Dear readers,

„Books are food“ - when Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood was still the scene of subcultural awakening in the 1990s, this quote was emblazoned on the wall of a building on what is now Danziger Strasse. Back then, Berlin was considered poor and sexy, the latter mainly due to its bubbling cultural landscape. Today, too, empty coffers characterise the city's profile, only the importance of culture is no longer so clearly high: cultural projects are being discontinued as a result of budget cuts, creative artists are losing their jobs and - this time the cut is not bypassing the established theatres either - theatres and ensembles are threatened with insolvency. Yes, and things don't look any rosier in the social sector. Yes, and...

Debt is never good, and saving is never fun. We will certainly not be leaving future generations a thriving landscape – our problems will be passed on in any case, whether in the form of national debt or crumbling infrastructure. The question is what our society needs now in order to remain capable of acting. It makes little sense to play culture off against education, social issues or climate protection. But at this point, let's whisper an answer through the OE bag: Culture eats all other things for breakfast. Without culture, we can no longer even imagine a different future.

And because books are food, it so happens that we SOCIUS publishing Today, we are pleased to announce a new publishing house and its first work, which raises many questions about the future of work: „The chronically ill and the organisation“ by Monia Ben Larbi, illustrated by Julia Hoffmann.

And before we enter the contemplative escalation of the festive season, this letter also contains some Carrier substance for good intentions In the New Year: from the reflection room with the Zurich Resource Model to the new run of our annual OE training course „Developing Non-Profit Organisations“!

We wish you a peaceful holiday season and look forward to seeing you again in 2025.

Andi Knoth 

Nicola Kriesel, Julia Hoffmann, Yi-Cong Lu, Denise Nörenberg, Hannah Kalhorn, Christian Baier, Lysan Escher, Joana Ebbinghaus

Discover practical tips for self-organised work in our free online course, the SOCIUS change essentials. With over 30 videos, the course offers helpful self-organisation tools such as consensus moderation and role board tutorials. Register and also receive the SOCIUS brief, our newsletter with exciting topics and events.