Culture of Trust: ​World Goetheanum Forum offers space for new forms of cooperation

Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland, 1 July 2019

Culture of Trust
World Goetheanum Forum offers space for new forms of cooperation

New forms of cooperation enter into dialogue at the World Goetheanum Forum 2019, where examples of cross-company cooperation will be on display. Each participant‘s personal development determines the quality of the work and results.

Companies and organizations are faced with the task of meeting the needs of their employees: Hierarchical top-down instructions often do not reach many young people. The start-up scene in particular is awake to social processes; nonetheless, it is evident that modern forms of cooperation – from flexible methods to largely hierarchically managed companies – lead to successful results, even in areas in which work is traditionally hierarchical, such as in nursing, as demonstrated by the Buurtzorg network with 100,000 employees in over 20 countries.

The personal development of each individual involved in the work process contributes to the quality of cooperation, for example by helping to avoid conflicts through reflection. Companies that are interested in value-based cooperation between companies and in corporations will find a proven model in the association: Producers, distributors and consumers talk about a product they are introducing to the market and cooperation is seen as added value, also worldwide. Today, the question arises as to whether an internationally viable culture of mutual trust can be created under the existing market and political conditions and how.

The new forms of collaboration also help to address pressing issues facing companies and institutions. These include the regulation of management succession, new forms of corporate ownership, the common good economics and the realisation of spiritual values in everyday business and institutional life.

(1718 Zeichen/SJ; translation by Bettina Hindes)

World Goetheanum Forum
27/28 September 2019, www.worldgoetheanum.org/en

Contributors Jos de Blok (Buurtzorg), Michael Brenner (Weleda), Aonghus Gordon (Ruskin Mill Trust), Aline Haldemann, Bettina Holenstein and Susanne Huber (Demeter Schweiz), Gerald Häfner, Ueli Hurter, Georg Soldner and Verena Wahl (Goetheanum), Armin Steuernagel (Purpose Stiftung), Ha Vinh Tho (Eurasia Learning Institute), Antje Tönnies (GLS-Bank), Hanspeter Niggli and Nikolaus Schär (CoOpera)

Contact Person Katharina Hofmann, association@goetheanum.ch