The Story
2023
The Seed
The idea grew out of the Youth Section Global Access and Project Fund, shaped during the Co-workers' Gathering at the Goetheanum in June 2023. The initial question was simple: what if we worked with resources collectively? Rather than each person supporting initiatives individually, participants explored whether financial resources could become something held and distributed together. This was the beginning of the Round Table process.
2024
The First Practice
The first practical expression focused on helping young people attend the annual Co-workers' Gathering in the Netherlands. But something unexpected happened: the process itself became as valuable as the financial support. People from different countries met, shared experiences, inspired one another, and discovered new forms of international collaboration — a first practical experience of the cosmopolitan character of the Youth Section. The Fund was no longer only about enabling travel — it became a space where relationships could emerge.
2025
Expanding the Vision
As the experience matured, the purpose of the Fund expanded. Rather than supporting only travel, the Round Table began accompanying youth-led initiatives seeking to bring anthroposophical impulses into practical life. Resources were now understood more broadly: financial support, practical advice, professional expertise, shared experience, ongoing accompaniment, international connections. The working group prepared a new process for January 2026, with a fundraising goal of CHF 30,000. By November 2025, CHF 20,800 had been raised (CHF 8,700 for projects, CHF 12,100 for travel support), and 17 project applications arrived from more than 10 countries.
The fund was carried by the global Youth Section network: youth groups, co-workers, and young people connected to anthroposophy across many countries, bringing capacities in fundraising, communication, project development, facilitation, storytelling, and organizational development. Among those who shaped it over the years: Nathaniel Williams, Gabriele Nys, Emily Watson, Valeriia Obozna, Nikoloz Kanchaveli, and Ezra Sullivan. Around the 2026 process: Ezra Sullivan, Nikoloz Kanchaveli, Adeline Lyons, Savanna Mia, Anthoniselvi, and Clara Sampaio, among others.
What matters most isn't the list of names, but the quality of the collaboration — a fund shaped by young people who wanted to build a more social, transparent, and participatory way of working with money.
Who was involved
A New Funding Practice
The 2026 Round Table, held in Dornach, became the clearest expression of the initiative so far. Four projects entered a shared process of presentation, questions, reflection, and mutual responsibility. Money was represented symbolically and moved by participants toward each other's initiatives — funding decisions emerged through conversation and consent. Rather than representing competition between projects, resources became an expression of trust, relationship, and shared responsibility.