Always developing. ​Youth Social Study ‘(Re)Search’ by the Youth Section at the Goetheanum

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 2 July 2019

Always developing
Youth Social Study ‘(Re)Search’ by the Youth Section at the Goetheanum

Young researchers have been asking their generational peers: “What would the world look like in 2030 if what lives within you becomes a reality? What will you do to make it happen?” A first report has now been published based on interviews with young people aged 18 to 35 from 23 countries and various cultural backgrounds.

One of the objectives during the first phase of the research was to learn about youth from their own voices. The interviewees described life as an ever-changing, transformative experience. For them, reality asks us to confront a world of polarities, differences and multiculturalism.

Regarding education, some interviewees linked a positive experience with the feeling of being ‹seen› and understood by teachers as an individuality. In their profession, they often described situations that do not allow them to fully unfold their interests and potential, and often they struggle to find employment that allows them to be fully independent financially from family or the state. There is ‘no-tolerance’ for a professional setting with a lack of ethics, or where meaningful relationships cannot be formed.

On their search for deeper knowledge of their own selves, young people describe engaging in specific spiritual paths, meditation, rituals or substance use. According to them, experiences of this sort offer a space for self-reflection and questioning on the nature of life and humanity. According to interviewees, the relationship they have to themselves influences the way in which they connect with others. The values which they identified to be vital for meaningful relationships include authenticity, honesty and transparency. They also seek to learn ways to integrate pluralities and differences as they strive for acceptance out of the understanding of the ‘otherness’.

A second phase of research is underway. The team will continue to deliver findings on young people‘s experiences of reality in upcoming publications and events.

(1960 characters/Andrea de la Cruz Barral)

Study (Re)Search. The Spiritual Striving of Youth: Shaping Our Reality, www.youthsection.org/research
Team Andrea de la Cruz Barral, Ioana Viscrianu Mentors Constanza Kaliks, Pepa and Luis Miguel Barral Contributors Alina Fessler, Janna De Vries, Johannes Kronenberg, Nahuel Waroquiers, Sibel Caliskan

Contact person Andrea de la Cruz Barral, andrea@youthsection.org