Climate conference
The conference Breathing with the Climate Crisis, organized by the Section for Agriculture and the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, attracted more than 1200 people in 63 countries.
Sebastian Jüngel What, if any, changes did you have to make to adapt your conference programme to the digital format?
André Hach We adapted the programme. The main lectures were given in the afternoon, at a time when most of the participants were able to attend, wherever they were in the world. We also had greater flexibility with regard to work groups, times and the number of participants. One workshop, which was scheduled to take place once, could simply be offered twice. Another workshop – on cows and methane emissions – was offered spontaneously and attracted more than 130 participants.
Proximity and interaction
Jüngel Did you change the presentation?
Hach Yes, but that was also due to Coronavirus. We used more ‘dialogue lectures’ (two lecturers in conversation) because it is livelier (and would also have helped if one speaker had been prevented from travelling). The lectures never exceeded an hour and ended with a question and answer session, which created a sense of proximity and allowed for interaction. Moderating these sessions was more of a challenge because the moderators needed to know when to move where and which camera to face.
Johannes Kronenberg That’s also why it was important to work with a professional camera crew. We deliberately chose the main Goetheanum stage as a studio so as to have an attractive and authentic background: rows of seats illumined by the light streaming in through the coloured windows.
Jüngel What can you say about newly recruited participants?
Hach We had many new people from other continents. For many of them the Goetheanum and the conference were more present and more tangible than before.
Verena Wahl We also had more people from other professional backgrounds than before, including physicians and teachers. But that may have been because the conference was co-organized by the Youth Section, or maybe because of the conference theme.
Kronenberg Some of the young people seemed to stay in the background, maybe because their everyday life and studies are largely online. For many young people meeting others is most important while the content takes second place. But many young people found the time and energy (online) to engage with the conference.
Courage, preparation, commitment
Jüngel What new possibilities have opened up for you?
Hach My experience was that moods and contents can be transported and generated digitally – but in a different way. It needs courage, thorough preparation and commitment, however. The best example of this is the study of Rudolf Steiner’s Michael Letter From Nature to Sub-Nature, both before and during the conference. We had lots of positive feedback.
Kronenberg I liked how it was possible to keep it vibrant – that is what we heard from many participants. It was important not to fall into a routine, but to include the audience each time by asking questions.
Jüngel Will you continue to offer digital formats once the Goetheanum can be visited in person again?
Wahl Our international research conference in August 2021 will be online, and we will create more digital events in the Section for Agriculture, even after the pandemic.
Kronenberg The Goetheanum is the physical home, the body, if you like, of the General Anthroposophical Society and of the Sections of the School of Spiritual Science. I find it therefore important that the digital format will not ‘outshine’ the physical