The Earth's Aliveness
A journey to our Planet's microbiome
June 22, 2025 at the Volkshaus, Zurich
9.15 – 16.30
It's going to get earthy in the Volkshaus when the microbiome is in the spotlight on 22 June 2025!
Earth is
a pulsating organism whose microbiome forms the basis of all life.
Bacteria, fungi and billions of other single-celled organisms, algae and
viruses are our invisible cohabitants, without whom there would be no
life on earth. Our aliveness arises from our relationship with the vitality of the earth, we are one.
Join us in acknowledging how strongly we are connected to these single-celled organisms and how much they influence us and we them in the question of the aliveness of the earth. Together we will embark on a journey to honour, nourish and increase the beauty and diversity of our microbiome.
Helmy Abouleish
SEKEM promotes sustainable development in ecology, economy, societal and cultural life, consciously integrating the interplay of microorganisms into agriculture. Founded in 1977 by the Abouleish family and fellow campaigners, the SEKEM project has transformed parts of the Egyptian desert into a thriving Garden of Eden and was awarded the Right Livelihood Award (‘Alternative Nobel Prize’) under the leadership of Helmy Abouleish.
Gabriele Berg
Head of the Institute of Biotechnology at Graz University of Technology, Gabriele Berg has been researching the microbiome for 30 years. She has conducted many studies about the effects of agriculture on the plant and soil microbiome including one based at the SEKEM initiative looking at its effects on microbial communities in desert soil.
Katharina Serafimova
Social entrepreneur and managing director of Lebendiger Bodensee, an initiative promoting healthy soils, clean water, regional food systems, and vibrant rural communities. She currently leads a research and practice project accompanying farmers around Lake Constance in regenerating soil microbiomes. Katharina is also a co-founder of Shareitt, a platform that fosters a culture of sharing and care within communities. Her professional journey spans banking, corporate sustainability, NGOs, and university teaching.
Ivo Hutzli
As a permaculture-designer, engineer and cultural manager at Permakultur Leben, Ivo uses his skills and knowledge for regenerative projects. His work is about shaping relationships between living beings, closing cycles, transformation, diversity, synergies, co-creativity, sufficiency, resilience and networking. He is active with the Triple Bottom Line© Association and Kinder in der Permakultur - Schweiz.
Interactive, participatory discussions and experiential sessions
A lunch that celebrates our microbiomes
Eating food is how we cultivate our own microbiome. On Helvetia Platz, just opposite the Volkshaus, we will be 'Celebrating Microbiomes' with a performance that combines care, fermentation, planting, and cooking, bridging the health of the soil and that of the human body. Using food recovered from waste streams—such as fermented apples from Swiss valleys and wild algae—the audience experiences a symbiotic ritual where soil, water, and gut bacteria mirror one another. The scene unfolds as an offering: moving bodies that honour the invisible and return to the Earth what our systems discard.
The circular, zero-waste menu includes a cracker plate made out of local grains and wild herbs, seasonal hummus, living salad and seaweed. These edible microbiomes become part of the performance, activating the body as a vessel for transformation. Meal tickets available using the regular event ticket link.
Tibetan Music and Mantras
Dechen Shak-Dagsay and Helge Van Dyk
Image courtesy of VANDYKMUSIC
Tickets
Regular
52 CHF
Student
25 CHF
Lunch
10 CHF
More details about the programme at the Volkshaus
The morning of this one-day event on June 22, 2025, will feature keynote speeches, film sequences, concert performances and dialogue sessions. At lunchtime, culinary offerings will attract participants to Helvetiaplatz for exchange and networking.
The afternoon invites all attendees to discuss the highly controversial yet still relatively unexplored topic of the microbiome not only theoretically and abstractly through interactive and participatory discussions and experiential sessions, but above all to explore it practically and concretely: How do all these entities, as the basis of soil fertility and our health, affect us and what can we implement in our respective contexts to integrate this fundamental knowledge into our actions and our everyday lives?
Helmy Abouleish describes how SEKEM created an ecological paradise in the Egyptian desert. How scientists as Gabriele Berg are researching these vital creatures of the Earth will be explored. In conversations, Katharina Serafimova, Ivo Hutzli and Firekeepers from various parts of the world contribute their stories and evaluate their relationships with the microbiome. Tibetan singer Dechen Shag Dagsay takes us on enchanting sound journeys into musical interspaces.
Catering: Refreshments and snacks are included in the ticket price and are available in the Volkshaus during the breaks. Lunch (separate tickets available), will be provided directly on Helvetiaplatz opposite or, of course, in the Volkshaus restaurant.
Want to dive deeper? The WEFo Book Shop at the Volkshaus features hand-picked jewels: Books about the microbiome in agriculture and in ourselves, books that clarify connections and show new ways in the quest for mindfulness, care and the realization of true connectedness with all life.
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Heartfelt thanks to our partners for their support on our shared journey:
