The Broughton Declaration of Principles on AI for Human Flourishing
A citizen-led statement on human dignity, democratic accountability, and human connection in the age of artificial intelligence
Broughton Sanctuary · Yorkshire Dales · 26–29 June 2026
Artificial intelligence is reshaping not only what humanity can do, but who we are becoming. The Broughton Declaration does not yet exist. It will be shaped, drafted, and written at Broughton Sanctuary from 26–29 June 2026. You are invited into the process.
Why a Declaration — and Why Now
We stand at a
civilisational threshold.
AI is no longer simply a technical question. It is a democratic, moral, spiritual, and cultural question.
The systems now being built carry assumptions about the human person, the purpose of work, the meaning of creativity, the nature of freedom, and the future of human connection.
Yet many of these assumptions have not been subjected to serious public reflection or democratic contemplation. The world needs more than regulation alone. It needs a shared public affirmation of what it means to remain fully human, freely made, and democratically governed in the age of AI.
The Broughton Declaration will be GCRD's contribution to that urgent task.
The Declaration will be developed by participants acting in their own capacities. It is not intended to represent the formal position of any government, institution, or organisation, but to offer a citizen-led set of principles for orienting artificial intelligence toward human flourishing, democratic responsibility, and the protection of human dignity.
What Will Happen at Broughton
Three Days of
Contemplative
Policy Dialogue
The Broughton Declaration will be developed and written during the retreat. Participants will gather for structured reflection, contemplative dialogue, and collaborative drafting.
The purpose is not simply to discuss AI, but to help articulate the principles that should guide democratic societies in protecting human dignity, moral agency, creativity, conscience, and connection in the age of intelligent machines.
The retreat will create the conditions for serious thought, deep listening, and collective authorship.
Building on a Moral Provocation
Grounded in
Magnifica Humanitas
The Declaration builds on the moral vocabulary opened by Magnifica Humanitas, which insists that technology must serve human flourishing, that the dignity of the person is non-negotiable, and that the inner life of the human being must not be colonised by algorithmic power.
Where moral and spiritual traditions speak to the conscience of humanity, the Broughton Declaration will seek to speak to institutions, policymakers, technologists, civil society, and citizens.
Its purpose is not to oppose AI. Its purpose is to insist that AI must remain answerable to humanity.
The Declaration is not an academic exercise. It will be tested against the testimony of people who care about democracy, about creativity, about the texture of human life in all its fragility and dignity.
The Questions We Will Address
Five Principles to
Guide the Drafting
The retreat will explore the principles that should guide a humane and democratic response to artificial intelligence. These questions will shape the drafting of the Broughton Declaration.
From Retreat to Public Declaration
A Living Document,
Shaped in Three Acts
The Declaration does not emerge from a committee. It will be forged through days of contemplative policy dialogue in the Yorkshire Dales, then released into public life for the world to engage.
The Contemplative Policy Retreat at Broughton Sanctuary
Leaders, thinkers, practitioners, and citizens gather for three days of contemplative policy dialogue. Participation in the retreat contributes directly to the drafting of the Declaration.
A Living Public Document
The draft Declaration will be released as a living public document, open to responses, contributions, endorsements, and refinement. Civil society organisations, faith communities, young people, artists, technologists, educators, policymakers, and citizens are all invited to engage.
Formal Launch at AI Day
The Broughton Declaration will be formally presented at AI Day at the Athens Democracy Forum 2026, contributing to global conversations on the governance of artificial intelligence.
We Are Not Opposed to AI.
We Are Committed to Humanity.
The Broughton Declaration will be a call to recover the human centre of technological life.
It will be a declaration that democratic societies must not sleepwalk into the future.
It will be an invitation to build a new social compact for the age of artificial intelligence.
And it will be drafted by everyday people.
gcrd.org.uk/retreat