THE FIFTH EDITION

THE VALE SYMPOSIUM

HAMBURG·05 DEC 2026·FREE ENTRY

One day on leading with your values when half the work happens online. Keynotes, peer-led workshops, and the kind of conversation a video call can’t hold.

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

WHEN
Saturday, 5 December 2026 – 10:30 to around 17:30
WHERE
Hamburg – venue announced with the programme
WHO
Youth workers, practitioners, founders, volunteers – and the curious
ENTRY
Free, limited seats – registration via Luma
LANGUAGE
English
A speaker presenting the evening's programme to a full, seated audience in a plant-filled atrium at The VALE Symposium
Inside the room A past edition of the Symposium, back when it was a single evening. This year it gets the whole day.

01 – THE THEME

You lead people you mostly meet through a screen.

The meetings moved online. So did the conflicts, and the care. But values don’t transmit by themselves. Neither does trust.

So what does value-driven leadership look like in the hybrid work era?

We’re giving that question one full day. One room. Hamburg.

02 – THE PROGRAMME

FEATURED
SESSIONS.

A first look at the programme. More sessions, workshops and speakers are announced through November.

The day · times provisional

  1. 10:30Opening plenary
  2. 11:15Interactive simulation
  3. 12:00Lunch
  4. 13:00Workshops
  5. 14:45Breakout sessions
  6. 16:10Closing plenary
  7. 17:00Post-mingle, until ~17:30
Erik Sundberg

11:15 · Interactive simulation · 100+ players

What do we lose online – and what could we gain?

A gamified session built on learning tools made especially for this day. Bring your phone and your curiosity; the rest stays a surprise.

The VALE

Erik Sundberg GTM Lead, Berget AI Co-founder of The VALE

Caroline von Lampe, Natalia Paley and Pauline Grocholski

13:00 · Workshop · 75 min

Connection, trust and momentum across screens

What it really takes to build a team when it’s spread across screens and cities – from people who run a remote fellowship programme.

be.boosted
  • Natalia Paley Head of Team Workshops
  • Caroline von Lampe Trainer
  • Pauline Grocholski Trainer
Tulle Mouridsen

16:10 · Closing plenary

What we take home

Pulling the threads of the day together – what we heard, what we’ll try, and what stays with us after Hamburg.

The VALE

Tulle Mouridsen First Lieutenant, Danish Army Co-founder of The VALE

Keynote

Announced in November

Reserve a seat and you’ll hear who it is first.

03 – THE PEOPLE

PEOPLE,
NOT PANELS.

The Symposium is open to anyone, and everyone who registers takes part fully. In the room with you: fifty youth leaders travelling to Hamburg from across Europe for The VALE Forum, alongside practitioners, partner organisations, and anyone curious enough to show up.

By youth leaders we mean the volunteers, staff, trainers, founders and board members who keep youth organisations running – whatever their age or job title.

Come to learn, to teach, or to think out loud – you’re welcome here.

Participants on stage holding generation signs during a playful session
A participant writing notes mid-workshop
A participant writing quietly at a table
2018
TRAINING LEADERS SINCE
130+
PROGRAMME ALUMNI
29
NATIONALITIES
1,800+
PEOPLE REACHED
5TH
SYMPOSIUM

VOICES FROM THE VALE

WHAT PEOPLE
TAKE HOME.

There is no such thing as passive inclusion.
A participant The VALE Course 2018
Tough conversations are not as hard as they might seem before having them.
A participant The VALE Course 2025
Thinking outside of my bubble, realizing that creating this kind of community is possible.
A participant The VALE Course 2026

04 – THE VENUE

HAMBURG

53.55° N – 9.99° E

Hamburg in December: harbour lights and short, cold days. We’re locking in a venue with character, easy to reach – somewhere that makes a day feel like an occasion.

Three participants in orange lanyards deep in conversation at The VALE Symposium
Two people celebrating with raised arms in heavy snowfall

05 – REGISTER

RESERVE
YOUR SEAT.

–DAYS
–HOURS
–MINUTES
–SECONDS

Saturday, 5 December 2026 – one day in Hamburg. Every seat is free, and the venue sets the limit: when it’s full, it’s full.

Questions? george@thevale.eu

06 – THE TEAM

THE ORGANISING
TEAM.

A crew from five countries putting the Symposium together. Got a question? Start with George below.

  • Portrait of Erik Sundberg

    Erik Sundberg

    Partner Outreach & Website

    Sweden

  • Portrait of Markéta Forejtová

    Markéta Forejtová

    Communications & Social Media

    Czech Republic

  • Portrait of George Juan Deamer Roda

    George Juan Deamer Roda

    Logistics & Merchandise · Main point of contact

    Spain

    george@thevale.eu
  • Portrait of Louisa Richter

    Louisa Richter

    Finance & Project Coordination

    Germany

  • Portrait of Mario David Tabares

    Mario David Tabares

    Educational Framework

    Argentina

  • Portrait of Lotta Oswald

    Lotta Oswald

    Venue & Local Partnerships

    Germany

The VALE

The Symposium is hosted by The VALE – The Value-driven Advanced Leadership Association, an international non-profit specialising in youth leadership education. We support the creation of aware, skilled, and value-driven young leaders for a peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable world.

thevale.eu ↗

BUILT WITH PARTNERS

This Symposium will only be as good as the network behind it.

If you believe in the cause, there are many ways to be part of it. Write to George at george@thevale.eu – we’d love to talk.

Partner with us →

ALREADY ON BOARD

  • be.boosted – Shaping Future Global Leaders
  • Global ShapersHamburg Hub
  • Backing the Symposium. Sponsoring the catering, the venue, travel grants for participants from further afield, the keynote, or the documentation that lets the day’s ideas travel beyond the room.
  • Bringing your people. Opening the doors of your network so the right Hamburg practitioners, NGO leaders, and civil society colleagues can be in the room.
  • Contributing to the programme. Proposing a speaker, a workshop, or a perspective from your field that belongs in this conversation.
  • Lending what you’ve got. A venue we should know about, AV gear, design work, documentation skills, or anything else that helps us put on a Symposium worthy of the topic.

THE LONGER STORY

Since 2018, The VALE has been training young leaders across Europe to lead with their values – through residential courses, seminars, and a community that now spans 29 nationalities.

Somewhere along the way, the work itself changed shape. Teams went hybrid. Volunteering went half-remote. The tools got sharper and the attention got thinner. The question stopped being whether we lead online – and became how to do it without losing the things that make leadership worth following: presence, trust, and values that hold.

The VALE Symposium is where we think that through – out loud, together. It belongs to everyone who works with, leads, or believes in young people and the organisations they power.

The fifth Symposium. The most ambitious yet.

PLAN YOUR TRIP

Getting there. Hamburg Hauptbahnhof has direct ICE connections from most major German cities, and the airport sits about 25 minutes from the centre. From either, the venue is a straightforward ride on public transport.

Where exactly? We’re still locking in the venue – the address follows in November, along with the programme.

Make a weekend of it. You’ll be arriving in Advent season: Christmas markets, the Elbphilharmonie, harbour walks in the cold. Worth the extra night.

WHAT DO WE LOSE ONLINE – AND WHAT COULD WE GAIN?

We talk a lot about what’s lost when working relationships move online – the hallway chats, the energy in the room, the trust that builds over coffee. Far less often do we ask what might be gained.

This session is an attempt at an answer – and you’re part of the experiment. Bring your phone, your competitive streak, and a willingness to be surprised. With 100+ people playing at once, using tools that didn’t exist a few weeks ago, we’ll put a simple question to the test: can technology and AI create learning experiences that are not just as good as being in the same room, but something new altogether?

We won’t tell you much more than that. Some things are better experienced than explained.

About Erik. Erik Sundberg is co-founder and Chair of The VALE, and has spent more than a decade as a trainer and facilitator across the non-profit and private sectors. He leads go-to-market at the Swedish AI company Berget AI and is a former Wallenberg Fellow at Nordic Innovation House in San Francisco. He has a soft spot for learning formats that break the mould, and a habit of building the tools for them himself.

CONNECTION, TRUST AND MOMENTUM ACROSS SCREENS

What does it really take to build connection, trust and momentum when your team is spread across screens and cities? be.boosted shares what they’ve learned from running a remote fellowship programme and working as a hybrid organisation. Expect honest lessons and practical ideas you can take straight back to your own team.

Led by Natalia Paley (Head of Team Workshops), Caroline von Lampe (Trainer) and Pauline Grocholski (Trainer) – the be.boosted team from Berlin.

be-boosted.org ↗

ABOUT THE VALE

The Value-driven Advanced Leadership (The VALE) Association is an international NGO registered in Sweden, specialising in youth leadership education. The VALE supports the creation of aware, skilled, and value-driven leaders for a peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable world.

To this end, The VALE holds residential training courses and arranges thematic seminars and workshops, both in person and online. Since 2018, more than 1,800 people have taken part in its educational activities – and its programme alumni now span 29 nationalities.

thevale.eu ↗

REGISTRATION

Online registration isn’t open at this moment. Drop us a line and you’ll be the first to hear when seats go live.

Save me a seat →

Free entry · Limited seats · Hamburg, 5 December 2026