Conference of the Social Therapy Working Group in Austria from April 3 to 6, 2019

Ten delegated representatives of social therapy from Sweden, England, Germany, Austria and Switzerland took part in this special location in rural Austria, more precisely in the Mühlviertel at the Loidholdhof. The colleagues from Holland and Italy were unfortunately prevented this time.

The Loidholdhof sees itself as a learning community in a rural area. The central dynamic arises from the core task: a Demeter agricultural enterprise. Possible fields of work and educational spaces are formed around this. They are created in an inclusive and collaborative way, in a constant dialogue with the ‘Genius Loci’ and with the people who connect with the place.

Starting from this, the ambition arises to take on a responsibility that can make the place and the individual blossom – also in the literal sense of the word.

Questions at the meeting that revolve around this were therefore, among others, the following:

• How can the individual impulse for action be awakened and find its harmonious place?
• How is participation and sharing structured?
• How do we succeed in doing this in other places?
• How do we gain courage and confidence for unusual inclusive concepts?

The day’s work on such topics can be perceived as further training for the participants, but at the same time also as a dialogue with the spirit of anthroposophy on all social processes that affect us – at least in Central Europe – think only briefly of “Fridays for Future”.

For this reason, the working group is endeavoring to develop a white paper from these current themes that summarizes “Theses on Education in Social Therapy”. In 2018 this working group had already produced a “White paper on anthroposophic social therapy“.

A further topic to be considered in the future is the discussion of the conditions for resilience in anthroposophical institutions. What can this mean for a place, how can the so-called resilience factors be identified after they have been defined, or how could they be developed when they are needed?

In October 2019, this body of the Council will meet in Dornach following the autumn conference. This meeting will include the topic “Media and digitalization in the social therapeutic environment” – another topic that invites contemporary dialogue.