In this conversation I talk about my views about the economic potential of The Park, Findhorn and how we can develop a more financially and socially sustainable community. As chair of New Findhorn Directions (NFD) at The Park Ecovillage Findhorn I have been deeply involved with this. I am using Appreciative Inquiry as a catalyst for generating ideas and facilitating change in organisations and communities.

With my background in regeneration, I see we’re at a tipping point. For too long, the Community has been an insular bubble, ignoring a huge maintenance bill. COVID and Brexit didn’t cause the ‘bridge to collapse; they just kicked a bridge’ that was already failing.

We need to challenge our ‘poverty consciousness’. We need to pay real wages, provide 21st-century guest accommodation, i.e. ensuite not shared rooms, and affordable housing. We are restructuring NFD to move ‘estate services’ toward community ownership and make us more entrepreneurial. We need to ask the young people that are here, what it would take for them to engage more.

Change is normal. Darwin said those who survive are the ones who adapt and evolve. We need to stop clinging to the past and realise this is a village that must thrive as a modern tourist destination. There’s magic here, but we must trust each other, be realistic, and finally get the job done.