The fair trade movement has called on the COP24 climate change conference to take action. Climate justice requires fair trade which also affects small-scale farmers.

In the face of an ongoing funding problems, the Mbagathi Rudolf Steiner School in Kenya, which caters for children from the most underprivileged backgrounds, is seeking more stable and innovative forms of sponsorship.

ANALYSIS | The AGM of the General Anthroposophical Society refused to extend the period in office of council members Paul Mackay and Bodo von Plato. But this was no dispute about general direction but rather individual issues.

With more relevance than ever, the conflict researcher Prof. Friedrich Glasl has told civil society activists that they have more importance than they realise and could make a significant contribution to peace processes.

END-OF-YEAR REVIEW 2017 | NNA seeks to report on those things which bear the seeds of the future within them. We want thus to show that for all the negative events currently happening in the world there are also grounds for hope.

Thousands of refugees continued to drown in the Mediterranean in 2017, prompting the UNHCR to call for safe pathways. The refugee agency has also urgently asked for donations to help refugees families survive the winter.

The aid organisation Sea Watch with 40 other organisations has demanded the closure of the refugee camps on Lesbos before winter sets in. Otherwise more people will die, for which the EU should be held accountable.

The Mbagathi Rudolf Steiner School faces a serious shortfall in funding this year due to falling sponsorship. It is appealing for support to cover the cost of daily meals for pupils from the poorest backgrounds.

Kings Langley Rudolf Steiner School in England is fighting closure by the authorities following serious failings in school practice and governance. A new leadership has set the school on a process of radical reform.

The SEKEM initiative in Egypt has posted continued economic growth in its 2016 sustainability report. Work is ongoing on social and environmental issues. Separately, it mourned the death of founder Ibrahim Abouleish in June.