Our Findhorn Barrel #10: Conflict and Emerging Community Structures

Jake was born in the Community and lived here most of his life. He is passionate about the Community and its role in the world. In this interview with Alex and Callum he talks about:

The Global Ecovillage Network: Jake gives brief introduction and shares about the different ways he has been involved with it over the last 10 years – in NextGEN, in GEN International and presently as elected Council Member in GEN Europe.
Conflict and Community:
- How personal conflict is almost never purely personal but impacted by culture, role, the surrounding ‘energy field’ (family, group organisation etc) and so much more.
- The transformational power of conflict when recognising that people only step into conflict over something they care about and how harnessing that care can bring real solutions.
- Briefly touching on the concepts of Sociocracy
- Jake’s experiences of volunteering in Calais Refugee Camps in 2015 and 2016
- What do people care about behind the conflicts in the Community Today?
  - The complexities brought about by the history of 6 decades, the different priorities of personal and collective interests and where they (seem to) clash.
  - Is the present crisis proof that the history of the Community, the stories which are told, and our contributions are irrelevant?! Or are they an expression of what’s going on in the world and how we address them will determine our relevance for the future?
  - Is the risk of losing ‘what this Community is about’ a driving force to bring the Community together?

Jake’s response to the many crises over the last 3 years, to a sense that as a Community we may have hit rock bottom is: I am going home to live, there is room for me to bring myself in!