In a recent commencement speech at Portland State University, Paul Hawken proclaimed to the graduating students: “This planet came with a set of instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don't poison the water, soil, or air, don't let the earth get overcrowded, and don't touch the thermostat, have been broken.” His words struck a cord with the audience, drawing attention to the fact that our world, the planet we live on, is hiring invigorated, enthusiastic people who are inherently brilliant. 

This January, on the beautiful Kapti Coast in New Zealand, 28 energetic, young people and 8 experienced wise ones, arrived to form something quite unique. It was a Gathering that was run for youth, by youth, and was held at Te Ra Waldorf School, where lovely and generous staff opened their arms and facilities to us. The themes that we discussed and workshopped were centred around freedom and responsibility, and for 5 days we worked in the realms of thinking, feeling and willing. 

Many of you may have read Leslie Loy’s recap of the North American Initiative Meeting that took place this past January in Portland, OR.  Here, the only non-American at the conference shares his unique perspective on the event and the community that was born, or at the very least, renewed during this special gathering.

The Initiative Meeting of the YouthSection could also be called an international team meeting of the YouthSection world wide. The people that work for, with and in the YouthSection and in their own projects in the YouthSection's international network come together to meet once a year in order to strengthen connections with one another. It is vital to our work for the world to meet each other in person at least once a year to regain and strengthen our sense of trust, to reassure each others support, to make new connections and extend our work and network for the future. 

Walk Your Talk, an international, traveling youth conference crossing-boundaries took place in Israel and Palestine this past May. It was a gathering of young people from around the world.  We came together to travel, break down cultural boundaries and allow our humanity to be revealed in each other.

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More hours per day spent listening to an iPod than listening to husband or wife. A greater number of people on the morning commute bus talking or typing on their phones than are having conversations with the person next to them. A mother trying to juggle her cell phone, shopping bags and a child, the child receiving the least amount of attention. Family getting together for the holidays, the TV blares as background to every conversation.