The Universal Hall auditorium was abuzz with activity, inspiration and a palpable sense of optimism.

Jonathan Dawson delivered a thought-provoking key-note, reflecting on the role of ecovillages in this time of polycrisis, and the solutions which may be available to us in our ecovillage.

The day was beautifully held by co-hosts Jonathan Dawson and Tessa Brock, and Marilyn Hamilton facilitating the Local Place Plan aspect.

25+ Community enterprises presented their work on stalls in lively networking spaces throughout the day:

 

More than a dozen speakers gave short presentations about their work:

     
     

In the Honouring Life Cycles of Organisations, over 20 people shared deeply about their lived experience in their work. The crowing of the day was the inaugural presentation of the Ekopia Lifetime Achievement Award to David Hoyle and Jan Boultbee. This led to a standing ovation for these two people who have done so much for our Community economy over the 34 years of working in the Phoenix Shop and in the Bakehouse in Findhorn village.

In addition to our event, the Local Place Plan team held their 5th consultation, this time on Enterprise and Education in the Lower Foyer:

• consultations on the functions needed in a new Community Centre
• an inquiry about future plans for the Phoenix Shop
• presenting the work of the Education Circle and the new website www.visitecovillagefindhorn.uk which will be a platform to get the word out about all the wonderful educational offerings available

Ekopia wants to thank all those who made the day possible

  • co-hosts, Jonathan Dawson, Tess Brock, Marilyn Hamilton
  • organising team, Fasil Bogale, Cornelia Featherstone, George Goudsmit, Jane Duncan Rogers, Edward Fitsell and Lorraine Ritz-Theriault
  • all the professionals on the ground, Alex Wright our Tech Support, Pia and Evert Vanthoor, Ursula Pfahler and Peter Vallance from Universal Hall Promotions, the Phoenix Café staff, Mark Richards
  • all the community volunteers
  • and last but not least our sponsors

As we hope to make this an annual event, we’d love your feedback and input. Please fill in this survey, whether or not you attended the day, your views are important to us. Please complete it before 7th October 2024. Thank you!

Please click here for more information about the day, and for future annual events.

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Photo credits: a big Thank you to Mark Richards, Marilyn Hamilton and Cornelia Featherstone for the images in this post.