The Phoenix Compass Youth Seminar: Experiential Learning Program

The Phoenix Compass Youth Seminar: Experiential Learning Program

The program invites young adults aged 18 to 23 to deepen their understanding in a variety of fields through practical experience, service and study animated by Anthroposophy

About the program

Six months from 12 April 2027 - 16 September 2027

In recent years, following the Youth Section’s intercultural student conferences, many young people have expressed a desire to return to the Goetheanum for a longer program. In response, the Youth Section, in collaboration with Goetheanum Studium, is pleased to introduce The Phoenix Compass Youth Program. Like the Phoenix young people represent renewal of the world. As they engage with life and one another new inspiration lights up, revealing their own inner compass and goals in life.

Designed for young adults ages 18–23, this six-month program brings together participants from around the world to live on campus, share meals, and learn together. Through cooking, gardening and farming, artistic activities, projects, and crafts, participants deepen their understanding of themselves and the world through hands-on experiences and intercultural exchange.

Content of the program

The program combines practical, artistic, scientific, and anthroposophical activities and studies.

Practical sessions include cooking, gardening and farming, building and architectural design, artisan bookmaking (papermaking, illustration printing, and bookbinding), and shoemaking. Artistic courses cover sculpture, drawing, performance arts, and singing, while scientific studies include botany and color theory.

Ongoing sessions focus on Anthroposophy and are complemented by biographical sharing that supports a deeper appreciation of life and one another.

Goals

The seminar aims to provide experiences that help young people gain greater clarity about their life direction and professional aspirations. Through practical activities and shared experiences, participants are supported to recognize their individual abilities and areas for growth, develop self-confidence and an awareness of their interdependence with others, and cultivate openness to the spiritual dimensions of themselves, other people, and the wider world.

Practical Spirituality
The main character of the program is learning through practical spirituality, with half of the time dedicated to learning within real-life contexts, guided by mentors.

The Arts and Sciences
The Goetheanum stands for an approach to the arts and the sciences that speaks to the whole human being. Seminars in the arts and sciences will help us relate to deeper layers of our practical activities.

Ideas and Study
We will cultivate insights and ideas through exploring and discussing texts to further illumine our practical experiences. Some seminars will be focused on disciplines like agriculture, architecture, nutrition or economics while others will take up larger, philosophical adventures.

Contemplative Pedagogy
We will cultivate awareness during our practical activities, artistic and scientific seminars, as well as our study, through basic exercises that can heighten our awareness of vital, creative and ethical dimensions of the fields we are exploring.

General Information

Admission
Admission begins with filling the application form followed by an interview, offering space for the student to share their interests and motivation.

Program Duration
Six months from 12 April 2027 - 16 September 2027.

Tuition fees
Tuition fee: 4200 CHF for the full six-month program, including accommodation, meals, materials, and program costs.

Scholarships
Scholarships are available for this program. Applicants who wish to be considered for a scholarship should indicate this in the application form. Scholarship requests will be discussed and assessed during the interview.*

Program Director

Nathaniel Williams

Nathaniel Williams founded the Free Columbia cultural initiative with Laura Summer, where he directed the M.C. Richards program. He studied art and puppetry in Basel, Switzerland, and graduated in fine arts from the Neue Kunstschule in 2002. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Albany. Currently he is the head of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum which brings him into regular contact with young people from all around the world, and collaborations on youth conferences, programs and artistic projects. He is the director of the Phoenix Compass Youth Seminar.

Mentors

Katrina Hoven

Katrina Hoven has been part of the Youth Section team since March 2025. In this role, she supports young people from all over the world in connecting with one another through their shared spiritual interests and common aspirations. She also leads workshops and accompanies young people based on the principles of anthroposophical biography work.A central question that has accompanied her throughout her life – What does it mean to be human in the world today? – also informs her work to date, as well as her training and experience in Waldorf education and special needs education.

Linda Thomas

Linda Thomas was born in South Africa. She is an expert professional cleaner who ran her own ecological cleaning company for 22 years. From 1993 to 2012, she was responsible for cleaning the Goetheanum buildings near Basel, Switzerland. Her passion for cleaning and her love for the profession of homemaking led her to discover that cleaning can have a profound effect not only on the spaces we care for but also on our own well-being and personal development. This insight led her to discover a path of inner training through everyday work. Until her retirement in 2017, she was responsible for Housekeeping at Klinik Arlesheim in Arlesheim, Switzerland. Her book, Why Cleaning Has Meaning, was published in March 2014. She lectures widely.

Manuela Smolovich

Manuela Smolovich led a non-profit social foundation called "Casa de los Jóvenes" (House of Youth) in Córdoba, Argentina. The program, based on anthroposophy, provided young people between the ages of 15 and 21 with a space to develop their own projects, initiatives, participate in craft workshops, and enjoy social gatherings. Manuela led a bookbinding workshop that grew into a publishing house where all the books were handmade by the participants. The sale of these handmade books allowed us to financially support the foundation and the other activities we held. She also attended the Waldorf Pedagogy Seminar to become a teacher in 2022 and went on to complete the Anthroposophical Studies at Goetheanum.

Ruben von Schwanenflügel

Ruben von Schwanenflügel, born in 1977, attended the Rudolf Steiner School in Wuppertal and subsequently completed his civilian service in Hamburg. After training as a chef from 1998 to 2001, he worked in various restaurants, including in Switzerland and Wuppertal. Since 2005, he has been heading the kitchen at Windrather Talschule in Velbert. In addition, he contributes to shaping the school through its committees and weekly conferences and has taken on responsibilities in school leadership. From 2024 to 2026, he completed a course in organizational development and consultation at Trigon. Today, he combines his many years of experience in catering, education and school development with consulting and supporting schools and other organizations.

Tomas Bittger

Tomas Bittger trained as an architectural draftsman in Aachen, Germany, studied sculpture and education at the Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, as well as artists Christian Hitsch, Jochen Breme and Mario Betti. He worked as a practical arts teacher, a task that involved developing workshops for wood, ceramics and stone sculpture as well as a school forge. Besides his work on the architectural design and artistic direction for the construction of the new Waldorf Kindergarten Otterberg in Germany, he has helped to lead and develop community building and art projects with young people in many places.