Confluence was created by IRIS in response to people wanting to gather, exchange and explore in the international narrative and story-for-impact ecosystem which has been emerging in the past few years.

In October, 2023, after a year of planning with Confluence I co-hosts FICS, Global Narrative Hive and Puentes, 125 of us gathered in Bogotá to convene and converse. We left as a community.

The momentum has continued, with Confluence working groups, many collaborations, countless exchanges on busy WhatsApp group and sub-groups, discussion of local Confluences, and a verb was born: confluencing: the act of gathering the Confluence community whenever you are together.

The Confluence Vision:

IRIS had hoped that if Confluence I was successful in some way, we would plan for two more gatherings as part of IRIS’ efforts to strengthen the growing international narrative and storytelling for change field. Because this is early days for building a vibrant and connected community and we want to foster trust, each gathering would be intimate at 150 people maximum.

We wanted each gathering to have international participants with a regional focus in design, curation and participants.

• Latin America was first in 2023.

• The Arab region will be next in 2025.

• Sub-Saharan Africa will be the final gathering of the three, projected for early 2027 (TBC).

Each gathering would be co-hosted and co-curated with regional partners and IRIS, with members of the original planning committee continuing as advisors for continuity.

Confluence strives to fully support the costs of participants whose voices are not heard at international gatherings because of expense. Among many other things, you are organizers, journalists, artists, narrative experts, field architects, audio-visual experts, scientists, academic researchers, funders and movement leaders. And now you are Confluencers.

People would be invited from the co-host networks and now the broader Confluence community for their interest and expertise in a narrative and story-for-impact centered conversation, their ability to enter into collaborative conversations, their desire to build stronger networks for greater impact, and a curiosity to learn from others and offer their own perspectives.

More information will be coming soon about Confluence II, but for now, as part of the Confluence I gathering, please fill in this brief questionnaire by September 15, 2024, to share whether you would want to attend and whether you would require financial support. We first want to assess how many of the original community want to come, and at the same time we will discuss how to increase the number of Arab region participants and others. While being realistic, we’d like to try and include as many people as we can from the original community who wants to come, while also expanding the circle of Confluencers as we go. We are working to figure out the possibilities and a fair process for including as many participants as possible. We are also exploring innovative ways to include those who are unable to attend.