2006 01

Wed, 04 Jan 2006

Biodynamic Sekem cotton for London designer label

CAIRO (NNA) – One of the companies in the Egyptian Sekem group, Conytex, is to produce underclothing for the new London designer label “åsa and taneale”. According to the Sekem Insight newsletter, this marks a new step for the producer of biodynamic cotton, established in 1994, which has so far concentrated on baby and children’s clothing.

In choosing Conytex as their supplier, designers Taneale Hrymakowski from London and Åsa Jakobsson from Sweden were looking both for a quality product with durability as well as the “feel-good factor” based on ethically produced fair trade cotton, Sekem Insight says. The “åsa and taneale” product range is based on t-shirts and pants in classic and avant-garde styles.

The Sekem initiative began as an agricultural project on the main farm near Belbes, 60 kilometres north-east of Cairo. Biodynamic methods of agriculture were developed which are suited to the Egyptian climate. Now Sekem produces a large variety of high-quality consumer products.

As part of its holistic approach, Sekem has also established institutions related to education, applied research and health care.

END/nna/cva

Item: 060104-01EN 4 January 2006

More NNA reports at: http://www.nna-news.org/

Solar cells made of blueberry juice and glass panels: German Waldorf students compete successfully in national competitions

STUTTGART (NNA) – In contrast to public preconceptions, Waldorf pupils are quite capable of holding their own in science and technology and other fields in competition with students from state schools. This was illustrated most recently in prizes won by pupils from Rudolf Steiner schools in Germany.

According to a list published by the Association of Waldorf Schools in Stuttgart, Veronika Apel, Jonathan Binas, Johannes Gantner and Mark-Felix Schütz from class 12 of Darmstadt Waldorf School won first prize in a competition organised by the regional body of the Association of German Engineers (VDI). They built a fully working solar cell from blueberry juice, the graphite from a lead pencil and two nanocoated glass panels. The idea arose during a biology lesson on photosynthesis.

In the field of computing, the national “Young Researchers“ competition included Justus Menzel from the Hamburg Rudolf Steiner School among the prize winners, who together with his friends invented a new keyboard layout which improves typing speed by up to 25 percent. “The traditional typewriter keyboard was invented 130 years ago such as to ensure that people could not type too fast so that the keys would not stick,“ the 17-year-old innovator explained. The students intend to market their prize-winning keyboard.

In business competitions, Waldorf pupils also did well. This was illustrated by last year’s national “Young Entrepreneurs” competition. Lennart Grumer (20) from the Kräherwald Free Waldorf School in Stuttgart and his team won third prize in the competition, which attracted 1,500 entries, for their business plan and marketing concept for a solvent-free, environmentally friendly glue which another student from Stuttgart had developed as part of the “Young Researchers” competition.

“We developed a corporate identity for our fictitious company, Creative New Productions CNPro, with a socially aware corporate philosophy which nevertheless produced a return of 15 percent on turnover,” Lennart Grumer said.

The success of these students provides confirmation of the Waldorf approach, the Association of Waldorf Schools writes in conclusion to these results. In the middle and upper school it is not just business and social affairs which have a natural place in the curriculum, but also practical activities such as the welding of integrated circuits, the construction of electrical motors, soap making and lime burning, surveying and computer lessons. Such knowledge provides a solid foundation for the associated teaching of theory – true to the Waldorf motto “learning by doing.”

Steiner pupils were winners in the arts as well. Thirteen-year-old Gregor Wilken from the Rudolf Steiner School in Hamburg-Nienstedten won third prize on the violin in the forty-second national “Young Musicians” competition.

NNA/end/ung/cva

Item: 060104-02EN 4 January 2006

More NNA reports at: http://www.nna-news.org/

﻿Biodynamic Sekem cotton for London designer label

﻿Solar cells made of blueberry juice and glass panels: German Waldorf students compete successfully in national competitions

Biodynamic Sekem cotton for London designer label

Solar cells made of blueberry juice and glass panels: German Waldorf students compete successfully in national competitions