This proposal is seeking initial expression of interest and support for the Community History project from the NFA and the Findhorn Foundation.

The Community History project is an emergent process, based on personal inspiration and guidance, collective co-creation and group mind processes. Its success depends on a broad buy-in from Community organisations and Community members – present and past.

The Community History Project aims to achieve the following

  • A comprehensive inclusive Community History of the last 60 years
  • Creating inclusion through collecting stories
    • Personal stories from
      • People who are living/have lived in the Findhorn Foundation Community over the last 60 years
      • People who have significant interest in the Findhorn Foundation Community – such as frequent visitors, supporters, neighbours, etc.
    • Anecdotes
      • Stories exemplifying community life, the experience of the Mystery School etc
      • Stories of the Building Blocks of our Community – organisations, projects, groups, places etc
      • A list of Ancestors – people who have lived in the Community and have died
      • A list of the Next Generation – people who have been born in the Community and those who have grown up in the Community for a significant period
      • A photo gallery of People and Places
  • Linking with the existing Community Archives to check facts and ensure consistency as well as a comprehensive picture. This may be a catalyst to revive engagement with the archives more widely.
  • Linking with previous publications, authors etc central to the Community’s History (biographies of founders and contributors, Community publications etc)
  • Creating a Timeline – building on Mike Scott’s Year by Year History which was written in 2007 and completing it up to 2022 (Mike has given his permission and expressed enthusiasm for the idea)
  • Providing a Summary of the Community’s History to enhance accessibility and comprehension of the complexity of our collective history
  • Completing a substantial part of this work in time for the 60th birthday in Nov 2022

Who is it for?

Anyone resident in the Findhorn Foundation Community – now and in the past 60 years.

The audience may expand beyond that but this is emergent and depends on the outcome of further consultations.

How?

  • The History will sit on an online platform to be designed by the IT support team. Presently we are exploring a Wiki format. For ease we call it the History Page.
  • There will be a curating team to
    • Set the guidelines for submissions based on the Common Ground (learning from the guidelines for the Rainbow Bridge and other publications)
    • Address legal issues of GDPR, copyright, ownership etc
    • Receive the submissions and ensure that they match the guidelines. If there are any discrepancies, a final version will be agreed with the author before publishing it.
    • Pass on final versions to the IT team to put up on the platform
    • Extract information to put into the Year by Year History document
  • To gather the stories of the Building Blocks of our Community we will invite focalisers who have intimate knowledge of the area to gather the stories of their area. Inclusiveness and comprehensiveness are crucial aspects of this work. The call for focalisers will be open and broad. Many areas may well have small working groups to ensure comprehensiveness and to allow for inclusion.

Links with other projects

This Community History project is linked with the 60th Birthday Project through

  • The way it has come into being
  • Possible events prior to the 60th Birthday similar to the 12 Foundations of Findhorn held in 2011/12
  • A possible Collaborative Arts event/project which may include aspects of the gathered stories and images

It is also linked to the Archives Project

  •  As a source of information for fact checking
  • A source of material to add to the History Page (photos, links, documents etc)