The Goetheanum warmly invites everyone to “Greening the Desert” on October 29, 2025. The desert is and has life that must be respected: this theme day will bring together practice and reflection. Visitors can experience projects from the Sahara region up close and learn how agriculture, culture, economics, and politics are intertwined. “Greening the Desert” is a collaboration between Culturescapes 2025 Sahara, the Section for Agriculture, Sekem, and Agroecology Works. Anna Storchenegger spoke with Ueli Hurter, co-leader of the Agriculture Section, and Jurriaan Cooiman, founder and director of Culturescapes.
Anna Storchenegger: The title of the theme day, “Greening the Desert,” sounds optimistic, almost like a promise. What is the title meant to convey? Is it really possible for deserts to become fertile land again?
Ueli Hurter: I would say quite simply: yes, it’s possible. We have very concrete examples of this. The most important and best-known is Sekem, the anthroposophical initiative in Egypt, whose representatives Helmy Abouleish and Buthaina Elhoseiny will be guests at the theme day. At first, yes, there was nothing there but desert, sand, and heat—no life. And today, after almost five decades, we see fertile land. Not only in an ecological, agricultural sense—that is, with growing plants—but also in a comprehensive social and cultural sense. In 1977, the founder, Ibrahim Abouleish, had a vision of turning the desert into a place of life. But he didn’t realize this vision alone; many people embarked on this path with him. Today, it’s an incredible experience to be there: you see trees, plants, animals, people, schools, a clinic, companies producing food, textiles, and medicines. Life is incredibly more dense, rich, and much more colorful than one could ever have expected. There is a special power that comes from this transformation. One could even say that if it is possible to create a place where life flourishes in an environment as hostile to life as the desert, that is a cultural achievement that is perhaps even greater than what we experience in Central Europe.
So you’re not just talking about agriculture in the narrow sense but about a whole way of life?
UH: Exactly. When you’re in Sekem, you sense that it’s not just about fields and harvests. It’s about people—people being able to live together, children receiving an education—and it’s about art, music, and spirituality all having a place. Biodynamic agriculture is the foundation, but much, much more comes out of that. That is the spirit behind “Greening the Desert.”
Hazoua is another fascinating example. It is located in Tunisia, right on the border of Algeria, on the edge of the Sahara. When you drive there, you experience a completely desert-like location—stones, rocks, dust, no water. But Hazoua itself is an oasis. The main product is dates—tall palm trees typical of oases. Thanks to the initiative of a man from Switzerland, they began to cultivate these palm trees a few years ago according to biodynamic principles. Today, the Demeter dates are processed and exported to Switzerland. The exciting thing about this is that it’s not an “artificial” project but one that lives in direct connection with the community. Sadok Saidi has made a decisive contribution to this development, and his son, Salah Saidi, will present the Hazoua oasis project at the Goetheanum.
Jurriaan, what is your connection to the desert and the title “Greening the Desert”?
Jurriaan Cooiman: I’ve traveled through the Sahara several times, from multiple directions—from Egypt to Morocco to Algeria to sub-Saharan Africa. To answer the first part of your question: The Sahara is described as “degraded land,” but that contradicts what has existed there for millennia—life. Of course, it’s not Central European life with intensive agriculture, but there are nomadic peoples, animals, and diversity. We tend to see things only from our own perspective. But there’s also a meta-level. In 2021, we addressed the topic of the Amazon as part of Culturescapes. There’s an amazing connection between these two places: clouds of Sahara dust travel at high altitudes to South America, where they rain down and bring minerals and trace elements that make the Amazon fertile. Millions of tons of Saharan dust are transported in this way every year. This is a mega ecological cycle that connects two continents. This biological basis shows us that interventions in ecosystems—whether geoengineering or the use of water reserves—can always have negative repercussions.
Another example is the gigantic water reserves beneath the Sahara. The quantities are unimaginable, but they are finite. Pumping them up is a Faustian endeavor. I remember my visit to the Sekem farm in Egypt: an impressive reclamation of the desert by making water reserves accessible. But here, too, the question arises: which sources do we use, for what purpose, and who decides?
UH: When we talk about greening the desert, we’re not talking about fighting with the desert. The desert is suprahuman, magnificent, and it demands our respect. It’s about respectfully considering how vegetation can be restored in certain areas. In doing so, we must distinguish between Faustian endeavors like the massive pumping of water and more feasible, smaller prototypes. I remember that in the Sahel, where there are only a few months of rain per year, overgrazing by livestock actually led to desertification. Not only did the vegetation disappear, but so did the rain itself. This shows that rain is closely linked to vegetation. As utopian as it sounds, such processes can be influenced.
JC: But we have to be careful: the Sahara is huge. To say “we want it to rain there” sounds like a delusion of grandeur. Vegetation can promote rainfall, yes, but we’re talking about planetary dimensions here.
Climate change now affects the entire world. Arid zones are increasing. Could one say that projects such as Sekem demonstrate solutions to global challenges?
UH: Yes, but it is important to realize that without trees, almost nothing is possible. That’s why we invited agroforestry expert Roland Frutig to the theme day. The first thing you have to do in dry areas is to tap into water sources—through deep drilling and irrigation systems. The second thing is to plant trees. Fast-growing trees such as casuarinas are particularly valuable because they grow tall in just a few years, provide shade, and block the wind. This creates a microclimate in which plants can thrive. Agroforestry goes one step further. It shows how to combine different layers of plants—ground cover at the bottom, then shrubs, then trees. This creates a kind of “multi-story construction.” It’s very stable, resilient to heat and drought, and brings more diversity to yields. For farmers, this also means greater security and higher incomes. In traditional biodynamics, trees are mainly considered to be a source of shade. By working with agroforestry experts like Frutig, we’re learning to organize this much more systematically. This is creating an exciting connection that’s interesting for global challenges related to climate change.
JC: Visiting the Sekem Initiative was an eye-opener for me—not only because agriculture is being developed in the desert but also because a cultural life is emerging. This inspired us to seek cooperation with the Goetheanum and to organize the “Greening the Desert” theme day. Still, we can’t forget that, ultimately, our problem is about consumption. We in the West consume two and a half to three planets that we don’t have. The Global South consumes perhaps one-third of a planet. This inequality is massive. If the South were to consume as much as we do, the Earth would be completely overwhelmed.
Fair value chains offer the opportunity to counteract this inequality, at least to some extent. Alexander Batran from Weleda will give a presentation on this topic during the theme day. To what extent is the issue of fair value chains decisive?
UH: It’s absolutely central. In “normal” agriculture, we have anonymous value chains: the farmer sells to a middleman, who sells to the next middleman, and eventually the product ends up in the supermarket. The consumer has no idea where it comes from. In companies such as Weleda, it’s different. Direct, long-term partnerships are formed between producers and buyers. One example is the rose growers in Morocco. Weleda doesn’t just buy their roses; it supports their entire livelihood: childcare during the harvest, pre-financing, and stable prices, even in bad years. This creates trust and stability. In this way, agriculture becomes not only an economic relationship but also a social and cultural one.
So, this event isn’t only about agriculture. It’s also about human dignity. Two of the guests are human rights activists: Asria Mohamed from Western Sahara and Taleb Brahim, an agronomist setting up agricultural projects for self-sufficiency in the Sahrawi refugee camps. To what extent are agricultural issues also human rights issues?
JC: Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco for fifty years. Many Sahrawis live in Algerian camps, completely dependent on international aid. Now they have a desire to grow vegetables themselves. This is more than just nutrition: it means building a home instead of just hoping to return one day.
Asria Mohamed developed a project with women for the Swiss biennial Culturescapes: the Jaimitna, a tall tent where women’s textiles are exhibited. These textiles tell stories of the women themselves. During the theme day, the tent will be on display at the Goetheanum and, leading up to the event, at Markthalle in Basel. Visitors can read and hear the women’s stories by scanning QR codes.
UH: Refugee camps are extremely precarious situations. The fact that small roots are beginning to grow there gives people social stability again. It’s hardly possible to be a human being without stability, unless you live a truly nomadic life. So, I’m very much looking forward to Taleb Brahim, who will be presenting on this theme.
This reminds me of a recent experience I had. I was at the World Goetheanum Forum in Sekem. They were holding a ceremony for farmers receiving their CO₂ certificates—a small but deeply touching gesture that showed that a development community is emerging there. In the afternoon, there were programs for women. A colleague from South Korea, Nana, brought women onto the stage. You could see something awakening in them. Tradition always has two sides: things worth preserving and things that are oppressive. Through new impulses, a dialogue begins. With impetus and inspiration, something really new can emerge. I believe this is what’s crucial. We, as the “global North,” must not act like colonizers with all our “goodwill,” but rather help to create something new in genuine cooperation. Humanity cannot be imported; it must be born locally.
JC: You tried to build a bridge. I noticed that. Thank you. But it’s also clear that we come from different sides. And that’s a good thing. I still see a lot of colonizing behavior, even in projects like Sekem. Thousands of farmers are participating and are enthusiastic, while, at the same time, there are critical voices in Cairo. This ambivalence is part of the work.
Why should people come to this theme day at the Goetheanum?
JC: For me, the topics we’ve just discussed raise central questions of our time. Can we manage to engage in dialogue with one another, remain in communication, and find ways to change our behavior, develop empathy, and raise awareness? Ultimately, only life itself will show how this bears fruit. Planning alone is not enough. We can probably only exert very limited control. Rather, change comes about when it’s not imposed simply by rational decision but when it arises out of an inner warmth, from genuine empathy.
UH: I’d like to emphasize that this is an opportunity for the Goetheanum itself. Perhaps we do still have a tendency to behave in a patronizing or know-it-all manner, not only toward the Global South but also toward the “North.” Unfortunately, this attitude can still be attached to anthroposophists. We could learn to better bring about the empathetic gesture you just mentioned, Jurriaan: not to seek the solution but rather to enter into the experience itself. It’s not a matter of providing immediate answers. The solutions are often already there. We originally wanted to combine a call to action with the theme day, but we deliberately decided against it. Instead, we want to open up a space for experience—for the head, heart, and hands—a terrain that can be explored culturally, intellectually, and practically. We don’t have fixed goals, but we hope that bringing all these different people together can become a catalyst for greening the desert.
Event
“Greening the Desert” Theme Day at the Goetheanum (English/German)
October 29, 2025, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
More Goetheanum Section for Agriculture.
Translation Joshua Kelberman
Images Field workers in a field of basil. Photos: Samuel Leon Knaus
