If ever there was a time to change direction, it is now.

Walking is an established methodology within creative practice, influenced by all manner of subjects, and with correlations across numerous cultural disciplines. This conference draws on these practices in an actively interdisciplinary way, creating connections between areas such as geology, cartography, post-growth economies, rurality, poetry, and the arts.

This vibrant day of talks and discussion will bring together what are often disparate disciplines to explore walking practices as they relate to land use, future-thinking, and the role of the radical imagination. The event will contribute to contemporary discourse that posits alternative possibilities for how we connect to the land and make manifest the legacy of place.

To navigate the myriad territories that these disciplines encompass, the conference will home in on one path; the South Downs Way.

The conference will mark the opening of a related exhibition, Every Step of the Way, at the Weald and Downland Museum (22 September - 9th February 2026). The touring exhibition invited 33 artists of diverse approaches to respond to different sections of the South Downs Way.