Claudia Santos is a member of the faculty and trainer on the ILM Assured Refugees as Re-Builders™ Programme, specialising in the design and delivery on the Sustainable Livelihood for Resilience module.  In July 2024 Claudia joined colleagues and  attended the first ever  Inner Development Goals Forum in Caux, Switzerland.  Claudia  shares her thoughts and reflections of the week.

I board the train from Montreux to Caux, unsure of what awaits me. I lose myself in Switzerland’s mesmerising views of snowy mountains and meticulously kept landscapes with well-tended houses—a kind of beauty so few of us are privileged to witness. As I step off the train and begin making my way towards the Caux Palace, each step draws me closer and closer to history itself. I soon realise that the beauty of the building, alongside its peaceful surroundings, is as eloquent as the view over Lake Léman. Yet, the energy here is something else entirely.

This place pulses with a unique force, where the material and the natural world intertwine. For over a century, this energy has been sustained by the dispossessed and the wealthy, the persecuted and the forgivers, the givers and the receivers, and all those who have dedicated themselves to building a common good.

My first time to the Caux Palace was in 2019, yet the experiences of arriving, being, and leaving have transcended time. Now, in 2024, my body instinctively remembers the steps, the corridors, the openings, and the views as if this were a homecoming. I am embraced by a sense of belonging, comfort, acceptance, of being heard, and being challenged.

This year, the Caux Foundation hosted its annual Forum on the Inner Development Goals—a framework and a practice put together to humanise the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Partnering with the Inner Development Goals foundation felt like a natural match to the work of Initiatives of Change. After all, the commitment to self-reflection and personal growth as a precursor to transforming the world is what unites a diverse community at Caux, year after year.

Those who managed to secure a spot at this year’s Forum had the opportunity to choose from four workstreams: 1) Conscious food systems; 2) A more climate-friendly lifestyle; 3) Cultivating peaceful societies: embracing conscience, peace and love; 4) Partnership accelerator. As a member of faculty for the Refugees as Re-Builders™ Programme at Initiatives of Change UK, I partnered with our Programme Lead, Dr. Muna Ismail, to deliver a workshop on the first workstream. Titled Rethinking Mindsets: methods and practices to regenerate local wild crops and livelihoods in conflict and climate-affected communities, our workshop stemmed from a shared recognition of our responsibility to bring forth the hardships and strengths of communities living under challenging conditions and struggling to secure their food systems.

Whether in the Somali Region of Ethiopia or in Guinea-Bissau, these communities are often torn apart by conflict and climate change. The marginalisation, dispossession, and other pressures they endure as their livelihoods are slowly eroded or rapidly uprooted are often the result of human actions. This reality puts us all under the onus of asking: What could we have done to prevent it, and what must we now do to support them?

For many of us, the Inner Development Goals forum held the key to unlocking the safe we all carry in our hearts. In that safe lies our courage, and courage is the first step towards self-transformation. We have been taught to hide or reject our vulnerability, yet vulnerability is an act of strength. When we suppress our emotions, we hinder our ability to form genuine relationships and build trust. Caux offers a safe space for exploring our inner worlds, far beyond the typical conference experience. Plenaries and workshops were interspersed with community circles, where we gathered in small groups to share deeply about our struggles and hopes.

These circles were a testament to the power of embracing vulnerability. Each day in the circle felt like returning to our garden, where we all strived to become flowers— each dependent on the entire ecosystem, yet blossoming in our own time. Free from judgement.

I had never been so conscious of food before. This year’s IDG forum changed that for me. Exploring our relationship with food brought about a profound sense of gratitude in me. Food can be the catalyst for self-awareness, both of the body and mind. It can be a source of comfort and unity, but it can also highlight injustice and inequality, reflecting our disconnection from one another and the natural world.

As we learnt together how to reconnect our lives with food, the early morning indigenous-led ceremonies served as true portals, linking us and all life to the whole. Filled with symbolism and sacracy, a sense of higher purpose descended upon me as I stood in the circle around the fire—an alignment with the unseen, embraced by the respectful silence.

That first time the train carried me uphill, little did I know I was embarking on a journey of profound connection: with myself, with others, and with the universe itself.

For more information about Inner Development Goals, a non-profit, open-source initiative committed to fostering inner development towards more sustainable futures read more HERE

Register for the Refugees as Re-Builders™ Training Programme HERE.  Deadline for applications is 13th September 2024