Calm Nest Collective creates peaceful spaces at events

# tags: Events

Calm Nest Collective is an Austrian company dedicated to creating peaceful spaces at events.

The idea behind Calm Nest Collective is “to offer a sanctuary at busy events for neurodivergent people, but also for everyone who needs a break from the event, because we know that events can be really overwhelming,” explains Nika Brunet Milunovic, head of Calm Nest Collective, who has created a silent room at Conventa 2025.

With several things happening at once, with lots of conversations and stimuli, events can be too much for many participants. And with these refuges, it is possible to “recharge your batteries” in a “relaxing” environment, where there is silence or music on headphones, books to read and color, and fidget toys to help calm down. Basically, tools for the participant to “disconnect a little from the outside world, recharge their batteries and return to the event full of energy,” she adds.

Nika Brunet Milunovic adds that statistics “indicate that one in five people has a neurodivergence in one form or another, whether it's ADHD [attention deficit hyperactivity disorder], dyslexia, autism or something like that; in other words, some kind of sensory processing difficulty”.

And the head of the company, who is also a social worker by profession, knows that there are “people who don't go to events because of this”, because it's “too much for them” and they don't always have anywhere else to go. When there is no silent room, the solution is often to go out for a while during the event, “go for a walk or go to the hotel, just to recharge, and then come back to the event”.

Events with a lot of people in the same place are the most difficult, such as large fairs or music events that are very crowded, for example. “When the density of people is huge and there's a lot of interaction, a lot of noise, bright lights, it can be stressful,” says the head of Calm Nest Collective, which brings spaces of tranquillity to various types of events, and in a permanent or pop-up format. And the reaction of participants to Calm Nest Collective's spaces has been “very good”.

Nika Brunet Milunovic believes that Europe, in general, “is a little behind” in this type of solution, although in the UK there are hardly any events “that don't have a sensory room included, a kind of escape for the participants”.



Rui Ochôa*

*Traveled at the invitation of Conventa 2025