News

New centre with innovative approach to treating eating disorders set to open

 
By NNA staff

STROUD (NNA) – A new centre offering support primarily for young people with eating disorders through a combination of full residential care, anthroposophic therapies, and a therapeutic education with supported transition is planning to open its doors in the UK before the end of the year. The centre will also offer evening and weekend support sessions.

Upper Grange in Stroud has recently been gifted to a newly formed biodynamic land trust, the Living Earth Land Trust, and consists of a…

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An evening with the artist Joseph Beuys

 
By NNA staff

STROUD (NNA) – Anyone interested in an encounter with the work of the groundbreaking German artist Joseph Beuys through the eyes of someone who worked with him and knew him well will have the opportunity to do so later this month.   

In an event organised by Cliff Gorman from the website “worthattention”, which focuses on the works, ideas and events associated with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Rudolf Steiner and Joseph Beuys, the Beuys specialist Rainer Rappmann will present “an evening of…

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European judgement with a sting in the tail for biotech companies

 
By NNA staff

LUXEMBOURG (NNA) – A ruling by the European Court of Justice (EJC) in Luxembourg last month that honey and food supplements containing pollen derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) must be classed as foodstuffs produced from GMOs could have far-reaching consequences across the European Union and beyond.      

Foodstuffs produced from GMOs cannot be marketed without prior authorisation.

The ruling was the result of a case brought in the German courts by a beekeeper, Karl Heinz…

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Frome Steiner Academy free school proposal approved

 
By NNA staff

LONDON (NNA) – The proposal from a British Waldorf school to obtain free school status has been approved to go forward to opening by the UK Department for Education in the latest round of applications.

Free school status - based on the US charter school and Swedish models - means that the school will receive government funding without being under local authority control and is not required to follow the national curriculum, can set its own pay and conditions for staff, has greater control over…

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Do private clinics put profits before patients?

 
By NNA staff

WITTEN-HERDECKE (NNA) - Is the acquisition of profits ranked above the welfare of patients by private clinics? This is the question posed in a new publication by Professor Matthias Kettner, a specialist in medical ethics at the University of Witten/Herdecke (UWH) in Germany, and a number of other contributors. His thesis: this issue puts an additional severe strain on the professional responsibility of the caring professions on top of those to which they are already subject.

Through their need,…

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Swiss parliament to discuss cow horns

 
By NNA correspondent Ruth Zbinden

BERN (NNA) - The Swiss Parliament will shortly have to deal with the question of whether cows should keep their horns or not. An initiative by Swiss citizens has recently put forward a draft parliamentary bill dealing with this issue, which has been signed by an astounding number of people.    

They are campaigning for the introduction of a form of husbandry which takes account of the true nature of the animals and are no longer willing to accept the rise in the mutilation of cows. According to…

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Can Effective Microorganisms reduce radioactive radiation?

 
By NNA staff

SWISTTAL-HEIMERZHEIM (NNA) – Attempts to reduce the radioactive contamination of soil in the vicinity of the stricken Fukushima nuclear power station in Japan are reported on the website of EMIKO group of companies.

The technology of so-called Effective Microorganisms (EM) was developed by the Japanese agricultural scientist Prof. Teruo Higa. Higa has been conducting research for the last 30 years to improve soil quality through microorganisms. EM technology is created through mixing a variety…

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Coveted Salimbeni prize awarded to Alanus professor

 
By NNA staff

ALFTER (NNA) – One of the internationally most coveted prizes in the subject of art history has been awarded to Elena Filippi, junior professor of art history at the anthroposophical Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Germany. The academic won the prize for her monograph Umanesimo.

The Salimbeni prize (Premio Salimbeni per la Storia e la Critica d’Arte) is considered to be one of the most important awards for a publication of art history. It has been awarded annually since 1982…

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Happy New Year!

 
By NNA staff

We wish all our readers a happy and successful new year 2013

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Learning to look at the self

 
By NNA correspondent Teresia Muthoni Gachiri

In October, teachers at the Rudolf Steiner School, Mbagathi in Nairobi held a series of workshops facilitated by Troels Ussing from Denmark. NNA correspondent Teresia Muthoni Gachiri reports

NAIROBI (NNA) - The workshops were based on a number of topics like the seven year cycles and the threefoldness of life. On 21 October we had a joint workshop with the Nairobi Waldorf School on self development.

The day started with a lecture on the life forces, soul forces and ego. Three simple questions…

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