is the reason people keep coming back.

01 — THE INVITATION

You already know what this feels like.

The room where you could finally say the actual thing.

Nine nationalities, four days, and somehow your people.

Then everyone went home and the group chat went quiet.

So we're opening the room again — bigger, longer, and built by you.

02 — THE FIVE DAYS

FIVE DAYS,
MOSTLY YOURS

There is no fixed timetable to show you, and that is the point. The Forum is peer-to-peer: the sessions are proposed, shaped and led by the people in the room. What we can tell you is the shape of the week.

Arrivals and first conversations at a VALE gathering

WEDNESDAY 2 DECEMBER

ARRIVAL

Evening arrival, keys, a warm room and something hot to drink. The opening ceremony is the only thing on the schedule — and if you have done this before, you know it is not a welcome speech.

A small workshop group deep in discussion

THURSDAY 3 DECEMBER

CO-CREATION

The week opens up. Parallel peer-led sessions, small rooms, long tables. You can bring something to run, or arrive empty-handed and still leave with three ideas you will use in January. Both are completely fine.

Participants reflecting together in a circle

FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER

GOING DEEPER

More sessions, more honest ones. Reflection that actually gets time in the schedule rather than five rushed minutes at the end. In the afternoon the room turns outward and starts preparing for Saturday.

A speaker addressing a full audience at The VALE Symposium

SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER

A DAY IN HAMBURG

We take the week into the city for The VALE Symposium — one public day of keynotes and workshops, open to anyone. You are not the audience: Forum participants help carry it. Then we come back and debrief it properly.

A group photo and goodbyes at the end of a VALE course

SUNDAY 6 DECEMBER

THE LONG GOODBYE

A late-morning close, shared reflections, and the part where nobody actually leaves on time. Book your travel for the afternoon. Trust us on this one.

Everything in between — meals, evenings, the walk to the lake, the kitchen at midnight — is not filler. It is where half of it happens.

03 — THE PEOPLE

FIFTY, AND
YOU'RE ONE

Fifty places. A good share of them will go to VALE alumni — people who did a course in 2019 or 2024 and never quite stopped thinking about it. The rest go to youth workers, NGO and civil society leaders who belong in this room and just have not been in it yet.

If you have been away for years, that is not a problem. That is the point.

A large group of VALE participants together outdoors
Two participants talking closely during a break
Participants laughing during an evening session
2018
RUNNING SINCE
130+
PROGRAMME ALUMNI
29
NATIONALITIES
1,800+
PEOPLE REACHED
50
PLACES THIS DECEMBER

IN THEIR WORDS

WHY PEOPLE
COME BACK

The VALE doesn't just teach you about leadership frameworks; it forces you to look into the mirror and understand how you connect with others. It's safe, brave, and deeply transformative.
A VALE alumnus Programme feedback
Coming to a VALE event is like entering a bubble of high energy, world-class knowledge, and wonderfully chaotic, authentic people.
Participant evaluation Course feedback
I think The VALE really changed my life, and I want everyone to have the same experience.
Aurora Andersen 2021 Course

04 — THE PLACE

NEAR
HAMBURG

53.55° N – 9.99° E · DECEMBER

A residential venue outside the city — the kind with long tables, bad mobile reception and a kitchen you end up in at midnight. Everyone sleeps and eats on site, which is exactly why the week works. The address goes out to selected participants.

And once, on the Saturday, we go into Hamburg itself: harbour lights, wet cobblestones, and steam rising off the Glühwein.

05 — APPLY

COME
BACK

UNTIL APPLICATIONS OPEN

--DAYS
--HOURS
--MINUTES
--SECONDS
50 PLACES €40–120 TRAVEL COVERED

Applications open on 15 August and close on 30 August 2026. Take your time with it — we read every one, and we are far more interested in what you are curious about than in your CV.

Prefer a new tab? Open it here →

Questions before you start? info@thevale.eu

You choose your own tier in the form. Accommodation, meals and the programme are covered by Erasmus+; travel is reimbursed up to €250 from outside Germany and €140 within it.

HOSTED BY
THE VALE

The VALE is an international non-profit, registered in Sweden, specialising in high-quality, nontraditional leadership education for young leaders. Since 2018 we have run residential courses, seminars and online workshops for more than 1,800 people from 29 nationalities.

thevale.eu →

06 — THE TEAM

THE PEOPLE
BUILDING IT

A crew from five countries putting the Forum together — most of us met at a VALE course, which tells you roughly everything.

  • Erik Sundberg

    Erik Sundberg

    Partner Outreach & Website

    Sweden

  • Markéta Forejtová

    Markéta Forejtová

    Communications & Social Media

    Czech Republic

  • George Juan Deamer Roda

    George Juan Deamer Roda

    Logistics & Merchandise

    Spain

    george@thevale.eu
  • Louisa Richter

    Louisa Richter

    Finance & Project Coordination

    Germany

  • Mario David Tabares

    Mario David Tabares

    Educational Framework

    Argentina

  • Lotta Oswald

    Lotta Oswald

    Venue & Local Partnerships

    Germany

THE LONGER STORY

Since 2018, The VALE has been running residential leadership courses for young people across Europe. The format barely changes: take a group of strangers somewhere quiet for a week, take the pressure off, and let them do the work on each other.

What comes out is hard to put in a project report. People describe it as a mirror. They talk about the specific conversation at 2am. They stay in touch for years.

The Forum is what happens when that group grows up. Our alumni are now running teams, chapters and organisations — and they are doing it across screens, borders and time zones, which is a different job to the one most of us trained for. Trust is harder. Conflict is quieter and worse. Care takes deliberate effort.

So this December we are not delivering a training. We are convening fifty people who already have the experience, and building the week out of what they bring. Peer-led sessions, honest reflection, and one public day in Hamburg where the thinking goes out into the world.

If you have been part of The VALE before, this is the invitation back.

THE SYMPOSIUM DAY

On Saturday 5 December the Forum travels into Hamburg for The VALE Symposium — a one-day public event, free and open to anyone, now in its fifth edition. Keynotes, peer-led workshops, an unhurried lunch, and a closing raffle.

For Forum participants it is not a field trip. You will have spent Friday preparing for it, and you help carry the day: running a workshop, holding a table, or simply being the person who makes a nervous first-timer feel welcome. Then we come back to the venue and take it apart together.

It is one day of five — but it is the day the week faces outwards.

See the Symposium site ↗

ARE WE A MATCH?

The Forum is built for people who are:

Youth workers, NGO and civil society leaders, practitioners and partners — with real experience to put on the table.

Roughly 20–45 and based in Europe.

Curious, self-aware, open-minded and action-oriented — happier co-creating than being lectured at.

Comfortable in English (around B2 or above). Nobody is grading you.

VALE alumni are especially welcome — a good share of the fifty places are meant for you. But you do not need a VALE history to apply, and you do not need the longest leadership CV in the room. Curiosity and willingness to share count for more.

TRAVEL & COSTS

The confirmation fee is a sliding scale — €40 reduced, €80 standard, €120 patronage. You pick the one that reflects your situation. The reduced tier exists to be used; the patronage tier exists so it can be.

What the fee covers: accommodation, meals, materials and the programme itself. The large majority of the real cost is covered by Erasmus+.

Travel is reimbursed up to €250 if you live outside Germany, and up to €140 if you live in Germany. Some countries require green travel — train or bus — and the form will tell you if that applies to you.

Getting there: the venue is outside Hamburg. Hamburg is a major rail hub and the airport is about 25 minutes from the centre. Detailed travel and reimbursement instructions go out to selected participants.

If cost is still the thing standing in your way, write to info@thevale.eu before you rule yourself out.

ABOUT THE VALE

The Value-driven Advanced Leadership (The VALE) Association is an international non-profit registered in Sweden, specialising in high-quality, nontraditional leadership education for young leaders.

Since 2018 we have run residential courses, seminars and online workshops built on one idea: that leadership worth having starts with knowing what you actually value. More than 1,800 people from 29 nationalities have taken part, and 130+ have come through the full programme.

Our mission is to support aware, skilled and value-driven young leaders for a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable world.

thevale.eu ↗