Towards the Agriculture conference at the Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland from 1st to 4th February 2012

In a large conference community we reflect the diversity of the worldwide biodynamic movement. The way we work with the biodynamic impulse varies according to each climatic zone, the type of farming we pursue, for each generation, the kind of research that is carried out. lt is different for a school garden or a large commercial farm but also for production, processing, for traders and consumers or again when we consider nature conservation or the building of community.

Out of this diversity arises the question as to what links us all together. What are the common elements we share? This question is answered however not by listing the similarities and differences between us but rather by penetrating into the depths. What is the common source we all draw upon? What is the essence of biodynamic practice? Here it is important to recognise the true nature of what underlies our varied experiences. Can we enter into them deeply with our understanding? It is our own inner nature that can lead us to discover what is essential in the world. We have tried to structure the conference so as to facilitate this encounter.

After an introduction on Wednesday we will turn on Thursday to the question: What is essential to me for my practical work? On Friday we will ask ourselves what is it that particularly inspires us in Rudolf Steiner's Agriculture Course. On Saturday we will turn to the world around us and ask: What current issues arouse and affect me directly?

In the morning workshops we will be working through dialogue using elements of the U process in a way similar to that of last year. In conversation with each other it will be possible to penetrate through to the essential. This 'essential' will then be brought to life artistically during the afternoon groups and then contextualised through a short lecture: ‘An experiential sketch of the Essential‘. In the plenum we will then bring together what has arisen during the day and allow it to resonate with the morning's work on the Michael Letter and the keynote lecture.

The whole conference is conceived in three parts as is each single day. The path leads from the diversity of daily practice through individual inner encounter to the joint discovery of core concepts that can provide a contemorary answer to the question: What is essential — for me — for the impulse — for the world?

Agriculture Section at the Goetheanum