Join us in developing analogue algorithms for complex challenges
As digital systems yield diminishing returns, our investment in human-scale algorithms offers deeper transformation through reciprocal systems of ecological, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being
Ways to Invest
Time
Your experience and skills; your knowledge and connections. Pledge to share what you can to shift the needle on these sticky problems.
Money
Whatever you can afford, every penny you contribute goes to embracing the challenges we set ourselves. Give enough and we’ll embrace you too!
Good Will
No time, or money? No problem. Simply your best wishes has an immeasurable impact. This rising tide of ‘hopeless optimism’ really does lift all boats.
Why invest?
The Titanic has already sunk.
You’re in the water.
If you don’t feel the cold, you’re in a survival suit, lucky enough not to notice others slipping beneath the surface.
COAN is a raft.
Not for escape, but for reconnection—through art, awareness, and action.
We’re building a network that develops and executes Analogue Algorithms: simple, human technologies to stay grounded, awake and together in a time of systemic collapse.
Invest not to save the world, but to help us remember how to live in it.
Here are the challenges we are currently embracing…
Investment Opportunities
How can we address the mental health pandemic among NHS staff?
We’ve been piloting a new creative mindfulness curriculum with six health boards in Wales.
The Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation will soon report on longitudinal impact on absenteeism.
“I’ve been handling difficult situations at work better. I caught up on notes and realised I was only three behind, when I’m usually about fourteen. I think I’m just being more effective.”
Mental Health Nurse
What does a Theatre for Peace look like in the Theatre of War?
In collaboration with Theatre for Change in Kyiv, CoArts is being rolled out to practitioners across Ukraine as a potential vehicle for our exploration into analogue algorithms for accessing peace of mind in the midst of constant drone attacks and missile bombardment.
“Complete transformation! Something incomprehensible, painful, ancient died in me. I thank God for everything!!! I am a strong woman.“
Audience Member
Can analogue algorithms mitigate the perils of AI?
The risk is not that AI becomes sentient. The risk is that it convinces us that it is.
In response, we are curating a Compendium of Analogue Algorithms — embodied practices that, when enacted, remind us that our true nature cannot be computed. These algorithms reawaken what machines cannot replicate: the felt, the relational, the ineffable ground of our shared humanity.
“You have successfully reshaped my perception of reality!”
Workshop Participant
How can we restore balance and connection in the world?
The Reciprocal Wellbeing Model is a whole-systems approach to understanding and restoring wellbeing through balanced exchange across seven nested domains of human activity: the environment, culture, infrastructure, society, outer self, inner self, and no-self. It proposes that wellbeing is not an individual pursuit but a relational flow — a continuous cycle of giving and receiving between self, others, and the world.
Rather than climbing a ladder of needs, as in Maslow’s model, reciprocal wellbeing invites a shift from striving to participating — from consumption to connection. When this flow is blocked, wellbeing suffers; when it is restored, vitality and meaning return. The model helps identify these blockages and offers creative, embodied practices (like Context Oriented Arts) to release them, enabling a more balanced, compassionate, and sustainable way of living.
