What’s on the Other Side?
The 8th Edition of Kaleido Retreat will take place from Wednesday 20th of August to Sunday 24th of August 2025 in Hasliberg Reuti in Switzerland.
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What’s on the Other Side?
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Programme
Neighbourocracy - A Model for Planetary Scale Democracy
Neighbourocracy is a new type of governance system, a new type of politics.
It is a governance-from-below, a type of governance where, unlike in the present-day democracy, people have an effective say, and hence scope to exercise power, not just during elections, but throughout, ongoingly, every day. Again, here, not just a few but everyone has a say. A “deeper democracy” ensuring dynamic and participatory governance by all. A hope-inspiring alternative to people disillusioned with the various hues of present-day systems of politics and governance, neighbourocracy is simple and easy to implement and a blueprint for a borderless world of equity.
Biogeodynamics and Human Civilization: Deep Future Prospective
This talk is an attempt to change the general vision of human civilization towards a long term perspective, coming from a scientist who studies the planet’s evolution in geological time scales. Governance and leadership priorities across the planet are caught in quarterly earnings of private corporations, periodic election cycles of nations or the immediacy of conflicts/crises. How do we think of our collective futures in deeper time horizons?
Learnings from the Unconscious
Pathways to Futures Present
What kind of future are we being pulled toward—and who gets to decide it?
Together, we’ll explore the futures we long for—for our communities, the planet, and ourselves—and what stands in the way of achieving them. Through creative and collective exploration, we’ll uncover hidden assumptions (behind money, power, progress, and personality) and imagine alternative paths rooted in justice, ecology, and mutual care.
Culture of Encounter & Economy of Francesco
Europe's Suicide?
This talk examines the paradoxical and increasingly self-destructive posture of European elites in response to the Ukraine war and the broader geopolitical realignments triggered by Donald Trump’s return to power. While the war has inflicted severe economic and strategic harm on Europe, its leaders have rejected potential paths to peace, choosing instead to escalate military commitments and embrace long-term confrontation with Russia. Far from irrational, this behaviour is best understood as a function of elite interests — psychological denial, political self-preservation, strategic subservience to the United States and a deeper transatlantic alignment with America’s liberal-globalist establishment.
The talk will explore how Europe’s leadership, trapped by decades of Atlanticist dependency and institutional decay, has turned the Ukraine war into both a political lifeline and a pretext for repressive domestic transformations. It will highlight the EU’s authoritarian shift under Ursula von der Leyen, the militarisation of European society, and the erosion of democratic norms under the guise of combating the “Russian threat”. Ultimately, it argues that Europe’s current trajectory — economic decline, social militarisation and geopolitical vassalage — reflects not principled strategy but a desperate attempt to preserve elite power amid systemic crisis. What we are witnessing is not the defence of Europe, but its elite-driven unraveling.
Liberating your Business from the Venture Capital Model
This workshop will help you to architect a business using Post Growth Entrepreneurship, an entrepreneurial methodology for creating non-extractive social businesses. Dr. Melanie Rieback, co-founder of Radically Open Security and Post Growth startup incubator Nonprofit Ventures will make you question everything that you know about entrepreneurship, provide practical tools for building something different, and help you to liberate your business from venture capital.
The session will be an interactive workshop with the following setup:
– Choose a “Post Growth” business to work on
– Choose a financially non-extractive governance structure
– Fill in business model canvases: Sustainable Business Model Canvas + Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Experiment Canvas
– Explain the bootstrapping process for your “Post Growth” business
– Share with peers and end with a group discussion.
Embodying Your Anger
In this transformative embodiment workshop at the Kaleido, we will look into our inner battles — rage, anger, and judgment — and aim towards converting these emotions into peace. We will work with our body individually, in pairs and in a group to fully sense, listen and acknowledge what is present. We will explore communication channels with and through our bodies, allow ourselves to express and release what might be stuck in our system.
We will get a deeper understanding about the archetypes we play in or life and how these roles can lead to an outcome of a more conscious behaviour.
The intention of the workshop is to create space for internal and external harmony.
Bring your journal, your colors and water.
Get ready to move!
Creating Radical Hope through Permaculture
How deep is the rabbit hole?
If nature speaks, how can we listen?
When we listen what changes and what is liberated?
Come find out.
Money is not about money — it’s about us.
Money is never just numbers — it hums with hidden feelings: security and fear, freedom and shame, pride, guilt, love, power, hope. It shapes us, quietly, in ways we rarely name.
In this workshop, we’ll explore the emotions we attach to money, and how they shape our lives.
What do you long to give — and what do you long to receive more of?
With these discoveries, you’ll craft a small piece of art — your emotional currency. A reminder that wealth is not always counted in coins, but in what we choose to give and receive.
Together, we’ll release this new emotional currency into the Kaleido Community — tiny seeds of intention, weaving new connections, carrying hope from hand to hand.
Come. Bring your curiosity and questions, your longings, your hidden treasures. Let’s see what grows when we remember: money is never just about money — it’s about us.
Drumming
Participants will have the opportunity to drum, make music and improvise using elements from African and Arabic rhythms. The goal is not only self-awareness, but also communication: how does playing in a group touch the various aspects of being part of a community?
Drumming presents the opportunity for certain experiences to happen, such as a whole-body experience, a sense of the flow of energy in the group or a redefinition of what it means to be an individual in a group.
Elysium Breathwork: The Path to Inner Peace and Liberation
Inspired by the mythological realm of eternal peace and happiness, this workshop is a sanctuary for your soul, offering a retreat from the chaos of daily life. Through conscious connected breathing and integrative techniques, you will embark on a journey towards tranquility and self-liberation. Each breath draws in peace and releases burdens, guiding you to your personal Elysium. Experience the transformative power of breathwork,, Become Peace, Become Liberation
Deep Listening
The Dance Between the Inner and the Outer
This workshop is an invitation into embodied introspection — using movement, presence, and transmissions to explore how your inner state shapes your outer experience.
Steps to Soul is a creative and transformational project created by Lila and Thomas, devoted to the dance between the inner and outer worlds. Rooted in movement, presence, and conscious conversation, their work invites people to meet deeper layers of themselves and live with greater clarity, alignment, and freedom.
Kaleido Morning Circles
Every morning, we gather for the Kaleido Morning Circle, to deepen our intention, in gratitude, get into our bodies, laugh together, move together, to begin our collective and personal experience for the day.
Morning Yoga
Yoga for all levels.
Immerse yourself in a practice where we will begin the day by visiting our personal intention, exploring traditional Hatha Yoga postures, focusing on alignment, breath and mindfulness. Feel the benefit of arriving inside of your body through conscious movement. When you start to explore your inner space, the path will become always more clear, leading you closer to your authentic, peaceful and compassionate self.
Singing In - Morning Sound
In this morning session, we attune our bodies as instruments to the day and the place. Somatic practices and elements from vocal technique guide us in refining our awareness and connecting with our inner sound space.
Our voice becomes a bridge between inside and outside – linking our inner landscapes with the environment and inviting us to sound ourselves into the world. We experience ourselves as part of a greater continuum, not separate but deeply connected.
Together, we create a resonance space where we can hold and be held – through sound, through silence, through shared presence. An invitation to begin the day with attunement, connection, and vibrant resonance.
Movement for Life
Movement for Life (MFL) is a movement-based embodiment practice for personal transformation & healing. Every morning, through MFL activations, participants are guided to move with more intention and awareness, and bring this practice into their daily lives.
Fire Circle
Each evening,
the fire burns,
and awaits us,
to gather in circle,
to share stories, poetry, and music.
Appreciating Short Films Screening Circle
Exploring notions of emancipation , authenticity , innovation and transformative change, we will be appreciating various short films from around the world that tackle various issues on sustainability , justice, gender, ecology and more.
Open Space
The Open Space is a spacetime to bring forth the diversity of ideas, projects, questions, initiatives from the Kaleido Collective. Those interested in holding space for a session are requested to send us a short note during the registration.
Welcome Crafting with Recycled Plastic
Together, we will work with our hands, to create beautiful recycled plastic and woodworked necklaces, that will be personalized to each participant that arrives.
The Emotion Wheel
The Emotion Wheel at Kaleido, is both a ritual and an installation. Moments in time to reflect on your own emotions, to give space to them, and if you like, to get into conversation with it and us. The Wheel provides an encounter zone where emotion patterns and exchanges emerge.
Kaleido Mandala
The Kaleido Mandala is an organic art installation that will be co-created by all. The space will be tended to by Giulia.
An Invitation to Rest Together
In the midst of movement, we offer stillness.
A quiet place where rest is not a solitary act,
but something we share — a breath held in common.
Step inside, leave the rush at the door,
and let yourself pause, soften, and simply be.
Here, we remember: to rest is to restore,
and sometimes, to rest together is the most radical act of all.
A Love Letter for Gaza
A Love Letter for Gaza is a planetary sonic archive preserving the silence, tears, screams, rage, poems, songs, lullabys, dreams, hopes, blessings, wishes, hopes for peace and liberation.
What is love for you?
What is an act of love?
What is the sound of silence?
REProduce Listening Room
Echoes of the Self
No one told you about the voices inside of you.
No one showed you how to handle the torn pieces of yourself.
This piece is about the known unknown, that we all go through in the battleground of life.
DJ Set
Steps to Soul
Shams is Out
Berlin-based food popup comes to Kaleido, exploring South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine.
mformittai
mittai = candy (in Tamil)*
Based in Berlin, mformittai curates modern, playful, south indian social food experiences.
Kira and Xesco
For us cooking is a language of love.
We cook each dish with presence, awareness and love, so that it is a warm embrace to the soul of those who enjoy it.
We make Mediterranean fusion cuisine, and we like to listen to the needs of each experience to reach all hearts. Nourish your body and soul with the sound of our hearts!
Speakers and workshop leaders
Father Edwin is from the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India. As a Catholic priest he has been pastor of three parishes, Director of a Diocesan Pastoral Center, and the coordinator of diocesan commissions, for two terms. He pioneered neighbourhood-based organizing, beginning in a parish in the southern tip of India in late 1970s. The initiative inspired the organization of nearly 280,000 neighbourhood groups of poor women, beyond religious identities, as a State-sponsored move aimed at poverty eradication and empowerment of women. He is the founder of Neighbourocracy and Children’s Parliaments.
Melanie is CEO/Co-founder of Radically Open Security (the world’s first not-for-profit computer security company), and “Post Growth” startup incubator Nonprofit Ventures. She is also a former Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the Free University of Amsterdam.
She was named “Most Innovative IT Leader of the Netherlands” by CIO Magazine (TIM Award) in 2017, and one of the “9 Most Innovative Women in the European Union” (EU Women Innovators Prize) in 2019. She is also one of the 400 most successful women in the Netherlands by Viva Magazine (Viva400) in 2010 and 2017, and one of the fifty most inspiring women in tech (Inspiring Fifty Netherlands) in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Her company, Radically Open Security was named the 50th Most Innovative SME by the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (MKB Innovatie Top 100) in 2016.
Thomas is a journalist, writer, translator and socialist. He is the co-director of Standing Army (2010), an award-winning feature-length documentary on US military bases featuring Gore Vidal and Noam Chomsky; and the author of The Battle for Europe: How an Elite Hijacked a Continent – and How We Can Take It Back (Pluto Press, 2014), Reclaiming the State: A Progressive Vision of Sovereignty for a Post-Neoliberal World (co-authored with Bill Mitchell; Pluto Press, 2017) and The Covid Consensus: The Global Assault on Democracy and the Poor—A Critique from the Left (co-authored with Toby Green; 2023).
Prof. Taras‘s research focuses on plate tectonics, geodynamics, planetary processes as well as numerical geodynamic modelling. Of late, his work is also moving towards weaving learning from earth systems into wider societal perspectives. He has been Adjunct Professor for Geodynamics and Analytical and Numerical Modelling of Geological and Planetary Processes, Department of Earth Sciences, at ETH Zürich since 2010. He was born in 1962 in Ivanovka, Lugansk District, Soviet Union.
Olga is a psychologist, psychotherapist, and family and relationship counsellor with a practice in Athens, Greece.
more info coming soon.
Eda is an internationally recognised visual and multimodal anthropologist and is the founder of EthnoKino Film Festival and KarmaMotion with whom she filmed and produced numerous award winning documentary films.
She is an SNSF postdoctoral researcher at the Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern working on equitable biodiversity governance and just conservation across the world (www.bridging-values.com).
Bruno is Vice President of the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. He received his doctorate at the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Split on the topic of the relationship between theology and the natural sciences, proposing in his thesis a new model of that relationship based on Daniel Dennett’s fusion-barrier idea. He also received his doctorate in the philosophy of mind at the University of Zadar. Bruno deals with theology and philosophy and links between theology and philosophy with contemporary culture and society, especially the political-economic aspect of society – through engagement in various movements and the civil sector.
Michael has been a exploring sound-as-art in over 30 countries for the past 3 decades. He re-frames surroundings by ‘composting sounds’ and waking up spaces by using a combination of natural sound phenomena, synthesis and ready-made objects to create location based sound works. His intent is to intervene with the current media-saturated culture by slowing down and listening deeper to the mysterious ‘otherness’ lurking quite literally under our collective noses.
He has worked in audio restoration for the Tibetan Library of Works and Archives in Dharamshala, developed an introductory course in Sonic Arts for the Desuup Skilling Program in Bhutan, and currently is Audio Visual director at the Garchen Buddhist Institute in Chino Valley, Arizona. He continues to share ‘deep listening’ experiences, sound-arts as trans-personal experiences and an increasing imperative to be a part of the global shift of consciousness through applied artistic life action when ever there is an opportunity to find conscious listeners.
Clarissa is an artist who is deeply immersed in the exploration of somatic practices for over two decades. She’s dedicated her creative journey to harnessing the power of the body-mind connection. She believes that steering humanity toward a healthier existence begins with an intimate understanding and appreciation of our physical selves.
Tony is an inspirational musician and story-teller. He is palestinian, living in Zurich since many years with his wife and two daughters. Tony’s interest lies in the use of drumming to expand awareness, to connect to oneself and to change.
Rana is a curator, economist, writer, and filmmaker. He steers REProduce Artists, a collective of artists, organizers, and content creators that produce interventions in non-traditional spaces, engaging with music and video in modular, sequential plays – all taking advantage of the aesthetics of spaces as varied as former mills, bakeries, and hotels while producing them into five hour embedded experiences where up to eight different performances unfold.
His doctoral research was on risk construction in a regulatory context, and the underlying dynamics of how we explore uncertainty with regards to new technologies. The theoretical framework of this research underpins his explorations within live music presentation models and how patronage and sponsorship interact within the uncertainty that pop culture engineering presents.
He currently lives between Canada and India.
Born in New Zealand, Tamar is an international vocal coach and inter-disciplinary artist with Māori, Polynesian and European ancestry. She is a passionate “singer for life” and a creative mentor for many around the world who search to find and express their unique voice.
Jeffrey is a researcher at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (USPN) who explores how global economic systems shape environments, and vice-versa. His work focuses on how social and economic power drive unequal environmental impacts, often hitting vulnerable communities the hardest. Jeff has worked as an economist for the World Bank and the Banque de France, and taught at Sciences Po and USPN. He holds a PhD in economics from USPN.
Noémi is a movement and somatic arts facilitator with an unwavering passion for shadow work, deepening intimacy, emotional processing through the soma (body). She guides individuals and groups into deeper awareness of listening and understanding the dynamics of mind, heart and soul and helps them discover the hidden truth through conscious movement.
She supports people to rediscover their authentic selves by using the power of their bodies. Through her guidance and embodiment practices, she aims to create a profound sense of connection and empower participants to embrace their uniqueness. She believes that as human beings, we can learn to navigate our emotions in a healthy way, strengthen our resilience: somatic practice is key in this process.
Part of the process is to create visual expressions of the inner landscapes, that can bring clarity to chaos and a more compassionate way of feeling and living. Noemi inspires people to creatively and actively engage with whats within one self and the world outside. She currently deepens her knowledge in somatic trauma healing and transdisciplinary arts therapy.
Helder has learned and worked with recognized permaculturists like the cocreator of permaculture Bill Mollison, and other pioneers of this movement like Geoff Lawton, Doug Bullock, Rosemary Morrow, Darren Doherty and Sepp Holzer, to name a few, and in the major world climatic regions. In this process Helder has been researching & implementing sustainability principles in a wide variety of environments, from urban and rural plots in the north and south of Europe to the the arid landscapes of Egypt & Turkey and lately big scale areas of tropical jungles of Peru and Brazil and favilitated knowledge sharing with tribal communities of Quechua and Shipibo tradition.
Helder is a strong supporter of low-income farmers and focuses his work on the creation of strong social structures to build strong foundations for resilient communities. His niche lies in the creation of harmonious social and natural landscapes that demonstrate a high quality of life and a paradigm shift. He is the founder of New School Permaculture and is very passionate about non-formal education and creative methodologies to deliver knowledge.
Carly is first and foremost a soul who aches to know the depths of LOVE. She grew up in USA, studied to be a social worker, moved to Switzerland in her late 20’s, had two wonderful young daughters, worked with young children, started looking at life through the lens of her yoga practice, became a yoga teacher, had an existential crisis, was diagnosed with breast cancer, met my mortality face to face and ever since started to LIVE HER TRUTH.
Daniel Graf is a campaigner and democracy activist.
He has co-initiated popular initiatives in Switzerland and led many political referendum campaigns. His main interest is the digitalization of democracy and the decentralization of power structures. Daniel lives with his family in Basel.
Alex (she/they) is an award-winning strategist, facilitator, and systems thinker based in Berlin, Germany. With a multidisciplinary background, she leverages her expertise to empower entrepreneurs, journalists, activists, and scientists to collaboratively address global challenges. Alex approaches strategic design not just as a methodology, but as a dynamic, three-dimensional space for fostering collective and embodied systems change. Her innovative work in bottom-up policy transformation was recently awarded with the New European Bauhaus Prize. By integrating social science, politics, culture, and economics, Alex is researching pathways toward regenerative economic systems.
Beyond time and form
A whispered humming along
A soothing melody
An expanding frequency
A bridge between I and we
Miro envisions a world where every breath leads to moments of discovery, healing, and empowerment. As a breathwork facilitator, Miro combines sacred space creation, cacao rituals, and breathwork to inspire personal transformation. His work is guided by a deep belief in the power of kindness, compassion, and mindful breathing to enhance global well-being.
Daisy has roots from Chile and Italy and grew up in Switzerland. She is a spoken word poet and movement facilitator.
Daisy struggled with depression and drug addiction at a young age, and experienced the limits of conventional therapy. She felt the need for somatic approacthes to have a real breakthrough and start living the life she wanted. After an intense study and work of over five years with Brazilian choreographer Gisela’s Rocha’s Movement for Life method, Daisy is excited to share this movement practice with Kaleido every morning.
Rakesh‘s work lives at the intersection of strategic alignment and human connection, and is the go to person for tech leaders when they are stuck in misalignment, eroding trust, or innovation paralysis with their teams.
When Rakesh is not fixing team dysfunction, he explores the intersection of art, food, and human connection through his food pop-up, mformittai & community space, Studio Idam in Berlin – because alignment isn’t just about workflows, but shared experiences.
Lila comes from a professional background in contemporary dance and choreography. Her path led her into years of immersive study in consciousness and inner work with teachers across Israel, India, and beyond — shaping her unique way of guiding others into embodied self-awareness.
Thomas left a decade-long career in engineering and sustainable finance, including work with the United Nations, to follow a calling into deep spiritual inquiry. He now holds spaces of transmission where inner transformation becomes a gateway to outer purpose.
Together, they guide journeys that explore how inner shifts can shape new realities — in our relationships, our choices, and the way we move through the world.
Nithin is a sound artist, curator and musician from Kerala, India.
Fascinated by all things ‘sound’ and ‘listening’, Nithin stumbled across his passion for curating listening experiences. His artistic practice revolves around facilitating listening spaces that allow listeners to enter an open, empathetic, and attentive states of mind. Nithin’s work has found homes in various platforms like Serendipity Arts Festival (Goa), Hyderabad Literature Festival, Ashoka University (Delhi), OtherPeople (NY), Radio Al Hara (Ramallah, Palestine), BoxoutFM (Delhi), BuchBasel (Switzerland)
Nithin is currently based in Berlin and is pursuing a Master’s in Sound Studies and Sonics Arts at the University of Arts in Berlin. Nithin has been programming Free.wav, an electronic music and sonic arts residency, since 2021 at Bhoomi Farms, set up by his family as an arts residency space.
Precious Plastic Zurich is a project and a part of the global community of people concerned with the use and recycling of plastic. We believe that the value of this resource should not be lost at the end of products’ lives.
Trent is one of the co-founders and the Managing Director of the World Spirit of the Game Foundation. He is also founder and President of 10 Million Discs, an international NGO which uses the unique sport of Ultimate frisbee to advance a wide array of social and humanitarian causes around the world.
His background includes a wide variety of start-ups, both operating and consulting, and he has utilized that experience to help 10 Million Discs develop a diverse global network with very low overhead. His vision is to put that network to use, taking Spirit of the Game pilot programs developed and tested in Switzerland and spreading them globally.
Trent is a US citizen, Swiss resident and lives in Zurich with his wife and 3 year old son
Maureen explores movement, voice and connection across artistic and everyday spaces. As a contemporary dancer based in Switzerland and working across Europe, she creates interactive projects that invite people to sense, move, and experience together.
Her work blends dance with other disciplines —always with a focus on shared experience and embodied presence. The voice, shaped through years of singing and vocal exploration, is a key tool for Maureen to open up inner and outer spaces.
Influenced by studies in Sufism and Environmental Somatics, she bridges inner and outer landscapes with a gentle curiosity for the in between. Her practice creates space for feeling, relating, and sense making—playfully and with depth.
Naveen is Co-founder and Creative Director of Kaleido.
He’s passionate about catalyzing the creative potential of individuals and social systems.
He embodies several selves, as a community organizer, poet, somatic arts facilitator, friend, son, brother, partner and recovering academic.
He has co-founded several organizations including Humane Warriors, which mobilizes North-South action for building socio-environmental equity together with historically marginalized communities, and The Origin AG, which develops mindful technologies and tools for creativity. He was formerly a senior researcher and lecturer for robotics at ETH Zurich.
He currently lives and plays between Zurich and Berlin.
Giulia Dazzi is a singer, songwriter and mandala artist based in Switzerland.
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