International conference Contemplative Practice, Feminism, and Human Rights co-organized by the Pilar Institute; Dubrovnik, 17–18/09/2026

From 17 to 18 September 2026 the international conference Contemplative praxis, feminism and human rights was held at the Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik, organised by the Pilar Institute and the Law School, University of Kent. The conference organisers were Ivana Radačić, PhD (Pilar Institute) and Josipa Šarić, PhD (University of Kent)

The goal of the conference was to examine the relationship between inner and outer transformation; contemplative praxis and social justice. Contemplative practices are a broad term which include different practices, such as meditation, prayer, ritual, yoga, dance, artistic practices, which aim at enhancing practitioner’s awareness, self-reflexivity and a sense of connectedness. In many academic settings, an increased emphasis is placed on the importance of these practices in research, teaching and social justice work, while in Croatia this is yet to be developed.

This conference hosted academics who incorporate contemplative praxis in their research and teaching, bringing innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to the fields of human rights, feminism, law, and social justice.

At the first panel entitled Re-thinking international human rights framework Ivana Radačić, PhD (Pilar Institute) and Murtaza Mohiqi, PhD (Adger University) presented their work on transformative approaches to feminism and human rights, based on ethics of care and the ontology of inter-connectedness. At the second panel, Art and Resistance, an artist and a PhD student at the University of Zagreb Zorana Unković presented her academic and artistic work Pisanka Ž, which questions the role of language as a tool of perpetuation of patriarchal structures. In the afternoon, Zorana led a workshop Embroider Your Resistance, where we had a change to connect to the contemplative practice of our female ancestors, at the beautiful natural surroundings of Lokrum island.

We started the second day with an optional yoga practice lead by Christina Zampas, international human rights law expert. After thatwe held two panels. At the first panel, Justice beyond punishment, PhD students Sara Vincenzotti (Newcastle University) and Beth Lily Tomplison (Northumbria University) gave presentations of their work: Sara talked about the relationship between international criminal law mechanisms and restorative justice, while Beth talked about the use of songs in the Iranian protests Woman, Life, Freedom, 2022 – 2024.

The panel that followed, entitled Socially just pedagogies, questioned the pedagogy of higher education in the areas of human rights, social justice and law. Felisa Tibbitts, PhD (University of Utrecht), one of the leading human rights educators, presented a case study of the course for educators for human rights, which employed the method of political autobiography. Rose Sydney Parfitt, PhD (University of Kent) gave a presentation about the use of visual arts in human rights education, and Maria Federica Moscati, PhD (University of Sussex) about the role of dance in legal and human rights education. After her presentation, she held a practical workshop, which gave us an opportunity to experience how dance can enhance our understanding of human rights. We finished the conference with a somatic practice lead by body-oriented psychotherapist Iva Perić, which helped us connected with our inner resources.

We left this conference not only with open minds, but with opened hearts and the strong feeling of connectedness, which will hopefully lead to future cooperation and networks.