Damanhur

Damanhur

A DOOR TOWARDS A NEW FUTURE
Damanhur is a living laboratory for the Future, a Federation of spiritual communities, and a worldwide movement that inspires the lives of thousands of people committed to leaving a positive mark on the world.

The six hundred citizens who live there have created a multilingual society, open to exchanges with the world and the different cultures of peoples. Many other Damanhurians live worldwide and support the Federation’s ideals and projects.

Damanhur was founded from the inspiration of Falco Tarassaco, Oberto Airaudi (1950-2013). His enlightened and pragmatic vision, shared by many others, created a fertile reality based on solidarity, sharing, art and culture, mutual love, and respect for Life and every being.


This information comes from the website of Damanhur.


Telosa – Creating a more equitable and sustainable future

Telosa – Creating a more equitable and sustainable future

Telosa aims to create a new city in America that sets a global standard for urban living, expands human potential, and becomes a blueprint for future generations.

Open
We believe in a safe and welcoming community that freely exchanges ideas and information to build accountability, competency, authenticity, and trust.
Fair
We believe people should have equal access to opportunity and share in the prosperity that they help create.
Inclusive
We believe everyone is an important and valued member of the community and their voice should be heard, contributing to new possibilities.


This information comes from the website of TELOSA.


Nottingham to lead the way in city-centre regeneration

Nottingham to lead the way in city-centre regeneration

Heatherwick Studio has revealed plans to use the remains of the half-demolished 1970s Broadmarsh shopping mall as part of its post-pandemic vision for Nottingham city centre

The proposals by Thomas Heatherwick’s practice for the long-troubled 8ha plot feature a major ‘green space which will permeate the whole site and weave in and out of the [centre’s] frame’.

The vision, drawn up with socially responsible development company Stories, also includes 750 new homes in the shadow of Nottingham Castle, recreating ‘lost street connections’, the overhaul of the city’s cave network, the transformation of the existing Severns House into a hotel and 37,000m² of office and conference space.

The concept, which received initial backing from Nottingham City Council today (7 December), has been billed as a ‘once in many generations’ opportunity for Nottingham to ‘lead the way in city-centre regeneration following the impacts of Covid-19 and online retailing’.

 


Read the whole article in Architects’ Journal.


 

 

 

The Peaceful Schools

The Peaceful Schools

The Peaceful Schools Movement is a network of schools and organizations putting peace into practice through peace education and the creation of peaceful learning environments. Together we are creating peacebuilders who are bringing peace and harmony to the world.

By peaceful schools we mean peace on four levels: (1) the development of inner peace/peace within each individual within the school, (2) peaceful relationships between pupils, between school staff and between staff and pupils, (3) peaceful ethos/school community and (4) the way the school works for peace in the world. All schools – all phases too i.e. primary and secondary, and special schools of various kinds.


This information comes from the website of The Peaceful Schools.


Auroville – World’s First Moneyless City

Auroville – World’s First Moneyless City

Auroville – also known as the “City of the Dawn” – is an international city in South India founded in 1968. Currently, it has 2,800 citizens from 54 countries, with the capacity to grow to 50,000 citizens.

Auroville is a “collective experiment in human unity” based on the worldview of Indian yogi Sri Aurobindo. The idea is if people from all cultures and castes can learn love each other in Auroville, maybe the rest of the world can follow suit.

The township was created with support from the Indian government, UNESCO and well-wishers around the world, but is becoming more and more self-sufficient over time.

In Auroville there is no individual ownerhip of land, housing or businesses. Everyone is given a basic living “maintenance,” whether they work for one of the commercial units, doing community service or are unable to work.

When they go to the store, they take what they need, tell the clerk their account number and it’s deducted from the Central Fund.

It’s an economy designed to serve humanity, rather than the other way around, Aurovillians say.

“We give our work, and we are given what we need,” says citizen Jean-Yves Lung in the documentary below. “It’s very simple. If you give your work, and you are happy to give it, you don’t need money to evaluate the quality of your giving. We can still be productive, creative, innovative, and what happens is people discover that they feel better. We take what we need and that’s it.”


Read the whole article by Sara Burrows in Return to Now.


 

 

The Findhorn Foundation – a living model for the future

The Findhorn Foundation – a living model for the future

A spiritual community, an ecovillage and a learning centre – a unique laboratory for change.

The Findhorn Foundation is a dynamic experiment where everyday life is guided by the inner voice of spirit, where we work in co-creation with the intelligence of nature and take inspired action towards our vision of a better world. We share our learning and way of life in experiential workshops, conferences and events that take place within a thriving community and ecovillage.

The Foundation has two main sites. The Park, nestled amidst dunes and forest, bay and beach, is an ecovillage that is home to many of our staff and a larger community of people living with shared values. Cluny Hill is a stately Victorian former hotel, five miles away from The Park, which houses staff and welcomes participants in our workshops and events. Our retreat house on the island of Iona, and the satellite community on the neighbouring island of Erraid, also welcome participants for life-changing experiences on the wild, wind-swept west coast of Scotland.

The Findhorn Foundation is an NGO associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information, holder of UN Habitat Best Practice designation and is co-founder of the Global Ecovillage Network and Holistic Centres Network. The Foundation is at the heart of a community of more than 500 people who every day support and live the vision of creating a better world by starting with themselves.


This information comes from the website of The Findhorn Foundation.


What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life?

What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life?

TED Talk: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness.

If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.

Robert Waldinger is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Zen priest. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and directs the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life ever done. The Study tracked the lives of two groups of men for over 75 years, and it now follows their Baby Boomer children to understand how childhood experience reaches across decades to affect health and wellbeing in middle age. He writes about what science and Zen can teach us about healthy human development.


This information comes from the TED Talk by Robert Waldinger.


Burning Man Festival – A network of dreamers and doers

Burning Man Festival – A network of dreamers and doers

Once a year, tens of thousands of participants gather to create Black Rock City in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, dedicated to community, art, self-expression, and self-reliance. They depart one week later, having created unbelievable artistic experiences, and having left no trace whatsoever.

Our mission is to produce the annual event known as “Burning Man” and to guide, nurture and protect the more permanent community created by its culture. Our intention is to generate society that connects each individual to his or her creative powers, to participation in community, to the larger realm of civic life, and to the even greater world of nature that exists beyond society.

We believe that the experience of Burning Man can produce positive spiritual change in the world. To this end, it is equally important that we communicate with one another, with the citizens of Black Rock City and with the community of Burning Man wherever it may arise. Burning Man is radically inclusive, and its meaning is potentially accessible to anyone.

The touchstone of value in our culture will always be immediacy: experience before theory, moral relationships before politics, survival before services, roles before jobs, embodied ritual before symbolism, work before vested interest, participant support before sponsorship.

Finally, in order to accomplish these ends, Burning Man must endure as a self-supporting enterprise that is capable of sustaining the lives of those who dedicate themselves to its work. From this devotion spring those duties that we owe to one another. We will always burn the Man.


This information comes from the website of Burning Man.


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