{"id":71690,"date":"2026-04-02T12:10:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=71690"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:10:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:10:39","slug":"a-figure-of-light-in-davos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/a-figure-of-light-in-davos\/","title":{"rendered":"A Figure of Light in Davos"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Davos, January 2026\u2014a different story of the World Economic Forum.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Black limousines inch through the main street of Davos. Heavy vehicles, security personnel, barriers. The familiar tableau of the World Economic Forum: focused, shielded, purposeful. People in dark coats hurry from meeting to meeting; the future of the world is negotiated in packed schedules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then, at Bubenbrunnenplatz [Boy\u2019s fountain square], something pauses. In the middle of the WEF’s constant flow, a luminous figure appears. Taller than the people around it. Silent. Without words. It makes no demands, raises no voice. It simply glows. And that is enough. People stop. First briefly, then longer. Conversations fade, eyes lift, something shifts in the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday evening, the World Child Forum was here. Not in the Congress Centre, not behind security zones, but where public space still exists. Two illuminated puppets appeared\u2014one small, one large. The small one came first, alone, searching. Then the large one awakened, and with it a moment that defies explanation. Adults fell silent. Some looked up, others smiled without meaning to. For an instant, something broke open that rarely finds room in the daily rhythm of the WEF: wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White cards held questions. No slogans, no demands. Questions from children, from teenagers, from people who had come to Davos for the World Economic Forum. Questions that were allowed to remain open. Questions that didn’t need immediate answers. Perhaps that’s precisely why they landed so deeply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Child Forum doesn’t see itself as a counter-event to the WEF, but as a complement. A quiet parallel space. A tandem. In the same place where the future is being discussed, it makes visible those who will carry that future the longest. Not through arguments but through presence. Not through volume but through poetry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the 2026 WEF theme “A Spirit of Dialogue,” the World Child Forum takes dialogue at its word. Forward-looking thinking begins where people are willing to listen, to allow questions, to sit with uncertainty. Where process matters more than quick answers. Where generations meet\u2014as equals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accompanied by alphorns, a lasting image emerged at Bubenbrunnenplatz: black limousines, security guards, dark coats\u2014and among them children, teenagers, adults who stopped, looked at each other, and began to talk. A figure of light in the machinery of a high-speed global affair. For a moment, time seemed to stand still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Davos becomes such a place. Thomas Mann once described it as a “Magic Mountain”\u2014a space outside ordinary time, where people are forced to think differently, feel differently, perceive differently. Something of that enchantment hung in the air on Wednesday evening, too. Not a retreat from the world, but a brief pause within it. A suspension between what is and what might become. Maybe this means nothing. Maybe it’s the beginning of something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing is certain: enchantment is still possible. Even at the World Economic Forum. Even today, on this modern Magic Mountain, where the great questions of our time converge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The questions from Bubenbrunnenplatz will travel further. In July 2026, the next World Child Forum takes place in Davos. In January 2027, it returns\u2014carrying what emerges when people take time to ask differently. A cycle of gathering, exploring, and returning. The Davos Loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What remains is an image: a luminous figure among black limousines. People stopping to look up. And the quiet sense that the future also begins where no one knows exactly where it leads\u2014but many are ready to set out together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contact <\/strong>Bernhard Hanel, bernhard.hanel@worldchildforum.org<\/a>
More <\/strong>World Child Forum<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image<\/strong> Franz Walter, franz.walter@worldchildforum.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Davos, January 2026\u2014a different story of the World Economic Forum. Black limousines inch through the main street of Davos. Heavy vehicles, security personnel, barriers. The familiar tableau of the World Economic Forum: focused, shielded, purposeful. People in dark coats hurry from meeting to meeting; the future of the world is negotiated in packed schedules. And then, at Bubenbrunnenplatz [Boy\u2019s fountain square], something pauses. In the middle of the WEF’s constant flow, a luminous figure appears. Taller than the people around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22492,"featured_media":70820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8837,8845,9086],"tags":[11767,11781,8814],"class_list":["post-71690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restrospective","category-social","category-youth","tag-ausgabe-9-2026-en","tag-english-issue-14-15-2026","tag-musings"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22492"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71690"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71699,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71690\/revisions\/71699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}