Camphill Foundation UK & Ireland Trustee, Peter Bateson, joins Camphill colleagues from around the world in Hermanus, South Africa next week for the 2025 Dialogue Conference.
The event is an important international gathering aimed at strengthening collaboration among Camphill boards worldwide. The event will focus on core themes including good governance, transparency, quality management, ethos, and relevant legislation. It offers an important opportunity for board members, co-workers, staff, and others to exchange best practices, address shared challenges, and explore new ideas together.
As an international movement, Camphill faces the ongoing challenge of maintaining strong international connections. The Dialogue conference addresses this by creating a dedicated space for communication and relationship-building among those working toward a common mission. The goal is to foster regional strategies shaped by shared insights and mutual understanding. This year’s event carries the theme ‘The organisational evolution of Camphill. What do we need to bring with us from our pioneering past to continue to differentiate?’ and will include guest speakers, workshops, activities and breakaway sessions for everyone to take part in.
It is eight years since the last Camphill Dialogue took place in Newton Dee in 2017, by far the longest gap in its 37-year history. In Spring of 2020, the conference was ready to start in Hermanus, South Africa, and although it did have its opening speeches and an address by Christo Brand, the former prison guard of Nelson Mandela, unfortunately, proceedings were cut short because of the threat of COVID and imminent lockdown.
Camphill Dialogue began in 1988, and for many years was simply called the International Camphill Board Members’ Meeting. This has remained its essential character. However, the concept of dialogue was very much at its heart from the beginning. There was a growing feeling that something needed to be done to improve the understanding between Camphill and the board members who served the communities. Board members offered a great deal of expertise from their various professional backgrounds, and even more importantly, their general outlook as people of the world, from life experience and their own cultural, social and economic communities. For many of them this was not enough, and they had a longing to know more of what lay beneath the surface of Camphill, its deeper spiritual and social development.
A sizeable majority of board members were parents of pupils and residents in Camphill communities and their deep sense of gratitude for what their sons and daughters were receiving in Camphill underlay their great commitment and enthusiasm to supporting the organisation in any way possible. This profound sense of personal and human connectedness and warmth has always been a powerful force. To complement that stream, there has also been a long succession of extremely prominent people in their own fields of social work, education, special education, finance, law and administration who have become friends of Camphill and supported its endeavours on a very high national level.
This powerful mix of resources was palpable at the inaugural Camphill International Board Members’ Meeting in Ringwood in 1988. The second gathering took place just two years later in 1990 at Camphill School Aberdeen, and then (with the exception of the disruption caused by the COVID years) proceeded with a three-year rhythm ever since, prepared and guided by an international Steering Committee representing most of the regions. The existence of this group facilitated a process of reflection and helped stimulate positive developments for future Dialogue conferences. Needless to say, whatever the themes and content of such a meeting might be, participants would go away with a deep sense of satisfaction in having met so many other people from all over the world with similar concerns and responsibilities, and lifelong friendships were often forged.
“Many worthwhile projects and relationships have been forged from the dialogue meetings and continue to do so. Individual relationships created over 40 years ago are still continually active within the Camphill Movement today.” Geoffrey R Weir, FCA, IBA and AoCC coordinator
Long may this wonderful and powerful initiative continue to serve the worldwide Camphill Movement and all its members!
Full list of Dialogue Conferences:
1988 Ringwood, Hampshire, England
1990 Camphill School Aberdeen, Scotland
1993 Perceval, St-Prex, Switzerland
1996 Beaver Run, Pennsylvania, USA
1999 Glencraig, Northern Ireland
2002 Föhrenbühl, Überlingen, Germany
2005 Hermanus, W. Cape, South Africa
2008 Orion, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2011 Sylvia-koti, Lahti, Finland
2014 Soltane, Pennsylvania, USA
2017 Newton Dee, Aberdeen, Scotland
2020 Hermanus, South Africa (cancelled due to the COVID pandemic)
2025 Hermanus, South Africa
