Intentional Communities In France

Ecolonie (Vosges)


Through the starting points and vision of ECOlonie, we wish to express our view that life is a continuous, unifying experience. Founded in 1989, ECOlonie houses a vibrant, ecological association still very much in development.

Ecology (the thesis of ecological thinking and acting) at ECOlonie goes beyond healthy and organic gardening and building. Ecology is a philosophy that includes all aspects of life - both physical and spiritual. 'Eco' is derived from the Greek word oikos , meaning to feel at home. To feel at home somewhere simply means 'to feel at ease, to be able to be yourself'.

At ECOlonie, creativity and spirituality inspire the development of this vision to include environmental sustainability and the daily experience of nature. Each individual can define their own spirituality, as we focus on being undogmatic, down to earth and practical.

Website: Ecolonie




Lothlorien (Haute Marne)

Lothlorien is the name of the Golden Wood in Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”. It literally means “Flower of the Golden Wood”, a place where rest, peace and harmony prevail and where travellers can seek good advice and find strength.

Centre Lothlorien is a small community and course centre. The basis is living and working in harmony with nature, respect for everything that lives, giving an active contribution to create a human togetherness. It is an international, ecological and spiritual centre that offers a helping hand to every seeking person, everyone who is on the path of life. The centre presents courses, activities and a resting place where you can find your unique Self in order to go on with your life.

Website: Lothlorien



Carapa (Cévennes)

Website: Carapa 



Some other communities:

Green Community (Languedoc Rousillon)
Douceur et Harmonie (Serralongue, Catalonia)
Eco Chateau  (Saint-Privat, Corrèze)
L'Ecovillage du Périgord (Sarlande, Dordogne)
Oasis de Lentiourel (Saint-Affrique, Aveyron)
Taizé (Burgundy)
Goshen (Burgundy)
Peace Factory (Montolieu, Languedoc Rousillon)

Jason Roberts: Guerilla Urbanism

This is one of the most joyful, funny and uplifting presentations. Here is someone who will revitalize your spirit as much as he revitalized his town. Arts activist Jason Roberts will have everybody rethinking what is possible in their communities after watching this video. He lives in Oak Cliff, near Dallas, Texas. He's responsible for some of the most outrageous initiatives, going out of his way to break every ordinance in a neighborhood in order to show people, just for one weekend, what kind of transformation is possible.

On a desolate, depressing Texas street that for the last 70 years has only had cars and traffic in mind, he painted on his own bike lanes. He created outdoor seating areas. He set up trees and plantings just for the weekend. Instant cafes and arts centers were created.

The message in his enthusiastic talk is not just about what a great time they had with these radical techniques to get people to rethink a city space, and turn it back into being about and for people. What surprised even him was the unbelievable level of support and response he got -- and how many joined his bandwagon and remain committed to a new vision that is possible.

It's a ground swell. This is how you get things going folks!

Website: The Better Block

Intentional Communities In Spain

8th Life (Canary Islands)

We believe that stopping the destruction, working to build soil, restore ecosystems, heal our addictions, change organizational structures of the global economy & learn to live in community starting locally ... are the most important & urgent jobs to do now.

Website: 8th Life

Matavenero (Castile & Leon)

Website: Matavenero 



Sunseed (Andalusia)

Welcome to the Sunseed Desert Project, a hands-on practical centre for low-impact living and environmental education in Andalucía. At this lively international community, staff and volunteers work and learn together to develop, demonstrate, research and communicate alternative ways of having less impact and a smaller environmental footprint. Situated in a Los Molinos del Río Aguas, in a beautiful valley in southern Spain, Sunseed is off-grid and committed to low impact living and environmental stewardship.

Website: Sunseed

Valle De Sensaciones (Andalusia)

The project 'Valle de Sensaciones' is creating a space rich in nature, whose design, installations and sustainable infrastructure are allowing people to experiment with a wide variety of projects that revive the senses, including the conscience, and help to recreate a profound contact with the spirit of nature, the basis of our life. A space where various creators find fertile soil for the development of new initiatives between Art, Ecology and Technology. Another objective is to transmit the whole range of knowledge and inspiration out of the creation of this project. Beside the thematic areas of permaculture, green building, ecotecnology, and many other, we like to mediate a different attitude towards the need of changing our lifes, where each iniciative is enriched by creativity, art, music, spirituality, sensuality and by the spirit of comunal living.

Website: Valle de Sensaciones 

Ecoaldea de Lakabe (Navarre)



Other Ecovillages & Communities in Spain:
(Click for link to website)

Escanda (Asturias)
Falcon Blanco (Ibiza)
KanAwen (Catalonia)
Los Portales (Andalusia)
Flores de Vida (Catalonia)
Matricultura (Canary Islands)
Taller Karuna (Castile & Leon)

Iberian Ecovillage Network

Intentional Communities In Portugal

Awakened Life Project

A short introduction to a sustainable community in central Portugal that is pushing the boundaries of collective human potential. The Awakened Life Project is a non-profit association situated in a beautiful and wild ecological reserve in the mountains of Central Portugal. Part retreat centre and 21st century spiritual ashram, part permaculture farm, part integral evolutionary education hub, the Awakened Life Project is a multi-dimensional evolving organism and movement of (r)evolutionaries that is being co-created by a growing network of people throughout Portugal.

Website: Awakened Life Project



Tamera

Tamera in Southern Portugal is an international training and experimental site for the development of peace research villages and healing biotopes worldwide. Under the motto "Think Locally, Act Globally," approximately 200 people live, work and study in Tamera. Tamera’s aim is to develop an example of a model for a nonviolent co-existence of people and between people and nature. The main tasks of Tamera are: the education of young people within the "Monte Cerro" peace study, the building of a village model called "Solar Village" which produces its own food and solar energy, and global networking under the name of GRACE.

Website: Tamera



Osho Garden

Osho Garden is a communal project to create a living space where ecological gardening and meditation go hand in hand. We are registered as an Osho Information Center. The project started in 2010 and presently our accommodation is limited to a maximum of about ten people. We welcome visitors who want to participate and enjoy community life, spend time in nature and join the meditations, workshops, meetings, gardening and health food preparation.

Website: Osho Garden

Terramada

Isn’t Terramada like ”home”? A place where we can belong instantly and leave knowing we are a part of it even when apart. One Global Family. We share a wonderful gift in being Terramadians, in a community that is created by our principles of love, harmony, truth and freedom. By the labour each one of us who have tilled the soil, made the website, baked or organised or participated in an event or workshop has given.

Terramada needs your help to evolve into an ethical village and community, Where more people can visit and be inspired by our lived philosophy: Living as one, loving as one, in harmony with the Nature and each other. Creating a new world based on the heighest visions of ourselves by developing the power of our spirit.

Website: Terramada

Sustainable Living Projects, Courses and Events: Eco Living Portugal

Food Is Free

The Food is Free Project is creating a repeatable model of growing food and community. It is our vision and wish to empower you with the knowledge and know-how to transform your block and neighborhood step-by-step. Using salvaged materials we are building front yard community gardens for all to share. Imagine walking down a block lined with fresh produce ready for the picking. Neighbors not only growing food together, but becoming friends and supporting one another.

Website: Food Is Free

Money & Life (Trailer + Full Film)

"The struggles that destroy this world will continue if we don't find appropriate ways to deal with money."

Money & Life is a passionate and inspirational essay-style documentary that asks a provocative question: can we see the economic crisis not as a disaster, but as a tremendous opportunity? This cinematic odyssey connects the dots on our current economic pains and offers a new story of money based on an emerging paradigm of planetary well-being that understands all of life as profoundly interconnected.

This cinematic odyssey takes us on a journey, from the origins of money to connecting the systemic dots on the current global financial crisis and how we got here. Most importantly, Money & Life says that we owe it to ourselves to understand the fundamentals of this technology called money in order to be effective participants in the economic transformation that is happening around us, a shift more rapid and as profound as the Industrial Revolution.

The film is a tapestry of beautifully shot expert interviews woven with compelling vignettes of individuals and businesses consciously transforming their relationship with money. Together with dynamic animation, an original music score and an elegant voice of narration, the film tells a new story of money, but more broadly it tells a new story of humanity. Money & Life aspires to be a part of bringing a new consciousness to our understanding and practices in the world of money, bringing a touch of humor and a lot of heart to a matter that concerns us all.

An optimistic film steeped in appreciation for human ingenuity, Money & Life does not dictate answers. It is a respectful invitation to consider questions critical to all our well-being: How can we move beyond being merely consumers, debtors and creditors, and put money in service to what we really care about as citizens, as human beings? Can we design a monetary circulation system that fosters democratic equality? What responsibilities should a corporate charter convey? What does it really mean to make a living? The film itself demonstrates how to approach these questions with both clarity and compassion. Money & Life empowers each of us to respond to the fundamental issues of our time and participate in the emerging new economy.

Trailer

We are offering Money & Life to the world in spirit of the Gift. With the Creative Commons license we are effectively decriminalizing and inviting sharing of the film. By streaming the film online at no cost we are removing the financial barrier to access. Because the most important thing is that the film enter the flow of peer-to-peer sharing and discourse.

Instead of setting a price and transacting before you've seen the film, we are turning the tables and allowing you to experience the film and gift back according to your values, your means, and the quality of how the film may have gifted you.

Substantial resources went into the high quality production of this film and the creators are hoping to recoup some of these expenses. Additionally, donations will go towards supporting the film's continued outreach and distribution. If the film was of value to you, please pass it on to friends, family and colleagues and consider gifting back!

Full Film

Grow Food Everywhere

Want to get young people to eat fresh vegetables? Help them grow it themselves. In the words of one young Seeds of Leadership (SOL) gardener: "I put my blood, sweat and tears into growing them, which makes them a lot more delicious to me." The SOL garden builds skills and confidence and teaches youth about issues of environmental and social justice and food resiliency.

Seeds of Solidarity Education Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in Orange MA, supported through grants and the generosity of individual contributors. Seeds of Solidarity provides people of all ages with the inspiration and practical skills to use renewable energy and grow food in their communities.

Claude Lewenz: Village Towns

In five minutes, Claude Lewenz covers the core elements of a Village Town and invites the viewer to become involved. Claude Lewenz is author of "Life Liberty Happiness" and "How to Build a VillageTown (second edition, slightly renamed). A Village Town is a 10,000 population town made up of 20 villages. Within there are no cars, it has its own local economy, and its purpose is to enable its citizens to enjoy a good life, understood as the social pursuits of conviviality, citizenship, artistic, intellectual & spiritual growth.

Pam Warhurst: How We Can Eat Our Landscapes

What should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TEDSalon the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into communal vegetable gardens, and to change the narrative of food in their community.

Bastoy Island: A Liberal Prison System

No walls, no barbed wire and no guards. The prison island of Bastoy in the fjord of Olso is more like a holiday camp than a prison. When the weather is nice the inmates go for a walk by the sea or swim in it. They live in the same building but each one of them can decorate his room as he wishes. The director places his emphasis on trust and humanity. The prisoners are required to take responsibility. Norwegians are proud of their liberal prison system. And the statistics seem to back up the approach. Only 10 percent of inmates go on to reoffend.

Guerilla Gardening

Depave. From Parking Lots to Paradise - Guerrilla Gardening in Action!

Depave promotes the removal of unnecessary pavement from urban areas to create community green spaces and mitigate stormwater runoff. Through partnerships and volunteers, Depave strives to overcome the social and environmental impacts of pavement with the use of action-oriented educational events, community stewardship, and advocacy to reconnect people with nature and inspire others. Depave is a project of City Repair, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon, USA.

Website: Guerilla Gardening
Book: How To Depave Guide



One London gardener on a mission to make our green spaces brighter.



Holes Of Happiness is a short documentary looking at the reactions of the public to some pothole gardens that have been popping up around East London.