This newsletter is published quarterly using a cycle of perspectives on the Integral City viewed from: Planet, People, Place and Power. The theme of this issue is People. The unusual and captivating hero of this book is the city. Not an inert mass of buildings, but a collective, a hive, a holarchy that [...]
What percentage of the community needs to turn up to inquire about community Purpose? Are cities discovering there is a peak size or a form of relationship that enables optimal wellbeing? (and/or climate change responsiveness?) When we notice the tensions between individual agency and collective consciousness is there an uber-voice that presences the whole [...]
We continue the story of Ecovillage Findhorn seeking its Community Purpose and Aims. Last Sunday, at another community gathering, we moved on from exploring Purpose to defining Primary Aims. Guided by Gordon McAlpine/NFA and Tessa Brock/EF, we welcomed back 55 Questors including 11 Harvest Hosts. In groups of 5 we took the challenge [...]
This week Ecovillage Findhorn has immersed ourselves in a Purpose Quest. We learned from 5 Inspirational Sources (see full inspirations here). Whole Community Purpose Strategic Framework Global Ecovillage Network Dorothy MacLean Patrick Lewington From these inspirations, we drafted 8 Potential Purpose Statements (see them here). And from these we identified 5 Themes: Spiritual [...]
As Findhorn Ecovillage has explored its Community Purpose, it considers how relationships between people and organizations shift and change within the community. Some responses, resistances and resources have surprised me. But then I remembered one of my core learnings about Community comes from Parker Palmer. Many years ago he wrote a quizzical but profound [...]
From the 5 Inspirations and 8 Potential Purpose Statements the Findhorn Community discovered 5 Key Themes. Exploring how they resonated with the expressions of those themes revealed where was most energy for Patterns of Purpose. We are a Spiritual Community. We connect with the Intelligences of Nature. We Evolve and Support [...]
As Ecovillage Findhorn Community explored 5 Inspirations for its Community Purpose, it drafted 8 potent and potential Purpose Statements. (Inspired by Strategic Framework): We are an inclusive, vibrant spiritual community exploring co-creation with all life, seen and unseen. We are a caring community here for the benefit of all. We take personal and [...]
The Community of Findhorn has been journeying on a Purpose Quest. We started by contemplating 5 Inspirations. Working in small clusters of 5 people, for each inspiration we asked ourselves: In what way does this Inspiration express Community Purpose? (Circle 3 phrases) what do you resonate with – affirm, want to retain? (Strikethrough 2 [...]
This clutch of blogs explores the thinking and background that goes into developing an Ecovillage as it matures from teenager to young adult: How to re-think the stewardship of Commons? How to transfer land holdings from a founding organization to the community? How to design Governance for a community of organizations? How to develop [...]
Where has the Blogger in Chief been for the last couple of months? True confessions - I have been contributing in various ways to the life of Park Ecovillage Findhorn (and assisting Learning Cities. Earth to expand into a Swiss Association (Verein) and Community Interest Company (CIC in Scotland - but those are another [...]