2026 Agential Capacities in Context Workshop
Agential Capacities in Context Workshop
University of Turku, Finland, August 20–21 2026
The cognitive sciences have made significant progress in our understanding of core cognitive capacities like motivation, self-regulation, and working memory. Many questions remain at the interface of these capacities: How are they related? Can one of them explain others? What is their relationship to human agency? And how is their operation altered by the agent’s practical context, such as structural conditions and social background? The two-day Agential Capacities Workshop will examine these questions.
Turku, the oldest city in Finland, has a fascinating history, vibrant cultural scene, and beautiful natural surroundings. For more information, see https://en.visitturku.fi/. The two–day workshop is followed by an optional social day on August 22, with sightseeing.
Keynotes:
Santiago Amaya (Rice University): Beyond individualism
Denise de Ridder (Utrecht University): Turning on the we-mode: Collective agency boosts the capacity to act together
Veronika Job (University of Vienna): The intrinsic value of effort
Marina Milyavskaya (Carleton University): Agency in goal pursuit: How motivation shapes self-regulation
Registration
The event is free to attend. To participate in the event, registration is necessary, including for online participants.
If you cancel your attendance, please cancel your registration, as well, to prevent food waste.
You can register via this link: https://www.lyyti.in/Agential_Capacities_in_Context2026
Programme
Workshop abstracts: Titles & Abstracts
Thursday, August 20
8:30–9:15 Registration & coffee
9:15 Opening words
9:30–10:45 Keynote – Turning on the we-mode: Collective agency boosts the capacity to act together
Denise de Ridder (Utrecht University) Chair: Anssi Bwalya
10:45–11:00 Break
11:00–12:45 Session 1 – Memory and mental agency Chair: Juan Pablo Bermúdez
Marina Trakas (Universidade de Lisboa) Mnemonic agency?
Frederik Junker (University of Copenhagen) Beyond deliberation: How memory shapes intentions
David Barack (Carnegie Mellon University & University of Pittsburgh) Zetetic agency
12:45–14 Lunch
14–15:10 Session 2 – Agency and disadvantage Chair: Polaris Koi
Anssi Bwalya (University of Turku) Experiencing agency in the context of ADHD
Juan Pablo Bermúdez (University of Southampton) The effects of poverty on planning agency
15:10–16:00 Coffee break
16–17:15 Keynote – The intrinsic value of effort
Veronika Job (University of Vienna) Chair: Anssi Bwalya
18:30 Speakers’ dinner
Friday, August 21
9–10:15 Keynote – Beyond individualism
Santiago Amaya (Rice University) Chair: Juan Pablo Bermúdez
10:15–11:00 Coffee break
11:00–12:45 Session 3 – Contextual shaping of agency Chair: Polaris Koi
Samuel Delorme (UC San Diego) Learning can make it harder to do the right thing
Mohsen Forghani (University of Warsaw) Agent-relative prerogatives and deference to power
Philipp Thamer (King’s College London) Taking the back seat: Public preferences for second-order agency and human oversight in automated taxis
12:45–14 Lunch
14–15:10 Session 4 – Expanding agency Chair: Anssi Bwalya
Angelica Kaufmann (University of Milan) The practice of personhood: A social-epistemic account of animal personhood
Andrea Hiott (University of Heidelberg) Constitutive caring: Towards a care-first account of agential capacities
15:10–16:00 Coffee break
16:00–17:15 Keynote – Agency in goal pursuit: How motivation shapes self-regulation
Marina Milyavskaya (Carleton University) Chair: Polaris Koi
17:15–17:30 Closing words
Saturday, August 22
Recreational day: Tour of Turku castle
Pre-Workshop: Mind in the Age of AI
In collaboration with the SRC Transform AI project, we will be organizing a pre-workshop titled ”Mind in the Age of AI” on August 19th. The event will be free to attend. More details can be found from a separate event page.
The CFP is now closed. Programme is available at the event page.
The emergence of artificial intelligence — large language models, autonomous AI agents, robotics — may represent one of the most significant transformations in human cognitive history, comparable to the emergence of language, writing, or the internet. Human cognition has always evolved in constant interaction with its environment and tools. AI is now becoming a central part of that environment: it shapes how we think, and we shape how it develops. This recursive co-evolution raises fundamental questions about the nature of mind, agency, and what it means to be human.
This pre-workshop explores these questions under the broad theme ”Mind in the Age of AI”. The concept of mind is understood widely, encompassing cognitive processes (including metacognition, attention, and executive function), consciousness and phenomenological experience, agency and free will, and motivation and emotion.
Key questions include: How does AI reshape human cognition — not just as a tool, but as a co-evolving cognitive partner? How do human and AI biases interact in recursive loops? Can AI systems be genuine agents or conscious beings? What values should guide AI development? And beyond diagnosing risks and disruptions: where do we want to go? What vision of human flourishing should orient us in this moment of rapid change?
The pre-workshop features accessible, research-informed presentations followed by extended discussion. It serves as a broad opening to the main Agential Capacities in Context workshop, funneling from large civilizational questions toward specific cognitive capacities.
CFP for early-career scholars
The CFP for the main workshop is now closed.
We invite academics across the cognitive sciences (including psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy) to present new work addressing these questions. We have a limited number of slots available, reserved for scholars who are current PhD students or within 2 years of defending their PhD. Speaker selection is based on a combination of abstract quality and diversity and fit of topics.
To be considered as a speaker, please submit an abstract of 500 words as an anonymized PDF file to agencyexperienceturku@gmail.com by March 15th. In the accompanying e-mail, please provide full author details (names and affiliations of all authors).
Results will be communicated by April 2.
The workshop is free of charge for both speakers and audience. Two lunches, coffee, and one dinner are covered for all speakers. While we are unable to cover the travel expenses of all participants, funds are available to cover travel and accommodations for a limited number of speakers based on need. If you wish to be considered for travel assistance, please note that in the e-mail accompanying your submission. This in no way influences the abstract selection process.
The event will be livestreamed, so the audience can also participate online. Information about registration for online and on-site participation will be circulated in April. Updates will be posted on the event’s web page at https://sites.utu.fi/agencyproject/2026-agential-ca…context-workshop/
If you have any questions about the event, please contact Anssi Bwalya at anssi.bwalya@utu.fi.
Traveling to Turku: The Turku airport has connections to a handful of European cities, including Stockholm, Gdansk and Vilnius. Turku is easily accessible by bus and train from the Helsinki airport, which connects to all major cities, and by ferry from Stockholm.
The Agential Capacities Workshop is hosted by the Agency as Experience and Capacity: Social Mechanisms, Political Implications project at the University of Turku, supported by the Kone foundation. The event is organized by Polaris Koi, Anssi Bwalya and Juan Pablo Bermúdez.