Seems so, this is becoming a lovely republic of icon painters, artists, great abandoned houses, cosy cafes, a lot of mysterious courtyards, uphill streets and ladders, of painters, art dealers, monks and nuns, Central Asian-immigrants, birthplaces of and living places of many known Russian poets, writers, painters, musicians, jokers etc.
It's old and officialy functioning again since 2002, hence: expect something marvellous if you believe, and if you don't believe be amazed by the Power of Transformation and Expansion this epoch's about!
Sacred space within a form of FCS
A lovely film animation based around the words of John in an interview from Toronto 1969. It was conducted by 14 tear old Jerry Levitan.
Pause for thoughts.
“Anything you hear is there…all answers.”
Australian ecology writer, activist, musician and founder of the Rainforest Information Center (RIC). Deep Ecologist and influential thinker. A communitarian. But also a person of humour and intelligence and gentle passion
Lots of information, videos and links about his books, ideas…and life are to be found at his homepage at the RIC.
The Japanese village of Kamikatsu has taken their commitment to sustainability to a whole new level. The town instated the Zero Waste Declaration with the goal of being completely waste-free by 2020.
It is reported that 80% of the town's garbage is recycled, reused, or composted, with the rest going to a landfill.
The process saves the village a third of its former costs from waste incineration.
Cartoon Kate is something of UK-alternative-institution. Her first, fab cartoon book was ‘Copse’ the cartoon book of tree/road protests.
She has produced much fine, thought-provoking work about environmentalism, squatting, eco-protest and more. Including the Calais refugee camp cartoon, 'Threads'. Awesome! Help her to fund its printing and distribution.Have a good look around her website.
The Kibbutz in Israel have been famous as examples of intentional communities. Economic challenges have led to changes in the economic and social structures.
The second link is from John Carson who stayed in a kibbutz and compiled cotes to help would-be visitors.
In Wetzikon, Switzerland. They say that: “The Culture Factory is a former foundry, which is a place for cultural encounters and cultural production today.
The culture - one hand understood as performing and visual arts, on the other hand as human needs such as housing, work and meet each other - intended as a unifying element, the various parts of the Kulturfabrik together.”
La Caravana (Rainbow Peace Caravan)
Links to the history of La Caravana, a mobile eco-village project in South America. Much respected eco-nomads.
An ecovillage that is being developed with government support in the Pembrokeshire area of Wales in the UK.
The website describes the concept for the Lammas ecovillage as: “that of a collective of eco-smallholdings working together to create and sustain a culture of land-based self-reliance. The project supports a permaculture approach to land management – in which human beings are considered an intrinsic part of the ecosystem. As a result the approach to environmental management is one of stewardship for future generations rather than exploitation for short term gain.”
There are now many property companies providing ‘guardians’ for commercial and residential properties. These are UK links, but the schemes also exist across Europe.
They can provide a cheap from of accommodation, but there are challenges too. Some of the big commercial sites offer some communal possibilities.
Here’s a link to one.
And a look at the down-sides of the ‘reality’ of some schemes from the BBC magazine.