Youth


WELCOME TO YOUTH SECTION NEW ZEALAND

 

 

The Youth Section is a network of young individuals, communities, initiatives and meeting places for those interested in Anthroposophy, a path of spiritual development for the individual. It is a peer-led worldwide network of young people that are working to bring Anthroposophy into the world and into their daily lives. The Youth Section itself tries to actively support the spiritual striving of youth and those who support youth initiatives.

 

 

Being Part of a New Zeland Painting

What does it feel like to be part of the New Zealand Youth Section network with responsibility to hold spaces for people to meet? For me it feels like I’m holding a paintbrush, seeking out colours and inspiration never knowing what the result will be. Always feeling for what is needed, what is being asked by the future, hoping to inspire others, having to follow my instinct and learning to work creatively with other people.

Meeting people with narrow horizons, seems akin to a beetle trying to understand our painting. To those with curious minds, it feels like I’m showing the work to a fellow travellers who has also seen much in world and will look & listen and possibilities. Those with openness and warmth enable the discovery of a fellow writer, dancer or sculptor, and through them the recognition of another creative person. With creative souls I especially feel the doors to the studio open, something incredible can be explored and the potential to carry impulses into the world is unlimited.


Would you like a paintbrush to join us? I have a have a spare one here.
Rosa Henderson YouthSection leader in NZ - rosa.youthsection@gmail.com

 

 

YOUTH SECTION AROUND THE WORLD

The International Youth Section is a team of six young individuals (from Australia, NZ, America, South Africa and Germany) led by Elizabeth Wirsching (from Norway). They are based in Dornach, Switzerland, and put on events, conferences and workshops through out the year. To find out more, see their web page at www.youthsection.org. Also Subscribe to receive our regular eNews and to connect with all that's happening with the YouthSection worldwide. View previous editions of the enews.

 

Future-Initiative creators Aotearoa 

 There is a new webpage just launched, a place to connect people of all spiritual ideas and ideals, of all cultures, ages, interestes and world views. It is for everyone wanting to work for the change they want to see in the world, be it social, environmental, political, spiritual, economic or anything else. It is a place of putting foward initiatives, of meeting your spiritual colleagues, of writing on forums, it is a working space, a space to be inspired and to inspire others. It is still young, all thoughts are appreciated. It is by invitation at this stage, for the link, please email rosa.youthsection@gmail.com.

 

 

Recent EVENTS - Focus International Initiative Forum 2010

 

'There is a community of individuals who have agreed to re-imagine the world....'

Over the last 10 years, the YouthSection has been holding regular International initiative Meetings. During this time, variouos individuals and numerous initiatives around the world have contributed to the expansion of a nameless network. This network crosses borders – it goes beyond the YouthSection, beyond youth. This meeting will attempt to consolidate, strengthen and celebrate the existing active network. It will also make space for others who feel connected to this work. We welcome, therefore, everyone who has been to previous initiative meetings, as well as those who’ll be attending for the first time – all present and future initiative takers.

 

The program for this event was arriving to a blank journal, and the event was held in two main parts: 1 was a process of internal, personal questioning and reflecting, held and facilitated by the YouthSection team, where we were all together. The other was a huge form of open space, where there were people holding talks, workshops and activities in different rooms at different times, and you had to create you own journey. This free but held Forum was exactly what was needed by people who had their own particular areas of interest, and were free to find those people with similia interests and work i their own way. This pioneering approach is something so very needed now; creating future-initiatives in the present.

For blogs, photographs and content from this event, visit focusforum.ning.com

The Heart Chord Music Festival will follow Focus, in Dornach, Switzerland.

'This event is an opportunity to step outside the given, go beyond the usual and perhaps even further than the comfortable to see what is possible through collaborative creative genius. Performance and interaction are two things familiar to musicians; how can we explore these aspects from m new perspectives? Is it possible to bring people into that experience? If it is, then this is a place to investigate.

 

“Music; I experience myself enabled to communicate and understand, with a limited vocabulary, far better than I have ever accomplished with words. The experiences of enlivening conversation as well as dissonant clashes have accompanied my improvised search.” Guy Collins
More information and regrestration at http://www.heartchord.org/
 
 
 
Recent Events in New Zealand

 

Meeting the World and Shaping the Future – What is being asked of our generation, in our time? How do we work with innovation from the past, and with creativity for the future? How do we really see each other, and work together with space open for the parts of each of us, which is not yet?
It was a conference of 40 diverse young people and was a week of creativity, of cooking, activity, peer led workshops, questions, conversations, ideas, singing and laughter. To read the recent article click Youth Gathering.
 

 

 

Youth Conference and Winter Celebration '09

A conference run by youth for youth, to come together and create warmth in Winter

This conference explored ‘Rhythms as a Key to Understanding’, where those who attended were able to look at physical rhythms - in nature/farming, human development & the body - in conjunction with Rudolf Steiner’s indications of biodynamics, Wardolf education & anthroposophical medicine. The main idea connecting all of these principals is that rhythm that keeps us, and the world, in balance; the balance of matter and spirit.

read more here....



 

Aotearoa Summer Gathering 2009

At the Aotearoa Summer Gathering 2009, we workshopped around the themes of Freedom, Responsibility, Individuality & Communtiy.

We were lucky to have Sue Simpson (the general sectary of the Anthroposophical Society) join us for the 5 days, and contribute eurythmy and movement in the mornings. We also welcomed David Garb, who workshopped with the group with emphasis on personal freedom. And Martin Whittchow (who was with us for the last time before leaving for Germany) spoke in a wider context on pictures of freedom, and looked at questions relating to ‘What is freedom?’ and ‘Can we attain it?’
Please click here to read the article.

 

 

 

The Experience of the Backpackers....

 

I recently attended ‘The Backpackers Workshop’, a six week course that took place in October/November ‘09 in Dornach Switzerland. It was hosted by the YouthSection, and organised and run as a group effort by those who attended. It was a real mixture of life, study, community, research, struggle, intuition, improvisation, courage, trust and triumph. And so, this article is not written in chronological order, or with structure - its aim and purpose is instead to give you an experience of the backpackers course as you read it.

 

HOW DO I BECOME THE CAPTAIN OF MY OWN SHIP? BECOME THE WITNESS? MASTER OF MY OWN SCHOOL OF LEARNING?


We were a constellation of 22 people with different wants and needs. Some advocated structure for clarity, while others yearned for complete free space to see what arises spontaneously. It was a space for improvisation, inner development, individual study, practical work, communal cooking, peer led workshops, spaces to celebrate together and to learn to create the course as a group. It was a place to ask ‘what questions, talents, experiences and motivation do I carry right now with me in my backpack?’


An incredible experence, a process, a learning curve and a insight. More here
By Rosa Henderson
Publications

 

Sphere - Sphere magazine is the quarterly journal produced by the Anthroposophical Society in New Zealand, click here to read the December issue. For more information please contact: veenoble@xtra co.nz

Sophos of our time - This is written by the Otago Anthroposophical student Association. For subscription, contribution or comments please email:otago.asa@gmail.com and click here to read the recent publication.



AFFILIATED INITIATIVES

Think OutWord - A peer-led training in social threefolding for young adults that is loosely situated in the northeastern United States. It is grounded in, though not limited to, an understanding of the threefold nature of the human being and of society. Through the training, participants will gain deeper insight into contemporary social phenomena and explore different methods by which they can become increasingly engaged in socially transformative work.

 

The International Youth Initiative Program (YIP) is a new social entrepreneur training in Järna, Sweden, for youth aged 18 to 25 who want to create a positive social change in the world - a one year course in how to bring your own initiative into being.

www.yip.se

 

 

WeStrive is not only a community, but a platform which has been designed to support initiatives in the political/rights sphere. We focused on recognizing the value and reaping the benefits of online tools for networking and connecting, and focused on reaching out to the world and publishing content about the people and initiatives we learned about.

 

 

IDEM

IDEM aims to be a platform for people to unfold their true potential to contribute towards society. We have an idea, an initiative and put it into action. Then we reflect on what has happened, and we discover that we have changed. IDEM aims to be a platform for people to unfold their true potential to contribute towards society.

www.idem-network.org

 

 

PHOTOS from the SUMMER & WINTER EVENTS!

 

CONTACTS

To get in touch with young people in a particular area, here are some people who might be able to help:

 

Auckland: Thomas Burton - burtonsville@gmail.com

Wellington: Rosa Henderson - rosa.youthsection@gmail.com