Ecovillagers all around the world are living solutions for the Global World Change we are moving in. From creating new economies, new social and culture habits, they have several years of experience in shifting to sustainable and regenerative lifestyles. This interview series is meant to inspire and spread the word about this eco-living movement.
We start with few questions to Francesca Whitlock, 32 years, who made the moove from city to ecovillage living.
Where do you come from and how did you find out about the ecovillage movement?
I’m originally from London, and after studying International Development at university I worked in climate change campaigning. I lived in a community-style house and that way of living just seemed an obvious choice for me – socially, environmentally, ethically. However, I found living in the city it was hard to thrive, so I left my job spent some time WWOOFing in an amazing community in New Zealand called Wilderland. While I was there, I realised I couldn’t go back to the city. I was very fortunate to meet people there that connected me to a project in Spain, which eventually led me to GEN Europe. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to live and work in communities.
Now that you work behind the scenes of GEN Europe, how do you think the organisation is helping to movement to thrive during this time of Global World Change?
I think ecovillages and other community-led projects – Transition Towns, community gardens, permaculture projects and so on – are thriving in any case, and especially now there is growing interest in these resilient, regenerative alternatives. What we do is connect the dots: show that these aren’t isolated oases but rather part of something bigger. By doing this and providing resources and publicity, we hope to inspire more and more people to discover and explore, and maybe even create, community. We also help ecovillages connect and network with one another, to share challenges, resources, ideas and projects. This cross pollination is helping new communities and national ecovillage networks get off the ground.
If you were Santa Claus, what would you offer to the ecovillage communities? What is it that they need most?
Time! There’s never enough of it in an ecovillage… But apart from that, local, national and international policymakers that are sympathetic to our movement, that understand what we’re doing and seek to support it. There are some good examples of how policymakers and ecovillagers are working together, particularly in Northern Europe – the Netherlands and Denmark in particular – and if we want to see a sustainable transition based around community, we need more of this. Funding and policies that help communities thrive.
Do you live in an ecovillage and why?
Not right now – most recently I lived for several years in Arterra Bizimodu, which is where the GEN Europe offices are based, and I am still connected with it through GEN and community is still immensely important to me. But at the moment I am working on my own agro-ecological and self-sufficient project. I’d like to work on building community where I am, making connections and networks of support with other people locally who are living simply and sustainably, learning to work with the land and share its abundance.
To follow Fran’ adventures in farming and printmaking, follow @tierra_y_tinta.
More stories about ecovillagers coming soon!
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