Fellowship | The Realisation Festival | St Giles House, Dorset

The Realisation Fellowship

The Realisation Fellowship invites you to a year-long process of inquiry, practice, and creation. It is designed for people aged 18-35 and begins with a funded place at the Realisation Festival.* The Fellowship, created and stewarded by festival partner Perspectiva, offers a unique opportunity to explore the threefold meaning of Realisation: Getting Real, Becoming Real, and Making Real.

Those awarded The Realisation Fellowship receive the cost of their festival ticket and participation in a year-long programme with other recipients.

If you feel the call to deepen your understanding of the world and your evolving relationship to it, while developing the capacity to act in ways that enhance our sense of the possible, we encourage you to apply.

(*If you do not fall within this age range but would like to attend the festival and are unable to do so for financial reasons, a limited number of funded places are available outwith the Fellowship. Please apply through this form or email us directly to discuss options.)

Why the Realisation Fellowship?

The Fellowship is rooted in the idea that the future is not merely something that happens to us but also something we can create. This ethos is informed by the anthropologist Margaret Mead’s notion of prefigurative culture — the idea that there is sometimes a breakdown in intergenerational transmission, and younger generations do not so much inherit past traditions as find themselves needing to adapt and improvise into new ways of being and doing. That seems to be the case today.

In times such as these, there is a need for individuals and collectives who can cultivate new ways of thinking, relating, and acting — not just theorizing about change but embodying it and making it real. The Realisation Festival is a space where emerging voices, perspectives, and practices can be nurtured, refined, and connected — not as an isolated training but as a prefigurative experiment in living the future now. The Fellowship supports young people who feel called to this work.

The year-long programme is a space for those dedicated to cultural renewal — whether through philosophy, activism, technology, art, or other disciplines — to support, challenge, and learn from one another. While many young people feel called to engage deeply with the challenges of our time, they often lack the networks, resources, and structures of support that make such sustained engagement possible. This is why the Fellowship is not just a financial opportunity to attend the festival, nor simply a set of structured discussions. The aim is to become part of something emergent—a network of people committed to inquiry into the nature of this historical moment, what it means in terms of social and spiritual practice, and what follows for seeding new initiatives in the world.

What is Realisation?

At the heart of the Fellowship lies the practice of Realisation, which unfolds through three interconnected dimensions:

Getting Real

Getting Real is about reckoning with the state of our world today — acknowledging the challenges and complexities of our planetary moment. For some, this may mean deepening their understanding of ecology or economics; for others, it could involve exploring art, philosophy, or storytelling. What matters is the commitment to see through delusion, listen deeply, and engage curiously with what the world is calling for.

Becoming Real

Becoming Real focuses on inner transformation — the personal work of becoming the kind of human being the world needs now. This may take the form of deepening a meditation practice, cultivating virtues through acts of service, or reconnecting with wildness through wilderness. What’s crucial is the conscious intention to engage in a practice or practices that deepens your sense of soul.

Making Real

Realisation is not always a linear sequence, but Making Real is often the natural unfolding of the first two dimensions. Getting Real enables a deeper seeing into the world, and Becoming Real enables a deeper seeing into oneself. From this comes the call to create. Given who you are and how the world appears to be, what do you feel called to create? How can you be of service?

A Year-Long Inquiry

The Fellowship is an invitation to sustained inquiry with a cohort of peers. Beginning with your participation in the Realisation Festival, you will join approximately 20 others in monthly two-hour online calls to continue your collective unfolding. These calls will include:

Talks by guest speakers who challenge and inspire
Exploration of spiritual practices and how to tailor them to individual paths
Collaborative discussions to support and inspire one another in responding to the call of Realisation

While modest in structure, the Fellowship offers a space for shared accountability, inspiration, and personal agency in the service of social and cultural renewal. There is no formal study requirement —your level of engagement is yours to choose — but participation in the calls is expected. You are also welcome to attend quarterly Realisation meetings in London, or to self-organise meetings of your own.

Applying for the Fellowship requires the readiness and commitment to pursue this year-long process. Before applying, ask yourself:

Do I feel called to an inquiry into Realisation?
Am I excited to engage with others in exploring these themes?
Am I ready to contribute whole-heartedness, openness, and commitment to a shared process?

If the answers are yes, we welcome your application via the form below.

Financial Support and Expectations

To demonstrate the value of this initiative to funders and secure ongoing support, we ask Fellows to provide a short reflective report (1-2 pages) at the end of the Fellowship. This is not an academic or evaluative exercise but a chance to articulate your experience and insights.

If you have any questions about the Fellowship please contact michael(at)perspectiva.co.uk

Please note that the Fellowship places cover your festival ticket only, which includes food and access to the Festival campsite, in the spacious and beautiful grounds of St. Giles House (you will need to bring your own tent or camper van). Hot showers, compost loos and phone chargers are provided. Please look at the Festival booking page for more information about upgrades to other accommodation or email Olivia.

Furthermore, we recognize that travel costs may be a barrier for some. While the Fellowship does not currently include travel funding, we are exploring the possibility of a travel bursary fund. If the cost of attending is a significant barrier, please let us know in your application.