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This year’s program will be intimate, interactive and experimental. Our line-up is full of designers, artists, creative technologists, engineers, coders, thinkers, activists and educators. They’ll invite you to participate in hands-on workshops, insightful talks, communal conversations and playful experiences across our three focus areas: software, hardware and worldware.
The program is softly taking shape and will be updated continuously.
Take a break between sessions and have your nails done by the very talented nail artist Sissel Høffner.
If you’re attending the conference and have artworks, jewellery, hardware or prints you can bring them with you and add to the shop. Send us an email to info@softer.global with what you’d like to bring, quantities and prices.
This year, we’re doing a special merch collaboration with the amazing Ellen Gabriel. Ellen will be joining us on site to create custom airbrush pieces throughout the conference.
Soft Launch is our opening gathering, a chance to arrive, settle in and get to know the space and each other. Come share a meal, meet the people behind SOFTER, explore Harmonien and ease into the programme. Consider it the soft beginning of three days of collective learning, making and imagining.
If you’re attending the conference and have artworks, jewellery, hardware or prints you can bring them with you and add to the shop. Send us an email to info@softer.global with what you’d like to bring, quantities and prices.
This year, we’re doing a special merch collaboration with the amazing Ellen Gabriel. Ellen will be joining us on site to create custom airbrush pieces throughout the conference.
Take a break between sessions and have your nails done by the very talented nail artist Sissel Høffner.
Our line-up brings together soft practitioners working across design, art, creative technologies, coding, engineering, research, activism and education. We’re welcoming back familiar faces from the SOFTER network, alongside new softies that we’re excited to welcome into the community.
We’ve always wanted to re-think what a ‘tech conference’ could and should be, from how we program, to the spaces we create. We choose places that you wouldn’t normally associate a tech conference — creating environments that bring us closer to each other, to nature and to new ways of thinking.
This year, we’re moving beyond the city and into the Danish countryside, where we’ll host the conference at our new playground Harmonien. Built in 1888, Harmonien has long been a cultural anchor in Rødvig, a small harbour town on the coastline of Stevns Klint.
Earlier this year, SOFTER co-founder Nicole and her wife Carla Cammilla took over the place, continuing its legacy as a place rooted in culture and community. Alongside hosting this year’s Softer Digital Futures, Harmonien will grow into an artist residency, cultural academy and work retreat destination.
For the full get away experience come stay for the weekend. There are plenty of affordable options just around the corner, a beautiful beach with a sauna club, and great walks along the cliffs.
See more from Costa del Stevns here
We have organised the cutest pink shuttle bus from central Copenhagen to bring you from the city, down to the countryside! Please remember to purchase your free bus tickets before the conference so we have an idea of numbers.
Pick up & return location
Jolene, Flæsketorvet 81-85
Copenhagen Meatpacking District
Schedule
9:00 departing Copenhagen / 20:30 return from Rødvig
9:00 departing Copenhagen / 22:30 return from Rødvig
SOFTER is a non-profit organisation and movement on a mission to change the narrative that tech is hard. We are a work-in-progress platform built on a feminist consciousness. We believe that softer values, such as care, empathy, community, multiplicity and collaboration are the path towards equitable futures to learn, examine and practice creative technologies & design.
SOFTER was born out of a longing for a community and learning spaces where we could see ourselves and our values reflected. We design and facilitate a range of in-person and digital activities, from our annual conference Softer Digital Futures, to our SOFTER Lab in CPH, remote SOFTER Satelites in London, online tutorials and residencies, and soon to be released, our first printed publication (coming in 2027).
Thursday
For those who crave extra time in the Danish countryside, the Soft Launch is dedicated to meeting each other, enjoying dinner together and getting to know the venue. No official programme just yet!
Friday + Saturday
A day at the conference looks something like this – panels, keynotes, shared meals, workshops, art, nature, time to reflect and connect, plus a bigger dinner and party on Saturday. For us, the perfect mixture between conference, summer school, and festival. You can come and go at any time.
The program and lineup will updated continuously and the full time scheduled will be revealed closer to the conference.
Rather than signing up for workshops through the website, your ticket gives you access to our dedicated SOFTER space on Dark Forest OS. Once you have your ticket, we’ll invite you into the space, where you can browse the workshops and build your own program. When workshop sign-ups open, spots are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Workshops run in parallel, so you’ll choose which sessions you’d like to join and create your own itinerary around them. Outside the sessions, there will be plenty of time to connect with facilitators, ask questions, share reflections and see what others have been making.
The SOFTER space on DFOS will also be used before, during and after the conference as a place to communicate, share resources and stay connected with the community.
Thursday
For the Soft Launch, we’re organising a simple food stall with vegetarian and vegan food. This is the only day where your meal is not included in the ticket as it’s optional to attend.
Friday and Saturday
Fresh, locally sourced lunch and dinner will be provided on both conference days, all included in the ticket price. Meals are vegetarian and served family-style, made on site by our wonderful chef and her team. Please make sure to inform us about any dietary restrictions when you buy your ticket.
Drinks
Coffee, tea and water is offered free of charge all days. Alcoholic and non-alcohol drinks will be served at affordable prices each day.
Food in the area
If you’re looking for an alternative to the food we serve, there are a few options within walking distance of Harmonien. Just five minutes from the venue, you’ll find a local groceries shop for snacks, drinks and essentials, as well as a sushi restaurant.
Down by the harbour, there’s a café serving sandwiches and ice cream, a small fish & chips shop, and a traditional local restaurant.
Rødvig is located just an hour south of Copenhagen and is easy to reach by our shuttle bus, public transport or car approximately 1½ hours. The adress is Rødvig hovedgade 4, 4673 Rødvig Stevns.
Shuttle bus
The shuttle bus takes you from Copenhagen to Harmonien and back in roughly an hour per drive. It will depart from the Meatpacking District in Copenhagen on Friday and Saturday in the morning and you can bring your breakfast on board if you like.
The bus departs at 9:00 AM from Flæsketorvet 81-85 both days and returns from Rødvig at 8:30 PM on Friday and 10:30 PM on Saturday.
The bus is included in the ticket prices but please make sure to book your spot beforehand, and be mindful that the bus won’t wait for late arrivals. You will receive more info after booking the bus ticket.
Public transport
From the central station in Copenhagen (Hovedbanegården), take a regional or S train to Køge station where you switch to a local train until you arrive in Rødvig. From there it’s a 500 meters walk to Harmonien.
You can purchase tickets for trains at vending machines at the station or download the Rejsebillet app. A train ticket is approximately €10 for a single trip.
Car
Plan for a one-hour commute from Copenhagen when arriving by car. There are free parking spots at the venue so you just put Rødvig Hovedgade 4, 4673 Rødvig Stevns in your navigation and off you go! It’s up to you to offer seats to others as we don’t coordinate car pooling.
If you’re in for the full Stevns Klint experience, you can stay in local hotels, camping or airbnb.
Suggested places to stay overnight: Klinten Hotel, Rødvig Kro, Rødvig Ferieby
It is also possible to find bigger apartments and houses to share via airbnb and booking.com
Alternatively, you will be able commute to the conference each day and we recommend staying in Copenhagen close to Meatpacking district from where the shuttle bus departs.
If you'd like to share accomodation with other guests, please use the SOFTER DFOS space to connect with other participants.
We’re always looking for volunteers to help with different tasks before, during and after the conference.
As a volunteer you will get a ticket and transportation from Copenhagen.
Please write us at info@softer.global if you want to join our production team :)
Thank you to our partners and collaborators who help make this conference possible, through funding, resources, knowledge and support. We couldn’t do it without you.
