Tough Love and Collective Responsibility

Every living system evolves. Ecovillage Findhorn is no exception. As our governance structures shift from the legacy of the Findhorn Foundation Scottish Charity Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) toward a more community-based model, we are learning what it means to embrace tough love alongside collective responsibility.

Entanglement

Recently, I have been serving as one of six nominees to act as interim trustees for the SCIO. This role has made visible just how complex and entangled governance can be in a living community.

During a recent petition process, the community paused trustee work for three weeks. It was stressful, even painful — but it also became a learning moment. We saw where our governance needed more grace, more clarity, and more courage.

“Governance is not about avoiding conflict — it is about transforming dissonance into life-giving dialogue.”

Integral City Lens

From an Integral City perspective, governance belongs in the civic manager voice — one of the four essential voices in the city system, alongside citizens, business innovators, and civil society.

Healthy governance arises when all four voices are in the room, listening and responding together. Without that wholeness, decisions feel fragmented. With it, governance becomes an expression of collective intelligence.

Here at Ecovillage Findhorn, our governance is evolving from centralised structures toward a distributed, participatory model — one more aligned with our values and our developmental stage.

Broader Resonance

The world is experiencing governance crises at every level, from neighbourhoods to nations. Ecovillage Findhorn’s struggles and experiments mirror those global challenges — but also offer hope.

When we practice tough love (naming what is not working, even when uncomfortable) and collective responsibility (sharing care across the whole system), we model a path beyond adversarial politics.

“The world doesn’t need communities that avoid conflict. It needs communities that practice tough love with compassion, resilience, and responsibility.”

Closing Reflection

Governance in transition is never easy. But if we lean into the discomfort, we may discover new patterns of aliveness — patterns that honour both the wisdom of the past and the possibilities of the future.

What governance structures in your life or community are asking to evolve? Where could you practice tough love with collective responsibility?

These themes are explored in this series of Blogs:

  1. Listening to the Inner Voice: Findhorn’s Call to Community

  2. Scaling Up Consciousness: Applying Integral Frameworks from Local to Global

  3. Hospitable to the Soul: Living with Beauty, Truth, and Goodness

  4. Gaia’s Reflective Organs: Cities, Communities, and Consciousness

  5. Governance in Transition: Tough Love and Collective Responsibility at Findhorn

  6. From Eco-Village to Regenerative Learning Community: A Microcosm for the World