The Zenith Camp is going through an intense process of change and reorientation, leaving the well-known place in Ticino and finding its way to a new structure and home. This page gives you an overview of recent events and the next steps:
How did the current vision process begin?
The vision process was triggered in the fall of 2023 by the decision to leave the previous camp site in Campra / Pü. It became clear that we would not be able to find an appropriate replacement so quickly. However, the camp’s financial situation and changes in management and the team were also reasons to seek new structures. The board of the Zenith Institute and the management would like to involve the entire camp community in this process: What should the camp look like in the future? Only if we make our wishes and visions clear will we be able to find a new location that meets these needs.
Our previous location in Campra / Pü
A brief summary of the reasons for the decision to leave Campra: In the last 20 years, the camp has not seen the number of participants it used to in the early years. Even Zamir, who had managed the camp for 30 years, struggled with deficits towards the end of that time. Building the infrastructure in a five-week work camp was always relatively expensive. In the last 5 years, the calculation only worked out thanks to many donations. In 2022 and 2023, the new hotel in Campra and the municipality of Olivone then imposed more and more restrictions on us, for example, we were no longer able to use the technical building and the kitchen. This was the moment we decided that the camp could no longer be held in its usual setting. Some say we should have made this decision earlier, while others are happy that our beautiful place in Ticino remained with us for as long as possible.
Organization / Management
After Zamir announced his retirement in 2013, he handed the management over to Deepa in 2014, who ran the camp for nine years, until 2022. She passed the position on to Isha and Mahbub. After Mahbub resigned, it was up to Isha alone to lead the camp into an uncertain future. It quickly became clear that this task could not be solved with the classic role of management and the limited funds the camp could provide. From the need to fundamentally change the organizational structures of the camp, the idea of forming various working groups that would collaborate on specific areas such as finding a new site or planning the program arose. Volunteers from our community are encouraged to participate, along with the team, board, and management.
Retrospective: Internal Visioning Process 2018
Already at the time of Zamir’s retirement, there were working groups discussing the renewal of the camp and a possible new place. In 2018, we conducted a process on the future of the camp with Deepa, the camp team and the board. The collective results were:
- The camp should remain in Campra for the time being (nature and mountains are important for the inner process)
- New participants should be actively approached and reached
- Offering a good program for the young generation is a central role of the camp
- The camp should continue to be a meeting place for the international Inayatiyya community
- Pir Zia should continue to play a central role in the program
- Hazrat Inayat Khan’s message is at the center
- However, openness to other traditions and interreligious dialogue are important components
The goal of the current vision quest
We see the departure from Campra and the personnel changes in the team and management not merely as a crisis, but above all as an opportunity for renewal. We want to realign ourselves and clearly define what Zenith Camp stands for and how we want to hold our summer camps. We are also formulating new answers regarding the program, structure and organization, working methods and approach of the association and management.
The size of the camp, the scale of the infrastructure and the form of financing should be in line with demand and attendance numbers. A more flexible and sustainable camp shall emerge from this process. We would like to invite the whole camp community to help us think about what the needs are and what a camp should look like in the future. We are looking for people who want to continue participating in the visioning process, and also for people who are willing to actively participate in a working group.
Opportunities to get involved
At the two-week summer camp in Bad Bevensen 2024, we held six vision circles on-site, in which a pleasantly large number of people participated. Many important discussions were also initiated outside of these meetings. Another vision workshop will happen online this fall, on October 20, 2024. Here’s the Zoom link.
The results of the previous vision talks, together with questions and answers from participants can be found here.
We will provide an overview of the working groups here in the future. If you already know in which areas you would like to get involved, please contact us at info@zenithinstitute.org.