Is ALE
for me?
ALE 2026 · Leuven · 26–28 August
You don't need to know what ALE is.
You just need to care about how
people work together.
ALE started as a gathering for people interested in Agile and Lean approaches to work. But over 16 years it has become something broader: a place where anyone who cares about how people collaborate, lead, learn, and create finds their people.
The agenda is built from scratch each morning — by the participants. There are no pre-announced speakers, no fixed tracks. If a topic matters to you, you can bring it. If a session doesn't serve you, you're free to leave. Every year, some of the most memorable sessions come from first-time attendees who thought they had "nothing to offer".
Below, click the cards to see if any of these questions sound familiar. If one resonates — you belong here.
Does this sound like you?
"How do you teach people who don't want to be taught?"
Click to discoverFacilitators and coaches at ALE have spent years cracking exactly this. Come steal their tools — peer learning, experiential workshops, facilitation techniques you can take back to your classroom or team on Monday.
"Why do our meetings always feel like a waste of time?"
Click to discoverBetter meetings aren't about better tools — they're about better design. ALE is packed with expert facilitators sharing techniques for conversations that actually go somewhere. And the whole event is itself a masterclass in facilitation.
"How do you stay impactful without burning out?"
Click to discoverALE attracts mission-driven people who've learned to sustain energy and purpose in uncertain conditions. The 2026 theme — Recharge — is dedicated to rest, renewal, and finding the strength to keep going without running yourself dry.
"What does leadership look like when there's no leader?"
Click to discoverWatch 200 people self-organise over 3 days and build a meaningful agenda from nothing. See how you decide and commit as a group.It's the best leadership lab you'll ever attend. Then join the conversations about how to replicate it in your organisation.
"Where do you find real-world data on human collaboration?"
Click to discoverBring your frameworks. Leave with field stories, on-the-ground experiments, and new collaborators. ALE is living research — practitioners testing ideas daily in organisations across Europe, ready to compare notes with academics who can help them make sense of it.
"How do you collaborate creatively without losing your vision?"
Click to discoverWe explore co-creation, group dynamics, and creative conflict — live and in real time. Artists and creatives find an audience that thinks in systems and stories, and is genuinely curious about what creative practice can teach organisations.
"What does a workplace built on trust look like?"
Click to discoverMeet practitioners who've been redesigning organisations from the inside for 15+ years — and talk frankly about what works, what fails, and what the org charts never show. Bring your hard questions about culture, hiring, and structure.
"How do you keep improving when the work never stops?"
Click to discoverLean and continuous improvement are built on small experiments and honest observation. At ALE, practitioners share what they've tried, what failed, and what quietly transformed their teams — without a big change programme.
"What do you say when a conversation really matters?"
Click to discoverDifficult 1:1s — feedback that stings, underperformance, someone about to burn out — are where most managers feel alone. ALE is full of coaches who've sat in that chair and will practice the hard conversations with you.
What kind of sessions can you expect?
The agenda is built by participants each morning — these are the themes that have emerged over 16 years of ALE
- Teaching without telling
- Peer learning in teams
- Learning by doing
- Unschooling for adults
- Meetings that don't suck
- Facilitation techniques
- Psychological safety
- Conflict as a creative tool
- Flat hierarchies — reality check
- Distributed decision-making
- Change without mandate
- Self-managing teams
- Burnout prevention
- Slow leadership
- Rest as a professional competence
- Energy management for change-makers
- Art in organisations
- Design thinking live
- Failure as strategy
- Experiments at scale
- Retrospectives that actually change things
- Coaching conversations
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Visualising complex problems
These are flavours, not promises. The agenda is yours to shape on day one.
Have something to try? ALE is your lab.
"The agenda is made on the morning of each day, by you.
You don't need
slides. You don't need to be an expert. You just need a question."
Test a workshop
Run a session you've been designing. Get live feedback from experienced facilitators and practitioners who'll tell you exactly what works — and what doesn't.
Explore a question
Stuck on a problem you can't stop thinking about? Bring it to the marketplace. Chances are, 20 people in the room have been wrestling with the same thing.
Get input on a project
Designing a new programme, curriculum, or process? Use ALE as a sounding board. Our participants love nothing more than helping someone think something through.
Just listen and absorb
Come with no agenda. Let the conversations come to you. The hallways at ALE are just as valuable as the sessions — some of the best learning happens over coffee.
ALE participants are:
Let's be honest about what ALE is
In case you're still not sure
Ready to find out?
The best way to understand ALE is to experience it. Tickets are available now.