Dear friends of YIP,
Welcome to the first newsletter of the new YIP18 year!
YIP18 has well and truly commenced and what a busy time it’s been.
For those familiar with YIP—and for those meeting it for the first time—the start of the year is always exciting and intense. The participants, aka ‘Yippies’, travel from all over the world (this year representing 18 nationalities) to arrive on campus in Ytterjärna, to a piece of land held gently between the forest and the fjord. Together, they begin a commitment of community and learning.
YIP’s schedule is that of rhythm and routine. The rhythm of YIP quickly takes shape: days begin at 7 a.m. with service hour (a shared act of care for the community), followed by breakfast and singing. From there, the hours unfold into courses, shared meals, and- of course- fika, the Swedish ritual of coffee break.
All of this can be a lot to adjust to: a new home, new routines, new people, new ideas, new courses. And this ‘newness’ slightly juxtaposes the season outside. In Sweden, the summer is lingering but the autumn feels near, a season where nature leans towards endings. The fruits, vegetables, and flowers planted by last year’s Yippies are now being harvested, and the garden is slowly prepared for its winter rest. The trees are beginning to turn golden, the days are growing shorter.
Yet, as YIP18 begins, I am reminded that endings and beginnings are always intertwined. Our gardener, Aleksa, brought a beautiful image: the seed as both ending and beginning. It holds within it the memory of flowering and fruiting, and the potential of new life. And so, as the Yippies begin these 10 months together, nature around us is also in transition. The light outside lessens, but inside, it is carried and shared. The harvest gathered from plants nearing their end now nourishes the fresh life of this community.
Written by Sarah Bennett
In this newsletter you will find:
- Introduction and Landing Week: Landing Week Journal by Lilliahna Rogers
- Local to Global Week: Painting by Jelscha Ganter
- Art of Hosting Week: ‘Change the Space’- Poem by Alva Hitsch
- War and Conflict Week: ‘Gaza: How can we still speak of hope when we all look away?’- Painting by Moira Bauwens
- Gardening Week: Painting by Yasmine Engqvist Shannon
- Current YIP Project: A Yippie’s Podcast by Riyo Harata and Naoko Kato
- Alumni Project: Everything in Between written by Michael Chiunda
Introduction and Landing Week
The sunflowers are silhouettes in the soft dawn light. Mist taps on our little window saying ‘wake up, the day is beginning’. Beyond the sleepy fields and gardens, the fjord lays waiting, patient and still; beckoning. We stumble barefoot along the winding path, toes damp with dew and eyes dusted with sleep. It’s cold, it’s early, It’s hard- this is the song of the will waking up. There’s five of us, bare on the edge of the water. Strangers, yet we are dancing together. Jump! Down into the cradle of water- dark and silky and welcoming- born again from her humble dark. The silence is broken, the world bathed in gold, sunlight like honey on our wet skin. Nothing effortless is so enlivening. What a way to begin.
Our room is starting to feel like home. We’ve filled the corners with flowers and the cupboards with clothes. It already smells of tiger balm and lavender, and echoes our laughter from wall to wall. We sing folk songs, bundled together on the bed; hair tangled in earrings, melody tangled in harmony. We all have the sniffles, it’s a good reason to rest and drink tea. The light switches are upside down, there’s many things like this that are different from home. The shoe racks are full of boots; they’ve all come so far to get here. Dirt from every corner of the world is crumbled at our doorstep.
Did you know that somewhere deep in the forest, over moss and root, lives an old man in an earthen house with three blind cats and a hope to help the world? He tells us in broken English “We must ask the question, and be the answer”, and the wooden chimes sing in agreement. To the lounge room full of eager silence, he asks “When I say I, who do I mean?”. Curiosity ignited- not to find an answer, but to question it all.
Sometimes our walks in the forest bring us to such places, and other times we simply gather wild blueberries and follow the gaps in the moss. Here we can walk anywhere, through fences and fields. They call it ‘Allemansratten,’ the right of public access. This freedom to roam with respect for nature and wildlife, makes afternoon walks adventures of great courage. Perhaps we will be chased by young cows, or get lost and follow the fjord back home. The soft beauty of this land pulls the eager walker in all kinds of directions, inwardly and outwardly. It was during one of these adventures that I witnessed a wood-pecker for the first time, a noisy little hackspett.
Around our breakfast table are eyes of every color, seeing the world through layers of history and experience. At first I noticed their smiles, their freckles, their frowns; now I begin to notice their patience, their kindness, their way with words. First impressions fade and reveal a room overflowing with intricate beauties and differences, each person a gem to be discovered and admired.
Two full weeks of meeting, harvesting, holding, hearing, sharing, beginning. We are lighting small fires and learning to stoke them. Building coals from kindling. It has been a moment and a lifetime since landing here. Time seems to stretch and melt as we settle into new routines. We are finding a rhythm in the newness, rest in the excitement of it all. Dancing the bridges between self and the world, beside the beds of blossoming sunflowers.
Written by Lilliahna Rogers
Local to Global
YIP is amazing but scary. In our second week I began to realise I am actually here. As we visited the area of Järna, it felt inspiring to hear what the people here have achieved – so many inspiring initiatives come from here, and it has been the perfect start to the year.
Written by Jelscha Ganter
Art of Hosting and Harvesting Conversations that Matter
Change the Space
Amazing
Reason
Telling
Open
Flowing
Healing
Observing
Singing
Timing
Identifying
New
Growing
We had a wonderful and really interesting week with wonderful contributors. We have gained an insight into many different methods such as open space technology and many others. In addition, we learned how processes are structured and how to lead groups and create space to give space to everything. It is a nice method to work together.
Written by Alva Hitsch
War and Conflict
Gaza: Can we still speak of hope when we all look away?
This week we were guided by Christianne through war and conflict. She helped us experience and reflect about the ways in which different framings and filtering by the media create different stories and thus different perspectives on an event.
She also talked about the genocide in Gaza. We looked the sadness of the situation in the eye which raised questions and disbelief about ourselves and the world. Through this we realised that we must continue to see people as people in their history and context. We can not dehumanize them, on either side. This does not justify anyone’s behavior, but helps us understand, take responsibility and hopefully apply change.
Written by Moira Bauwens
Gardening Week
Gardening week was the perfect opportunity to connect with nature and people.
It felt just right after war and conflict week. We were assigned to different groups and were given various tasks such as harvesting vegetables and flowers and preparing the garden for a long Swedish winter. We also visited a Järna local called Thomas Lüthi who shared his wisdom about biodynamic farming and compost. It was clear he had many years of experience in this field. It was a delight to see his garden and hear from him.
Written by Yasmine Engqvist-Shannon
Current YIP Project: A Yippie’s Podcast
As a new segment to the newsletter, we have the ‘Current YIP Project’, where a current Yippie shares a project they are working on. Here we can get an insight into who YIP18 are, and what initiatives and creative endeavors they are putting into the world.
The first project to feature in this segment features a podcast about the experience of being at YIP that current Yippies, Riyo Harata and Naoko Kato, have made. Here’s what Riyo has to say:
Hello, I am Riyo from YIP18!
Before coming to Sweden, I worked as a project manager in the education field in Japan. Living and learning at YIP every day has deeply inspired me to find ways to share these experiences and connections with people back in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region.
As one of my personal practices, I began a podcast to capture weekly reflections. Every weekend, I sit together with Naoko-my friend and YIP18 participant, who also came from Japan and happens to be the youngest in our group-while I am the oldest. Across this range of ages, the youngest and the oldest Yippies, we exchange stories of what we have been sensing and learning here.
This podcast has two main purposes:
1) Practicing speaking from my heart – finding words for the things we experience with our whole being, and daring to step outside our comfort zones to share them with others.
2) Introducing YIP to youth in Japan – where gap years are still rare, and many young people move directly from high school to university or from university straight into jobs. We want to let them know that YIP can be a meaningful alternative path.
To our surprise, we have already reached our 6th episode!
Each week, Naoko and I bring our contrasting perspectives-hers as the youngest, mine as the oldest- and speak openly in our own words, It has became a precious way to reflect, and we hope it also gives others a window into our journey.
At the moment, the podcast is in Japanese, but we are planning to release episodes in English as well.
We warmly invite you to listen while you are cooking, walking, driving, knitting.
I am happy if you could follow and share with your friend who might be interested in YIP and don’t forget to leave your comments- we would love to hear from you!
Written by Riyo Harata
Alumni Project:
Everything in Between
Everything In Between (still is a working title for the last four years) is a quiet but powerful artistic project, one that reimagines how we experience art, community, and culture. Rather than focusing on performance or product, this work emphasizes process, presence, and the simple act of being together. Through movement, conversation, photography, and nature, it invites participants into a spacious container where creativity emerges organically.
At its essence, the project is about co-witnessing: sharing space with others without the expectation of choreography, outcomes, or pressure. Movement might arise, or stillness might settle in. Words may flow, or silence may take the lead. In every instance, the focus is on authenticity allowing people to connect with themselves, one another, and the environment in ways that feel true in the moment.
Photography plays a central role, not as a tool for staged images but as a way of documenting lived experience. Each photograph becomes a trace of presence, an imprint of the subtleties of expression, dialogue, and atmosphere that unfold. By weaving photography with embodied practices, the project explores culture not as something static but as something alive, shifting, and continually shaped by those who live it.
What makes this work distinctive is its openness. It is not confined to one place, theme, or community but rather adapts to the people and contexts it encounters. Conversations might touch on personal histories, collective challenges, or dreams for the future. Encounters might reveal new ways of understanding identity, belonging, or community. Each interaction becomes a seed for dialogue and creative exchange.
Beyond its intimate moments, the project envisions a broader reach through exhibitions, social media, and documentary work. These platforms extend the resonance of the project outward, inviting wider audiences to engage with the stories, images, and ideas that emerge. Yet at its heart, the value remains in the encounters themselves, the act of meeting, listening, and creating together.
This project is ongoing, evolving with each collaboration. It is an exploration of how art can be less about spectacle and more about connection, less about producing and more about being. By foregrounding presence, honesty, and openness, it gestures toward new ways of seeing culture and stories not as distant or abstract, but as something lived, shared, and continually in motion.
Written by Michael Chiunda
Message from the Organising Team
Greetings from the YIP office!
As November approaches, we are slowly preparing for our departure to the outpost in India. Part of this preparation involves finding people who might be interested in renting our facilities while we are away.
Two of our buildings will be available for use: The Hive – our educational space and Tallevana – the beloved participant house.
If you would like to rent any spaces or know of any groups who might be interested in renting accommodation or educational spaces during this time then please be in touch!
It would help us enormously to cover double rent and also to keep the buildings in use.
Thank you for your support!
Warmly,
The Organising Team
