In 2017, at age 70, Haiko Nitschke is honored for his work. He is the pioneer of the vision quest movement in the German-speaking world. The Vision Quest is a very old and widely used method of the search for meaning and self-healing in all cultures of the world. ‘Go into the wilderness, bless yourself and learn.’ With this invitation, for example, Native Americans have been sent to a vision search at turning points in their lives. The goal of this journey into the outer and inner loneliness is the examination of the eternal cycle of life and death. It makes it possible to reconnect with life, to recognize the meaning of one’s own existence and to find its own personal task of life.​

Since 1992, he has supervised vision search groups. Between 1997 and 2015 he also conducted training in

visionquest management and one-year pedagogical trainings in initiatory natural experience. In 1997

Haiko Nitschke founded “ÖKOSYS Institute for Ecological Systemic Education” (www.oekosys.org) and

chaired it for nine years. He was also a staff member of the American School of Lost Borders,

and a board member and member of the Elder Council of the WGC Wilderness Guides Council.

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