It has been a quiet time here in Ytterjärna for those of us who have remained behind. But slowly those beating hearts have trickled back into this mysterious place that we have all come to know as ‘home’. The quietness of the weeks that have passed has most certainly not meant stillness in planning and scheduling, conversation and design, in …
YIP Newsletter March 2015 – Working in the World
Has spring already sprung in Järna…? Perhaps it should not be said aloud for fear that winter might feel overlooked! Yet a warm sun shines from blue skies today, with all the hints and smells of spring. And despite the frosty nights, little Eranthis flowers have poked through the composted ground, strong and full of promise. Perhaps they just needed …
YIP Newsletter February 2015 – A Glimpse of the Labyrinth
The sun is shining down sideways from a crystal blue sky, decorated with faint brushstrokes of windy white. It’s cold. There is snow everywhere, but not too deep. In the midst of an action, it seems as though everything alive was suddenly caught in a motionless freeze, yet still retaining a gesture of captured vitality. The fields that once held golden rows …
YIP Newsletter January 2015 – In Brief
Järna is covered in a thin blanket of snow. The ponds are frozen solid and the fjord is getting there. With this cold, a new kind of energy is shining through the cracks of the previous year, cold, crisp and fresh. Two-weeks of wintery break from the curriculum brought some participants and OT’s away from our YIP bubble and back …
YIP Newsletter December 2014 – Into the Darkness
It is 2:54 in the afternoon and the sun has set in Yärnaterja. The few sunrays that poked through the thick cotton clouds in the morning have been swallowed up by the day and a thick grey blanket has taken their place. This is much the same routine as yesterday, the day before and many of the days before that: …
Reflections on YIP
Dear friends, I wrote the text below in the spring of this year, 2014, at a time when the continuation of the program and its organization where wavering on the edge of existence. I felt called to share my view on some of the purpose and value of this initiative, and to stand for these to stay available for young …
Initiative Forum: 20th to 25th of June, 2015!
To everyone interested in Initiative Forum 2015! I hope this update finds you well and that the news herein gives rise to excitement for what is coming! We have decided to change the dates of the 2015 Initiative Forum to a warmer, sunnier time of year! Please mark your calendar as follows: Saturday, 20th of June, to Thursday, 25th of June. Accommodation …
YIP Newsletter October 2014: YIP: Chapter 7
As the first lines of YIP: Chapter 7 come to life, the adventures, misadventures, dreams, hopes, challenges and triumphs spill forth to fill its pages. The truth is, there could be twenty-five very different voices called upon to narrate the experience of the last few and very full weeks. Each voice with a distinctive tone, unique in perspective and singular …
YIP Newsletter September 2014: Ringing in YIP7
As the smells of summer slowly begin to turn to autumn and the lazy Scandinavian sunset turns the evening sky to fire, an office on the second floor of a big White House buzzes with life. It’s the comings and goings of a few individuals working with tireless energy, drafting the 7th chapter in what has proven to be an …
Thank you YIP6 and welcome YIP7
Dear friends, members, alumni, contributors, parents, partners and other people in the network of YIP, YIP has just finished its 6th successful year. The twenty bright young people who graduated last week are now going out into the world, and there is no doubt they will create positive impact no matter where or in what form they engage in society. …