We — a team of six remarkable individuals plus myself — have worked on this for about half a year now: A new organisation that can promote economic systems change in Germany — inspired by and in collaboration with the international Wellbeing Economy Alliance. At the beginning of October, we went public for the first time with an event on a stage in Berlin. We invited people to learn about our plans, managed to sell out the place, and attracted an audience of 150.
Today, almost two months later, we still don’t have an organisation, we don’t even have a name yet (that’s still work in progress) — but this past Saturday, we went a step further: We organised our first event with volunteers who want to be part of this and help us build a movement. We chose the small town of Göttingen, because it’s located fairly centrally in Germany, and easier to get to for people from all parts of the country. Once we started inviting people to the event, the available spots were booked within a week’s time. So that did seem to bode well for the event.
Still, I was worried. If this wasn’t going to work out, if we weren’t going to get a good vibe going and get people to latch on and join in, a lot of work and a lot of hope would go to waste.
But boy, did it go well.
We hosted eighty amazingly wonderful people, hailing from all over Germany — each one of them bringing so much warmth, calm and sincerity. Such willingness to strive for a better, fairer, and more just society.
A truly magical day.
These days, we hear so much about how people no longer listen to each other and just want to lash out. Getting to spend a day in the company of so many who are the opposite of that was such a privilege.
I cannot wait to see what this will turn into. And I cannot be prouder of what this incredible team pulled off that day. What a bunch of awesome people!
And a particular thank you is due to Musa e.V. in Göttingen who provided a wonderful location to do this in, and to Jörn Paessler at Beyond Content who shot all the photos.
