Gaia Is Hiring UnConference - 25th- 28th May 2017
Katharina Kaifler in conversation with Patrizia Servidio (initiator)
Hello Patrizia - Hello Katharina
I'm happy that you found the time to give me a little interview about Gaia Is Hiring UnConference
Thank you for the opportunity
As far as I remember, you followed an impuls about 2 years ago in 2015
and published a job offer for GAIA
something like "GAIA is hiring evolutionaries on a freelance and self responsible basis".
Exactly! - How did it happen?
I have long been working with people who are looking for their vocation
And I work with private people as well as with companies.
And in both areas I recognized recently that there is a lot of pain about the way we work.
People looking for their vocation often time suffer from a burnout syndrome or are unemployed.
Also in companies there are more and more people suffering from burnout or the old structures are just not working anymore.
There is a lot of pressure
And one day I was outside running and the thought came into my mind: "How can anybody say that they are jobless?"
There is so much to to in the world at the moment - so much to change - so much to invent.
What hurt's me most when I look at our working world and our economy is
... that we are in a fight for survival and we are so busy, that we don't even recognize what's happening by the way we work and do business ..
... with the environment, with the people, with families, with everything ...
This was the impuls to publish a job offer in the name of Planet Earth. What would GAIA be looking for?
This is how it happened.
When I remember correctly there was a huge response - you had about 47.000 hits on your website in a short time.
And a lot of Emails and comments in the sense of "job applications" by different people who were willing to participate, saying: "How can I be part of this?"
Even if the jobs you mentioned in the offer were'nt the usual job descriptions. There were different terms for unusual jobs.
Would like to repeat some of them here?
Yes. I thought: "What does our world need?"
We are in a stage of transition at the moment. In a phase of transformation.
So special people for special tasks are needed.
For example people are needed who are capable of healing old wound - we need Wound Healers.
Or Life Advocats - people defending living beings or groups who are underprivileged or unprotected from exploitation.
We need Evolution Architects, we need Economy Inventors. In all areas there is the necessity to invent new ways of interaction.
So I mentioned these job descriptions in the job offer and there were a lot of applications.
And there were people thinking it is a real job offer and that GAIA is a company. They asked: "What do I have to bring? What can I earn?"
This was interesting. That with a job offer at once there is the connotation that it must be a company.
A part from that a lot of people said: "YES. Cool idea! I want to do something useful. I want to be part of that with my special talents. How can I take part?"
This was the majority of applications.
I was totally amazed by this response. I regularly write Blog articles and they get about 1.000 hits. But 40.000 - 50.000? I was suprised. And it gave me hope!
And the the article got reposted by somebody else one year later or so?
Exactly. In July 2016 I received another wave of applications. And I thought: "What? The post is already one year old. What's that?"
Then I found out that somebody else reposted my post, which caused this second wave.
And this was the point when I thought: "Okay. Now I have to do something. This is a call from the universe.
There is so much willingness, so much support. Okay, now it would be good, to have a meeting.
That all the people who are ready to change something and willing to work for and with the Planet - when those people meet in reality and find out how it goes.
Was that the birth hour of the Gaia is Hiring UnConference?
Yes, that was the birth hour of the UnConference.
The UnConference is an event, where people come together - on the one hand people who are ready ...
... ready to leave the old ways behind and the struggle for survival and to enter into a mode of living.
... and to put themselves and their talents into service for GAIA, the living planet earth. But they don't know how it goes and how to exit the survival mode.
This is one part. And there are already a lot of people already doing that. Who are running projects. There are a lot of initiatives - small things happening all over the world
At the UnConference all those people shall come together and inspire eachother, finding team members for their projects or finding projects.
So that they find possibilities to get out of their old jobs step by step and start working for GAIA together with all the other GAIA team members.
Patrizia, perhaps the term "UnConference" is not clear to everybody. Can you say more about that? What is the difference between an UnConference and a Conference?
We chose the term "UnConference" because it already exists. It was created to make a difference.
UnConference means, means ...
Let me say it like this. A Conference works like this. You go to a place where experts talk about something they experienced or know. You pick up knowledge of experts.
The knowledge comes from "authorities" and is transferred to the "ignorant". It is very hierarchical. There is a clear structure, an agenda.
There are talks and workshops, you can choose from. You  participate in a very passive way. And then you go home with a lot of knowledge from somebody else.
A normal conference works like that.
At an UnConference there are no authorities. There is an exchange of knowledge. Everybody contributes with their knowledge and experiences.
The agenda is created on the spot with the questions of the participants. We work with the topics which are interesting for the participants.
And at the Gaia is Hiring UnConference we even got a step beyond.
Therefore UnConference is perhaps not the right term for the event.
As nobody knows how a world where we work in cooperation with the Planet will look like, we will step into the field of "not knowing" together.
We will hold space for emergence. Emergence means that everything for which the time is ripe, can arise by holding space for it.
To make this happen spaceholders are needed, who are able to go there and to endure the "not knowing"
It has to do with fear. And it could be chaotic in the beginning and then within the chaos things can emerge for which the time is ripe.
The spaceholders of the UnConference are trained to hold this space, the space of "We don't know".
So it is similar to an UnConferece but it goes beyond.
Okay. That means there will not only be evolution happening in the space but also the field of the "UnConference" will be further developed.
Exactly.
Patrizia, this sounds very appealing. When will the UnConference happen?
The UnConferece will take place in the end of May. From the 25th to the 28th of May in Souther Germany, at Lenzwald.
A community is living at Lenzwald, called Pulse of the Earth, and they are the organizer of the UnConference
So you created yourself a team with the Pulse of the Earth, with which you hold space for the event.
Exactly. Pulse of the Earth is one part of the team. And they are already working for and with GAIA.
And there are also other people from my surroundings, who were so excited about the idea that they wanted to be part of the team.
Teamwork seems to be an important topic in regard to evolution. Would you like to say something about that?
Yes. The time of the lone wolf is over!
Gaia Is Hiring is not just one single UnConference. What we want to create with it is a movement.
A movement with which we want to bring as much of these initiatives and projects, already happening, together in order to change our culture, our working world ...
... our way of living to achieve sustainability. So with the time we generate a mass, so that all the initiatives are no longer working alone with little impact.
We want to create a mass all together and with that a huge worldwide community with a big impact. That is the goal of the movement
The UnConference is just one part of it.
Everything happening around the movement "Gaia is Hiring" can only be achieved with teamwork. No single fighter could hold this space.
It concerns so many levels of social life. It starts with the working world. But the working world is connected with the world of economy.
It is connected to the world of education and schooling. When you start at one point you start like a Domino effect, concerning all levels.
No single person can hold space for that. It is only possible with a team.
I want to say something more about the UnConference.
We will not only work a lot at the UnConference
We will have times to network, to just be together, perhaps also to make music, in order to celebrate life itself.
We will also go into a deep conversation with GAIA. There will be many different spaces at the UnConference
I wanted to add that, so that you can get a feeling of what will possibly happen at the UnConference.
All this sounds very exciting. The GAIA UnConference will happen from the 25th to the 28th of May - 4 days - at Lenzwald
When I want to participate, where can I register for the event?
You simply go to our website. It's www.gaiaishiring.strikingly.com
You'll find a registration form there, where you can also add the questions and topics you are interested in.
We will use your questions to set up the program - with the questions from the registration form and the questions emerging at event.
Thank you, Patrizia. Is there anything you want to say before we end our conversation?
I'm so much looking forward to it. I notice that the project is pulling me - it's pulling and pushing at the same time.
So I'm very excited to go real steps with all the people who are ready to change the world. Not to just dream of it, but to really start projects together with them to make change happen.
Thank you for the interview. I have goose bumps. I enjoyed talking to you. And I can only recommend to go to the UnConference - if just to get to know Patrizia.
Many thanks, Katharina. You will also be there or not?
Oh yes. I am there.
I'm looking forward to everybody who will participate.
Thank you. Bye!
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