The 3rd International Biodynamic Research Conference… in pictures
The 3rd International Biodynamic Research Conference was a whirlwind of people, ideas, connections and concepts. Held in early September at the grand Royal Agricultural University, the conference bought together people from across the world to learn, share and build community.
And it’s a community that rejects genetic engineering. GM Freeze was honoured to attend, with a mission to inform people about the deregulation of new GMOs that is happening, or on the horizon, across the world.
GM Freeze’s Leonie Nimmo with Dr Heberto Rodas Gaitán and Eduardo Rincón, Co-leader of the Goetheanum Section for Agriculture.
From cloud forests in Ecuador to an ecovillage in Brazil, water from Namibia, stories from Stroud, music to feel but not clap to, transnational wildlife corridors, transitional livestock management, biodynamic agriculture, dynamic biosinging, therapeutic farms and the love that grows in a 37-year maize trial. Multiple keys unlocking multiple wisdoms, and multiple ontologies gathered at this threshold time.
According to the conference programme, “Biodynamic agriculture [is]… rooted in an understanding of the farm as a living organism, in co-creation with nature, and in a recognition that human beings are part of the wider communion of life.”
It was also a delight to see the walls of the RAU adorned with the Gaia Foundation‘s We Feed the World exhibition – an ongoing and daily reminder to students of the importance of small-scale farmers for feeding the world. And pure beauty to look at.
Words can’t do the gathering justice; perhaps pictures will do a better job.
Entering the conversation with water, with Simon Charter and Michaël Monziès.
#WeFeedTheWorld
Binita Shah draws together Hindi and biodynamic teaching.
Binita Shah is CEO and founder of SARG Vikas Samiti, a non- profit organisation that promotes organic and biodynamic agriculture systems in four states of India, reaching 50,000 farmers.
#WeFeedTheWorld
Gabriel Kaye, Executive Director of the Biodynamic Association, rounds us up.
#WeFeedTheWorld
Evelyn Iglesias explores cosmic and biodynamic influences on soil and compost quality.
#WeFeedTheWorld
From the cosmic forces of the universe to toddlers with phones: a wide-ranging keynote from Prof. Dr David Martin.
#WeFeedTheWorld
The fantastic Walter Goldstein who, over 37 years, has managed to breed nitrogen-fixing maize at the Mandaamin Institute. And the plants are not dorky.
#WeFeedTheWorld
Deborah Barber introduces the Fibreshed movement.
Hend Hany from SEKEM / Heliopolis University discusses crop productivity and carbon sequestration in the Egyptian desert, as well as a women’s empowerment project.
#WeFeedTheWorld
Back to the old days at the RAU…
#WeFeedTheWorld
A ceremony to welcome the elementals, with Liesel Haesbroek.
We were also treated to a special outing to Ruskin Mill, which provides specialist education within a craft and land-based curriculum for young people with complex needs. It’s a farm, but it’s not just about production, explained founder Aonghus Gordon OBE. It’s about healing the earth and healing people. They also make a divine dinner and create wonderful spaces.
Berni Courts, Senior Researcher at Ruskin Mill Trust, shows us around the fabulous Field Centre.
The animals can rescue us, according to Aonghus Gordon, and oppositionally defiant goats have particular skills.
Thanks to all the conference partners:
