The last Agriculture Conference before the 100th Anniversary of biodynamics gives us the opportunity to reflect on the path that the Koberwitz Impulse has taken in the past 99 years. You are warmly invited to join this reflection in your organization, team or individually – and to present your reflection in form of a poster or video at the upcoming Agriculture Conference in the Goetheanum.
The exhibition focuses on three areas:
- The individual: Personalities who have carried the inspiration of Koberwitz onwards and shaped with their biographies the ways in which biodynamics has evolved.
- The farm: Places where the biodynamic impulse has come to life through the practical application of its principles in the soil and in the farm organism.
- The organization: Communities of people who have come together in organizations and associations to shape, evolve, and grow the biodynamic movement across cultures and societies.
By putting together such an exhibition, we can get to know the paths that the Koberwitz Impulse has taken through individuals, on farms, and in organizations. We can understand the stage at which the impulse has arrived in our time, and become inspired by the diversity of pathways in our movement.
The following pages contain guiding questions for your inspiration, as well as an example of a reflective process that we have conducted as a team at the Section.
With warm regards,
Ueli Hurter and Kalle Huebner
Contents and formats
You are warmly invited to reflect on the path that the Koberwitz Impulse has taken in your organization, on your farm, or through a person that has carried the impulse or shaped it in a particular way. The results of the reflection can be exhibited at the Agriculture Conference 2023 in form of posters and videos:
1. Presentation of individual personalities in the movement
Reflections on individuals who have carried and shaped the biodynamic impulse in particular ways throughout the past decades. Guiding questions: How was this person's biography connected to the history of biodynamics? Where do we experience the impulse or the work of this person in biodynamics today?
2. Presentation of farms and places
Reflections on farms and significant places where biodynamic principles have been practically applied and developed. Guiding questions: How has the Koberwitz Impulse come to live at this place? How has this place contributed to the evolution of biodynamics? What is the importance of this place for the movement?
3. Presentation of associations and organizations
Reflections on organisations in which people have come together to shape, evolve, and grow the biodynamic movement across cultures and societies. Guiding questions: How has the organisation carried and developed the biodynamic impulse since 1924? What were the most significant developmental steps? Where does the organisation stand today?
What formats can be exhibited?
Posters
Posters should be submitted as a printable file in high resolution, for example, as a PDF. The format should be A0. A printed or hand-painted poster may also be brought to the meeting - all contributions are welcome.
Videos
A video should have a maximum length of 5 minutes and be exported in mp4 format (4:3).
Please send your contribution by 14 January 2023 to: agriculture.conference@goetheanum.ch
Example process of reflection
We have prepared a process as an inspiration for those, who wish to conduct a reflection in their own organization or team. It can help to look back and create a contribution for the exhibition. There are three steps in this process. It is helpful if one or two people moderate the process for the other participants.
Step 1: Individual review
In a meeting of all participants, each person is asked to think back to their individual starting point. The following guiding questions can point the way:
- Why did you come to this organisation? What were your personal reasons for joining this organisation? What did you know about the history of the organisation?
- How did your work develop here? How did you experience the development of the organisation? Which personalities were important for you here?
- Where do you see your future tasks? Where do you see your role in your organisation?
The aim is to get a sense of how your own biography is connected to the history of the organisation and the biodynamic impulse. This process can be expressed artistically - participants use paint, words, crafts materials, etc. Many may be interested in the organisation's history. Many may also reflect quietly for themselves.
Step 2: History of the organisation's impact
Contributors now share their individual review with the community. One person can moderate this process. The feedback can be collected, for example, on a blackboard. Now, starting from the personal retrospective, the view can be extended to the organisation in which you have an impact through your individuality.
- What is the biographical history of your organisation?
- What were the most important stages in the organisation's development?
- Which personalities have shaped or impacted this organisation in a special way?
- How may your organization look like in the future?
At this point, other sources can be included, for example, those that describe the organisation's history, how it came into being, and its vision for future work.
The aim is to understand how the biodynamic impulse has been carried through the organisation and how it is expressed today.
Step 3: Formulate key messages and shape the contribution
At this point, contributors can formulate certain key messages through which the history of the biodynamic impulse in their organisation can be experienced by others (i.e. the viewers of the poster or video). These core sentences can be answers to the questions:
- How has my organisation carried and developed the biodynamic impulse since 1924?
- Where do we stand with our organisation today?
- Why are we committed to the biodynamic movement/agriculture?
- What future questions are we facing in our organisation at the beginning of the second century of biodynamics?
One or more people can now create a draft from the participants' feedback, or a contribution can be made together. This is again a creative process with colours, pictures and key sentences (in the case of a poster) or through