The Initiative Forum
Dear friends of YIP,
We hope this Newsletter finds you well!
Early Spring in Ytterjarna is always unpredictable. A sunny morning could suddenly turn stormy. A windy, rainy afternoon could give way to clear, blue sky with a stunning sunset. The silver-lining of this dynamic, ever-changing weather is the increased chance of witnessing a spectacular rainbow above – often a double rainbow – when you turn your head.
Just like the Swedish spring weather, busy changing its mind every few minutes on whether to rain or shine, the days have been full after the Yippies landed back in Sweden from their various internship places. After hearing about each other’s internship experience through the presentations, the Yippies switched gear and harnessed all their energy into preparing the Initiative Forum. The two weeks of preparation began with the help from the Art of Hosting Team. Over the Easter weekend, the Yippies hosted a wonderful and successful Initiative Forum.
Now, after a well-deserved few days of rest, the Yippies will be opening the garden under the guidance of Aleksa and turning their attention to their Personal Initiative Projects as we head into the period of the Self Deigned Curriculum.
Written by Jasmine Pan
In this newsletter you will find:
– Internship Presentations
– Initiative Forum Prep Week with the Art of Hosting Team
– Initiative Forum: Sowing Seeds of Connection
– New Team Visitors
– Alumni Project
Internship Presentations
“I know how much I missed Sweden now that I’m seeing everyone and everything again, now that I’m present here once more.”
We had a chance to share our experiences with each other on these special internships we went on. It was a nice grounding way to catch a glimpse of what each of our lives were like while we were in separate countries, while landing ourselves back in Sweden. Sharing from what a day looked like to all the challenges and learnings we gained from each other, ourselves, and the internship work itself.
I feel how significant my internship experience is to me and who I am now as a person to myself, others, and the community. I’m realizing that everything, up until the event my group and I hosted at the end of our internship, was very impactful. And even the event itself, we accomplished so much and everything we had set intentions for was set out to be true. Those whole five weeks of learning from each other, growing together, and the time we shared are so valuable to me, it’s truly a part of me and what kind of person I am now.
I’ve learned so much. From so little time.
Thinking back on our pre-internship presentations we did in India (right before internships), I still didn’t have a set idea of how my internship would look and how it would go. And now that internships are over and now that I’m sitting here remembering all the memories and moments that happened. It feels like it was yesterday that I was in the UK, in that small, crammed apartment with my fellow yippies, knowing that each of us were growing, learning, sharing, and connecting day by day.
I’ve had time to reflect and center myself back in Sweden after hearing about our inspiring and divergent journey’s off on internships. And I can’t wait to jump into what the next 3 months have in store for us. Slowly and presently stepping into the next chapter of YIP…
It’s time to start preparing for the Initiative Forum!
Written by Alysa Monterrosa
Initiative Forum Prep Week with the Art of Hosting Team
After us Yippies came back from our internships, we went full gear into Initiative Forum Prep Week. With the help of the AoH (Art of Hosting)Team: Steph, Isabel, Naomi and Mansi, we were able to organize and accomplish so many of our tasks in just a span of two weeks. In those two weeks it felt weird and somehow exciting for me because we were finally transitioning from working on the Initiative Forum as a theoretical concept, to something that was in just a few more days and was becoming more tangible. I became more enthusiastic to step into roles that required more initiative as I found myself energized to be in such an intensive work period. Personally, it felt good to finally have deadlines and structures set in place, accompanied by the reality that almost a hundred people from different parts of the world were coming to our event.
During our Prep Week there was a lot of reorganization of teams and tasks, and with the excitement of working, I found myself joining the Mycelium Team. As the Mycelium Team, we were tasked with organizing the work structure for everyone for the days leading up to the event. We planned sessions together and facilitated these sessions, keeping track of the work that needed to be done on each day. We also worked on the runsheet, which gave a detailed rundown of everything that needed to happen, and who and what needed to be where during the Initiative Forum. As part of the Mycelium Team we were led into our roles by Steph. I think that our team worked very well because Steph gave us so much information about how to facilitate sessions, hold the group together and what things need to be done. But they laid out the information in such a way that was direct, concise and easy to digest. We were given clear expectations on our workload, and so when the time to pass the torch of facilitation from the AoH Team to the Mycelium Team came, we felt that we were prepared and ready to look after the group. Personally, it felt really good to have an overview of everything that was going to happen, and most important to me was the fact that as a team we were tasked with the role of
having to sense and see how to hold the group together each day. Through this, I felt even more connected with the event and each of the Yippies.
On top of everything, I think that it was so important that our hosts brought in the emphasis of working together and being able to rely on each other’s strengths and look out for one another. We had beautiful moments such as the fishbowl wherein we heard from different Yippies about their connection to the event. The goal of the activity was to reconnect with our purpose on why we were hosting this Initiative forum event in the first place.
Whether the goal was reached or not by us Yippies, I think that it was just wonderful that in this moment of busy schedules and work overload, we got to sit and listen to one another. In connection to this moment. We also had a session before the AOH team left where we were able to write heartfelt notes to one another, showing appreciation for our strengths and the work we have been putting in. I think that it is so meaningful to create this type of work environment that invites moments of joy and appreciation towards the people you are working with. I think that through these moments of celebrating one another, when the time for the Initiative Forum came, I felt very comfortable to rely on everyone with the joyful thought that I was working with my dearest friends.
Written by Bella Nicolas
Initiative Forum: Sowing Seeds of Connection
On April 17th, we welcomed over 100 guests to Ytterjärna for the opening of the Sowing Seeds of Connection Initiative Forum 2025. Among them were YIP alumni, friends and family of current Yippies, and members of the local community. Their arrival marked the culmination of months of dreaming and planning, and weeks of dedicated preparation.
These guests—our Initiative Forum participants—arrived with bags and suitcases, warm coats, and smiles. They came carrying ideas and perspectives, ready to meet not only one another, but also parts of themselves. With kindness, curiosity, and excitement, they brought life to the Forum and support for YIP17.
Over the course of five days, the Forum became a rich mixture of experiences: thought-provoking lectures, participatory workshops, and reflective activities that offered spaces to engage, digest, and cross-pollinate ideas. We shared nourishing meals, sang together, wandered through nature, plunged into fjords, and danced to music that moved the body and soul.
It was joyous to witness the themes of connection, community, and change come to life in such a tangible way. Thank you to everyone who joined us for Sowing Seeds of Connection and helped make the Initiative Forum 2025 an event of shared purpose and possibility.
We hope the learnings from the Forum continue to grow—like a seed—within each of us. (That’s the last seed metaphor, promise!)
Written by Sarah Bennett
(A video of the Initiative Forum was made by one of the participants, Felix Claeys. Follow this link to watch.)
New Team Visitors
We are so happy to welcome Jasmine and Tsu-En, YIP16 alumnus, back in Ytterjärna this spring! They will be joining us for the last three months of YIP17. We asked each of them to write a bit about themselves, their biography and what they look forward to as they step into this new role at YIP.
A little about Jasmine:
“As I pack my bags again, leaving to return, I can practically feel myself walking down that gravel path toward the Hive as I breathe in the crisp, cold air; everything would seem the same, yet so very different.
I grew up in a small city in the northeast of Taiwan. Rain and rice paddies are the predominant backdrop to my childhood memories. I attended Waldorf schools from 2nd to 12th grade. Though during high school, the background became the bright sun and dry air of Sacramento, California. I then returned to the rain and got my bachelors degree in psychology and German in the Pacific Northwest. I never really liked the rain as much as I like adventures and trying new things. After three years of teaching English in a Waldorf school, I decided to try this new thing that is YIP.
To me YIP was a safe space for questions and learning, of exploration and growth, filled with challenges and love. I am very grateful to have had the chance to experience this kind of community and personal growth. I would like to be part of this important work of holding this space for YIP 17. As a visitor, I’m excited to experience YIP from a new perspective and meet all the yippies this year!
I am looking forward to punching in the code to the Hive (hopefully it’s still the same), pushing open the door and seeing what awaits me on this new adventure of mine.”
Written by Jasmine Pan
A little about Tsu-En:
“I was born and raised in Taiwan, in the countryside where I could see rice fields and green onion fields from my window. I attended a Waldorf school for 12 years, and a year after graduating from university, my longing for a stable, balanced, and healthy life led me back to Waldorf as a teacher.
After three fulfilling years of teaching and being surrounded by children, I realized there were deeper questions within me waiting to be explored. That’s when I decided to join YIP—a program a friend had once recommended to me. For me, YIP opened a window—not just to a new country but to new inner and outer challenges. Living in this community was like looking into a mirror, constantly reflecting different parts of myself. It was also at YIP that I developed a deep appreciation for community life. I began to ask myself: beyond taking care of my own needs, could I do something more for others, without expecting anything in return? My time at YIP was a period of transformation and learning that I truly cherish. Knowing how much this program supported me, I believed others might also need it. So, after returning to Taiwan, Jasmine and I started the “YIP Learning Experience Sharing Sessions,” visiting different communities and schools to share our experiences. Through this process, I found myself revisiting, digesting, and reliving the moments of those ten months.
Returning as a visitor, I hope to deepen my understanding of how an international educational initiative like YIP is structured and sustained. More importantly, I have come to realize that I am drawn to educational spaces where cultures can meet and exchange, and I deeply enjoy working within a community. I look forward to being part of YIP again—this time, from a different perspective.”
written by Tsu-En Chiang
Alumni Project: De Keukentafel (The Kitchentable)
Starting a restaurant at a farm,
what once started as a beautiful dream has became very real!
Together with my sister I’m running a small farm to table fine dining restaurant and started an
organic farm to provide for the restaurant. We serve our customers a freshly harvested
gastronomic tasting menu with the best produce we grow ourselves our we can by from local
producers. In summer our guest sit outside in te garden, in order to connect them with what they
eat.
We try to be an example of how “sustainability” can be something to enjoy and taste extremely
good! We built the restaurant with circular and natural materials, we circulate our waist and water
use to te maximum, use solar energy, …
Three years ago we where able to buy a piece of farming land next to our garden, which in in full
regeneration process. Its been a playground to test different types of agriculture to see what
works best for us. We ended up combining organic faming methods, bio-dynamic farming,
agroforestry, food forest and ended up with our own system. This year we started to have more
harvest than we need, so we can start feeding more mouths.
The first seeds for this project where planted during the Classroom alive walk to Athens in 2013. I
have clear memories and some sketches of the first ideas and it never really changed since then. I
was dreaming of merging the restaurant and farming business in order to inspire people trough
food.
As for a personal matter it has always been clear to me I want to do what I love, what makes me
happy combine it with some skill in order to make this work a little bit more beautiful.
It must be about 10 years ago since I applied for YIP, I had started giving some diners for friends
and family using the veggies from our garden. During Yip it became my personal project and that
gave me a playground to try an fail in a save environment. Looking back it definitely gave me a
kick start! The years after I started giving more and more diners, became self employed and
started looking for a place to settle. My sister joined the business and we started a restaurant in
the shed of our parents house.
In the end, as a child I always wanted to become a chef.
Pretty grateful woman here,
Anna
p.s. All Yippies are always welcome to visit!
Written by Anna Wynants (YIP8)
In the next newsletter you will find:
– Gardening Week
– Self-Designed Curriculum
– Personal Initiative Project
– Alumni Project
