I first had the idea for Baumhaus back in 2011 and soon after in 2012 Karen Wohlert was convinced of the idea enough to join me in making it into a reality. Now after 13 years of working and living together, Karen will leave the Baumhaus to pursue other interests. It is with some sadness but even more gratitude for the past and hope for the future that we say goodbye to each other and this era of the Baumhaus.
Together with the help of over 1000 volunteers, friends, colleagues, family and supporters we were able to create a beautiful environment, an open and evolving community, catalyzed or given birth to many new initiatives and resonant frameworks for making the world a better place. Somehow against all odds, we have managed to survive and grow – all this without receiving any public funding.
Without a doubt, this has been the most challenging and fulfilling epic adventure of my lifetime so far. Along with our successes we have experienced various degrees of burnout and exhaustion while trying to keep things rolling along. It’s time for a change…
Several people have been anxiously asking me, “What will happen with Baumhaus now?” My answer: I see a parallel between the climate crisis and the continuing existence of Baumhaus. In both cases it is important to take action now in order to preserve life in the future. So it is with a renewed sense of dedication that I plan the next steps.
The New Direction – Launching An Evolution (of conscious understanding)
Over the last decade we have developed, prototyped and used several ideas and intuitively understandable frameworks that resonate across a broad spectrum of people. The most fundamental one is around the concept of ‘dynamic regenerative balance’. As it turns out, any system living or non-living must be in state of a dynamic (changing) balance in order to sustain it’s existence. This is true whether we are referring to a human being, the earth’s ecosystem, a machine or a spiral galaxy light years away.
Our biggest problem on this planet is that we are managing it with models and frameworks that are meant to create and maintain imbalance. Since recorded history we humans have been operating on the ‘domination’ paradigm which often manifests itself in the form of ‘winning’. We compete to be the best, have the most stuff or consolidate power, win the game, always be right, get the most attention; to be on top. Our economic and labor systems have built in inequalities and imbalances in considering the value of people’s time, energy and life experience. Is it any wonder that our relationship to nature, each other and ourselves is often out of balance? This story is explained pretty dramatically in our new short video:
Our biggest opportunity to turn things around is to realize that we need to start to reconsider the constructs of society and our relationships to nature and each other through the filter of ‘dynamic regenerative balance’. It will be a constant priority of Baumhaus to find ways to share this perspective in an effort to “Launch An Evolution” of conscious understanding that can inform, inspire and motivate more people into action. In accordance, Baumhaus will begin offering workshops and seminars in 2026 to share all the frameworks that we have developed that are proven to have positive and immediate effects.
I ask supporters of Baumhaus to take a look at our services page and consider booking options from a Sustainability Thinking, PEACES, Flow meditation or Inner Commons workshop to hiring any one of our sustainable solutions design services or a even Baumhaus tour. As always, the Baumhaus space can still be rented for activities that make the world a better and more balanced place.
In 2026 you can expect a newly invigorated calendar with more regular public events in Baumhaus including Community Night 2 times per month as well as workshops like the ones mentioned above. I will also be posting more often on the News page of Baumhaus. In the meantime, please check out our latest project to inspire some real solidarity by setting up a platform fro a trusted network of people and organizations working to bring more balance into the world – OurWorld.Solutions.
Peace,
Scott
Please send any questions, suggestions and offers for collaboration or support to info@baumhausberlin.de
p.s. The will be a room available above the Baumhaus – now that Karen has moved out her room in our 130qm apartment will be available starting Jan 1. The room is about 17qm with windows facing west. The rent will be in the neighborhood of 600€ which includes utilities. Send inquiries to scott@baumhausberlin.de