With more relevance than ever, the conflict researcher Prof. Friedrich Glasl has told civil society activists that they have more importance than they realise and could make a significant contribution to peace processes.
This issue includes articles, both inward and outward looking, from travellers on the path of associative economics, with a particular focus on Easter themes and their universally - applicable significance.
“Times are changing, the organic sector is expanding and we have to find the right position for SEKEM in this transforming environment by grabbing its potential for the future, which SEKEM absolutely owns.”
Water researchers from Witten-Herdecke University in Germany are involved in a project in India to stop water losses. The aim is to provide a more reliable water supply not just in the major cities but also in more rural areas. … >> Stopping the water from flowing away
An emergency education team from the international Waldorf organisation Friends of Waldorf Education is heading for Turkey on Sunday for a short-term deployment with refugees from Syria and Iraq. … >> Waldorf emergency education team heads for Turkey
Swiss online platform “Without you” urges support for foreigners
When Switzerland voted by a very narrow margin in a referendum in February to restrict immigration, three Swiss citizens felt moved to do something about it.
Von: NNA staff
So they set up the online platform “www.ohnedich.ch” (Without you) on which anyone can post a picture of themselves with a foreigner to signal their opposition to the results of the vote.
In the February referendum which provoked keen international interest, 50.3 percent of Swiss voters favoured restricting immigration into the country.
The platform, which now has English, French and Swedish versions as well as the original German, intends to show clearly what Switzerland would lack without its foreign immigrants. In the first three days alone after the website went online, Swiss media reported 300 citizens posting photos of themselves with a foreign friend to demonstrate their solidarity.
Quotes below the photos include: “Without you…I would be so alone” or “Without you…there would be no best friend” or “Without you…work would be no fun” or “Without you…I would see many things differently”. Meanwhile word appears to be spreading and it is not just Swiss citizens who are posting on the website but other nationalities with a foreign friend as well.
A positive response
Berni Stoller, a graphic designer from Zurich, came up with the idea of the platform. The results of the referendum had left him “pretty disillusioned” he told the commuter paper 20 Minuten.
His thoughts had been with the foreigners who would have to live with the knowledge that more than half the Swiss were critical of immigration. He wanted to set something positive against the negative headlines in the wake of the referendum.
A team comprising Stoller, web architect Silvan Groher and programmer Ralph Moser developed and published the website. The platform’s success took its initiators by surprise.
The “Opposition to Mass Immigration” initiative that led to the referendum originated with the conservative and nationalist Swiss People’s Party (SVP).
“Spread love and friendliness for foreigners. With your statement you can help sending positive vibes into the world,” urges the website.
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Item: 140422-01EN Date: 22 April 2014
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