Announcing a six-week ‘workshop’ with the YouthSection in Dornach. October 19 – November 30, 2009. Applications now open!

What is my question? How can I become the captain of my own ship? – the ‘master’ of my own schooling? Can learning be experienced as the space that lives between people?

During these six weeks we will come together to support one another’s questions and striving, as well as engage in practical initiatives.

How do we design our own educational landscape? How can we balance inner and outer work?

Each day will comprise of a morning and an afternoon session. The ‘form’ of our morning work will be sculpted out of our individual study questions and interests themselves.

These morning sessions will be ‘facilitated’ by YouthSection individual students and co-workers who are also working on their own study questions. Together we will become the architects of our own study program.

In the afternoons we will balance our morning sessions by engaging in practical work including YouthSection tasks, Goetheanum garden and maintenance projects, and other activities as they arise.

Evenings and weekends will be left open for free time, spontaneous events / initiatives, and for exploring what the Goetheanum and its surroundings have to offer.

The cost of the 'Backpackers Workshop’ has been kept to an absolute minimum. Please note that places are limited. The application deadline is September 19, if places are still available at that stage. The main language will be English (additional deepening work will be possible in German and Norwegian).

Click here to view the application form, including pricing information.

For more on the 'workshop,' click here.

"What is more quickening than light?"

"Conversation."

- From Goethe's 'The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily.'


This is an invitation to re-imagine the world we live in through the art of conversation and conversations in art.

Several months ago the Section for Social Sciences and the YouthSection at the Goetheanum came into conversation. Through our conversations one thing became clear: that the activity of conversation itself was important. Perhaps you have had the experience of possibilities arising, or something special being born, because of a conversation. Out of these discussions this event came into being.

Conversation is not only created with words but also with the will to listen to what arises between us – it is a dance, an improvisation, a co-written story. It is our wish that this event will be a place where many people can experience the creative, quickening possibilities of conversation. We also hope it will shed more light on the contemporary social situation and our tasks in the world.

Come with us on the adventure of exploring and experiencing social themes of our time. There will be conversation groups on a range of social topics (including social three-folding, economics, social sculpture, and more). There will also be space for you to bring the topic you are currently passionate about. In addition, there will be short ‘conversational’ contributions from Elizabeth Wirsching, Paul Mackay, Seth Jordan, Shelley Sacks, Ulrich Rösch and Katie Dobb.

Through the arts we will seek to meet each other in new ways. There will be 'conversations' in music, sculpture, painting, creative writing, numbers, movement and more.

During our planning meetings we came to realise that three-folding is not just a theory but that it is a living thing. Throughout our preparation time we have tried to practice three-folding. We have asked ourselves what quality of thinking is needed in order that social institutions (or even situations) can evolve (or unfold) in the right way. We have wondered how an understanding of the three-folded organism could help us orientate ourselves to develop good relationships with our fellow human beings and shape society as a whole. And we have raised the question, “How can we take responsibility for creating the world we live in?” We have also been living with a recent Bob Dylan quote: "The real power is in the hands of small groups of people and I don't think they have titles."

It is our hope that many different generations, nationalities, professions and points of view can come together at this event. We aim to create a space where each human being can be valued for their uniqueness, where we can develop an active empathy, and where we can recognise that each one of us is an important piece of ‘the puzzle.’

And so it is with great warmth and enthusiasm that the YouthSection and the Section for Social Sciences invite you to come into conversation – to take part in shaping this unique social-artistic event – to re-imagine the world! We hope that you join us as we attempt to leap from speaking about social commitment to entering a conversation, with commitment!

The event will be held at the Goetheanum. It begins Friday November 27 at 5pm, and ends on Sunday November 29 at 12:30pm.  For those who are connected to the YouthSection, this event ends on Saturday November 28 at 6:30pm. The 'YouthSection Weekend' will start at 8pm. This event will be in English and German.

(This article is a written conversation between Caitlin Balmer, Elizabeth Wirsching, Guy Collins, Hanna Koskinen, John Stubley, Katharina Ludwig, Katie Dobb, Martin Stenius, Paul Mackay, Silvia Zuur, Ulrich Rösch.)

For more information on this event please email katie(at)youthsection.org

For more information about social three-folding click here – scroll to the bottom of the page for a list of links.

Other interesting reading: 'An Appeal for an Alternative' by Joseph Beuys. Resources compiled by Think OutWord. The Bob Dylan interview referred to above.