Fri, 10 Aug 2007

Crop cultivation as a contribution to evolution

KASSEL (NNA) – The question of quality, how it can be developed and monitored, was the focus of the seventh seed conference of the Foundation on Future Farming in Kassel. Genetic engineering was also discussed at the conference, attended by representatives from agriculture, the processing industry and the retail trade from Germany and Switzerland.

In his introductory lecture, Prof. Wolfgang Schad from Witten-Herdecke University discussed cultivation methods using genetic engineering from the perspective of evolutionary biology.

NNA/end/ung/cva

For a more detailed report see “Pflanzenzüchtung als Beitrag zur Evolution” of 9 May 2007 on our German service (www.nna-news.org/news/de/index.cgi/2007/05/09#070509-02DE_SAATGUT-TAGUNG)

Link: www.zs-l.de/.

Item: 070810-02EN Date: 10 August 2007

Copyright 2007 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved. See: www.nna-news.org/copyright/

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

Each person a work of art – international conference on the dignity of the human being in Dornach

DORNACH (NNA) – The key to a more just and honourable world does not lie in programmes and a different economic order but presumes the development of the consciousness of each individual person. That was the conclusion reached by the participants of the summer conference at the Goetheanum in July with the theme “The dignity of the human being” which was attended by about 400 people.

For the first time, various initiatives and cultural representatives had been invited to Dornach jointly to pursue the question how in the twenty-first century the dignity of the human being could be realised in all fields of life.

Frithjof Schmidt, vice-chairman of the development committee of the EU parliament, quoted the rock musician Bono who had said that every purchase was a political act. “When you go shopping you vote“. Happiness was understanding what one did and doing what one understood, Bodo von Plato from the Goetheanum added to the debate. “There should be more thinking in our will and more will in our thinking” was one response to the question which underlay all contributions, the question about the readiness to meet the future of each person.

Art was seen as the motor of a new consciousness and so on day one the conference focused on creativity. Gerald Häfner, executive spokesman of the “Mehr Demokratie” (More Democracy) initiative referred to Joseph Beuys and his idea of social sculpture as the trigger of social development. “We have to see ourselves as a work of art, we ourselves are the material, our thinking is the material from which a unique work of art can arise.” Being a work of art oneself brought progress to the world more than anything else.

On the second day, the subject of the discussion was human values in the economy. How can the economy return to its core values, namely providing a service for others? This was debated by, among others, the head of the German organic food chain Alnatura, Götz Rehn, and the founder of the dm chain of pharmacies, Götz W. Werner, whose companies do not define success by profit maximisation. Maritta Koch-Weser, who worked for many years at the World Bank, proposed that it would be better to talk about social-profit organisations rather than non-profit organisations. She argued that “social and cultural value added” was moving into the limelight.

Irina Sherbakova, a historian from Moscow, pointed out that a prerequisite for human dignity was truth. That is why she argued that the terror of the Stalinist period should not be forgotten and had founded the organisation “Memorial”. “Light must shine into our past, not just for the sake of the victims but also for our own sake.” Being human means remembering was the title of her lecture.

Ha Vinh Tho, head of training at the International Red Cross in Geneva, reported about curative education homes he had founded in Vietnam. In caring for the children with disabilities, Buddhist nurses were working together with their Catholic counterparts and government officials. In this way the people with disabilities had succeeded in achieving what had previously seemed impossible: to create peace and collaboration.

After three days of talks, discussions and performances, the congress ended with silent fireworks. The action artist Peter Gschwed made balloons with phosphorescent lights rise in the darkness which drifted in the wind above the heads of the visitors. “Human dignity is like these lights, it is impressive, still and full of promise,” one of the participants commented.

The international group of organisers will meet again in the autumn to discuss how to continue the event.

NNA/end/ung/cva

Item: 070810-01EN Date: 10 August 2007

Copyright 2007 News Network Anthroposophy Limited. All rights reserved. See: www.nna-news.org/copyright/

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