Camphill

About Camphill

Camphill is a worldwide movement dedicated to community living that supports and values the contributions of all community participants without regard to their intellectual or physical capabilities. Camphill communities have taken up many tasks. Among the most prominent are:

1. Providing education, advocacy, therapeutic care and other services to support people with special needs and help them participate fully in the world as contributing citizens;
2. Caring for and healing the earth, together with people with special needs, through sustainable and healthy methods of consumption, of agriculture and use of natural resources; and
3. Creating new social arrangements and intentional relationships that nurture the growth and development of individuals, inwardly and outwardly.

A Pathway to Wholeness

Camphill communities are all different, adapting the worldwide movement mission to local circumstances and local needs. In every Camphill adult community, the path to wholeness involves relationships of mutual respect, adult education and meaningful work, real participation in community life, including community decision-making, a healing rhythm of daily activities, seasonal celebrations, a rich artistic and cultural life, natural therapies, individual recognition, and dignity for everyone. This path is created for all Camphill community residents, not just for those with special needs.

Camphill Co-Workers

Camphill communities are "staffed" by people who choose the tasks and the lifestyle for a short time or for a life time. Called "co-workers" to acknowledge their role of working alongside people with disabilities or with other special needs, these staff are volunteers who make a commitment to the Camphill work. Although financial arrangements vary from country to country and community to community, Camphill co-workers are not jobholders in the traditional sense. They are people who have decided to live, however briefly, in a world where the dominant values are learning from others, practicing awareness, and appreciating and protecting the natural world.

Dr. Karl Koenig

Dr. Karl Koenig was an Austrian paediatrician and educator. He fled the Nazi invasion of his own country and settled in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1939 with a group of young physicians, artists and caregivers. These individuals founded the first Camphill community with children having learning disabilities. Dr. Koenig and his colleagues were inspired by Anthroposophy and the teaching of philosopher and educator Rudolf Steiner, Ph.D. Dr. Koenig's vision was to develop Camphill communities together with people who have special needs. His unique and effective approach focused on the abilities of each person, not the disabilities. Members of the communities support and learn from each other in a process of mutual interaction. The needs of each person are met through living in a cooperative community - each individual contributing his or her own special gifts and talents. This vision lives on and each new generation in Camphill strives towards achieving it. The International Camphill Movement consists of more than 90 communities in 19 countries. Camphill continues to work to create communities in which children, youth, and adults with special needs can live, learn, and work with others in healthy social relationships based on mutual care and respect.