It’s a multi-day gathering of young people, With the intention of creating a better world through our actions  and our relationships. We’ll spend the days listening to speakers and moving between workshops oriented around philosophical, artistic and practical themes.

The Courage Conference is taking place at the beautiful Meristem Campus, formerly the Rudolf Steiner College. We will be right next to the American River and neighboring the Sacramento Waldorf School. As the activity in the Youth Section in North America grows, we wanted to enliven a place that was once filled with life regarding young people’s interest in anthroposophy, as well as bring energy to the West Coast. 

There are speakers who are relevant to the challenges and questions of today's youth. Working with the conference theme, Courage, mentors in many fields of work facilitate sessions for discussion, questions, and initiative development. There will be activities balancing playfulness, such as music and dancing, as well as serious investigation into questions of moral and spiritual development through many avenues.

Meeting People! Powerful Discussions! Music! It will be a packed few days, surrounded by great people. Importantly, we choose to hold an alcohol- and drug-free environment to foster the joy of conscious, meaningful, authentic human connection. Come with an open mind, an open heart, and a willingness to connect, and you’ll be met with the same!

The North American Youth Section! Essentially, a group of spiritually striving, engaged and enthusiastic people. Many, though not all people in the Youth Section have taken an interest in Anthroposophy at some point in their life. The Youth Section is full of willful individuals, people intent on seeing change in the world, and driven to do their part to make that ideal possible. You can read more about the people on the organizing team here.

If you’re familiar with Waldorf Schools, Biodynamic Agriculture, or Camphill Communities, this is the philosophy they’re derived from. Anthroposophy is a path towards a genuine, direct relationship to the spiritual world, through self-development and the striving to become fully human. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, described it as “spiritual science,” an approach to the Spirit that is meticulous and dedicated. The word itself means Anthro- Human, Sophia -Wisdom. It is, in its essence, a deep dive into the human being, and the wisdom that has risen out of human cultures all over the world, touching on all areas of our lives, from the practical everyday to farming, the arts, and medicine. 

The Youth Section is ever-evolving, but the key is that the people showing up want to be in community, conversation, and action with one another and a connection to the spirit. And the people showing up are living with questions! Questions about spiritual striving, about the circumstances of the world, about how to bring meaning into their lives, and others. The Youth Section is also a place where young people dedicated to understanding anthroposophy more deeply can find peers and develop their relationship to this global spiritual stream.  You can also read more about this here.

This conference is for people seeking meaningful engagement with the world and their peers. For people who need direction, or those who need somewhere to channel the passions they’ve already found. This conference is large enough, and the organizers are diverse enough, that they’ll be something interesting and important for whoever finds their way here!

Because we as organizers have found a need for this type of environment in today’s society, and we ourselves have felt the value of coming together in this context. This conference, and the ones before it, create a space where people can feel seen, heard, and lifted up by their community. There are opportunities to make connections with people you might not otherwise encounter, or find projects you didn’t know you would be so passionate about! Many of us have found the next phases of our lives through these conferences, be it education, trade, a new geographic orientation or something else!