Upcoming Events

Is the Earth Alive? A Goethean Exploration

A talk by Craig Holdrege at the Cognizing Life Conference

ONLINE Friday, July 18, 2025, 2:00pm ET

We take for granted that microbes, plants, animals, and human beings are alive. Yet we find it impossible to understand organisms without including their relation to the environment—to what we normally think of as being “outside of them.” Our view of life expands when we move from the idea of organism and environment to an understanding of organisms in and through environment. Then our concept of life grows to encompass what we see as centered in the organism as well as the organism’s contextual relations. Life does not end at what we conventionally conceive of as the “boundaries” of an organism. A pathway opens up to apprehending the earth as alive.

Craig’s talk will be one of the keynote addresses at the “Cognizing Life Conference,” which is from July 16th to the 19th in Tübingen, Germany. All the talks will also be live streamed and recorded. This conference gathers together Goethean practitioners with academics, philosophers, and artists to reconsider how to develop a more living understanding of life. You can register for the live stream and get more information on the schedule of livestream speakers on the conference website.

Podcast Episode: “Earth Alive”

In our new podcast episode, we are happy to share a talk Craig Holdrege gave in celebration of Earth Day, which he called “Earth Alive.” In it, he explores the living dialogue between organisms and their dynamic environments. He invites listeners to consider that we can only see the earth as alive if we first learn how to think life differently.

Latest Publications

In Context: Spring 2025 Issue

The spring 2025 issue (#53) of our biannual publication, In Context, is now available in print and online. New writings include a feature by Jon McAlice and Craig Holdrege on challenging the inquiring mind to see beyond boundaries, and Marisha Plotnik’s images and impressions from her recent study of leaf color change. You’ll also find a report on our third Climate Change Colloquium by Marisha, plus news of our many activities.

Featured Article

Sympoiesis: From Thinking About to Being With

Separate entities can either compete or develop strategies to cooperate. In either case, the starting point is separation. This is a foundational assumption of modern biology. But what if relatedness is more fundamental? How would we behold living beings and what we call their environment? A consideration of oak trees guides this exploration of sympoiesis — creating together.

News From The Institute

Read here about recent staff activities at the institute as well as abroad including lectures and workshops with farmers, gardeners, botanical enthusiasts, college and graduate students, and collaborative trainings in climate science, mathematics, and Goethean practice with teachers and visiting scholars. Also, a thank you to our departing editor, grant writer, and treasured staff member, Elaine Khosrova.

Our Online Bookstore

Our online Bookstore offers titles from our faculty and other Goethean authors whose work we value. We encourage you to browse or contact us with any questions.

Other Research and Resources

In addition to publishing our staff’s work relating to Goethean Science and Phenomenology on this site, we also periodically showcase the work of others in the field. A new such addition to our Writings By Author section is the work of Mark Riegner PhD, who taught Ecology and Evolution for 35 years at Prescott College in Arizona, and has authored four insightful articles that you can link to from here.

About the work of The Nature Institute — In a rare interview, recorded in Brazil, Henrike and Craig Holdrege speak of their transformative work and the Goethean perspective that has long inspired it. This Q & A followed a two-week course, “Seeing Nature Whole,” that the Holdrege’s have frequently taught each December in Florianópolis.