The triennial conference of the International Communal Studies Association was held July 14-16, 2022, at the beautiful Audonicon Conference Center in Skanderborg, Denmark. This year’s theme, “Co-Creating Community: Evolving Models of Intentional Community,” spoke to Camphill and other intentional communities in transition. The hybrid conference reflected the lessons we have all been learning as we adjust to a post(?)-COVID world, and highlighted the newfound relevance of communitarian practices for the wider society.
A number of presentations focussed explicitly on the Camphill movement. Daniel McKanan presented on results from the Camphill and COVID research study he developed with community members and participants at the 2021 Camphill Research Symposium.
Dan also presented on how multiple forms of intentional community can counter a disabling society in a session with Vincent Reynolds and Elizabeth Sanders.
As part of this session, Vincent Reynolds shared about a recent European Solidarity Fund project exploring volunteer outcomes at Camphill Glencraig. As part of the evaluation process for volunteers, Reynolds and his team have adapted the Outcomes that Matter (OTM) approach developed by Dr Leon Fulcher and Dr Thom Garfat. The OTM approach enables the volunteers based at Glencraig to record the nurturing of Gratitude, Compassion, Responsibility, Peace and Kindness in their activities and interactions with other people.
Elizabeth Sanders, Camphill Academy Executive Director, presented on the anthroposophical social theory that forms the background of her doctoral work on spiritual formation in Camphill communities. Elizabeth also represented the Camphill Research Network on a plenary panel of communitarian associations, research institutes, and scholars to explore the possibility of international and cross-movement collaboration.
Odile Carroll, a doctoral student in Disability Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago, presented on the intersections of disability in race in Camphill conversations and initiatives in the US since the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
The post Camphill at the International Communal Studies Association Triennial Conference appeared first on Camphill Academy.
