One grey Tuesday at the end of November, we take a road trip to Ecodorp Boekel, an eco-village located at the other end of the country. It takes 2.5 hours to drive with Petra’s van. Of course, we have pumpkin soup with us again – and a cheerful mood! Ecodorp Boekel turns out to be much more integrated into Boekel than Ecodorp Bergen is in Bergen. Just across the street are regular residential houses. Petra parks the van, and we start walking towards the house where Diny, one of our two guides for the day, lives. The three eco-village houses, all round in shape, have pale yellow wooden facades and red window frames. We later find out that about fifty people live here permanently.
Before we catch sight of Diny, a brown dog comes running towards us with a wildly wagging tail. The tail is whipping against my legs as I shake hands with Diny. Diny is a woman in her mid-60’s with grey, short curly hair. A long wild strand of hair frames her left cheek. We are offered tea, coffee and ‘ontbijtkoek’, a Dutch spiced cake, with butter. I am the only one who chooses coffee. After just a few minutes, our second guide, Erik, joins us. He alternates living in Boekel and on a farm in France that he runs himself. Erik thinks it’s nice to be back in the Netherlands for a while now. “In the Dutch language, I can be myself,” he says. “It’s only in Dutch that I can express my innermost feelings.”
It was during the corona times that Diny began to take the time to reflect on what she wanted with her life. “I longed to connect with the earth and with people,” she says. “And so I ended up here three and a half years ago. At that time, this house was nearly completed.” On the property there are currently two homes reserved for refugees. One of the refugees has just moved out, and now they are trying to make room for a new one. Diny explains that the agreement with the municipality is that the refugees can stay for a maximum of two years and have access to caretakers and after that, the municipality takes over the responsibility.
While we’re talking about the municipality, we ask how the collaboration with them works. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t,” says Diny. “The municipality prefers things to go faster than they do. They’ve even threatened us with a fine if we don’t finish on time. But for economic reasons, we haven’t been able to build faster. Additionally, it takes time to find climate-friendly solutions. She laughs and continues: “They think we’re a bunch of hippies. We have messy gardens, we never finish anything… But now we’ve started inviting neighbors to parties and such to create a better relationship.” After the snack, we get a tour of the house. One of the rooms Diny uses as a hobby room, where she mixes her own herbal medicines. “Here is one for bruises,” she says, holding up a bottle. She gets the plants from the local area. As long as they are clean and free from pollution, she can use them.
The walls are made of loam and the insulation material is – jeans! It’s strange to imagine that the walls are full of trousers.
We learn that almost all the materials in the house are bio-based or recycled. The walls are made of loam and the insulation material is – jeans! I smile to myself. It’s strange to imagine that the walls are full of trousers. The tour continues outdoors. Erik explains that the facades of the houses are made from a mix of hemp and lime. On top: a finish of wooden planks. Not all the walls are finished yet. “Actually, the lime mix can only be exposed like this for a maximum of two years,” he explains, “otherwise it risks being damaged. So we have gone over time now. The wood needs to be put up as soon as possible.” But why is it taking so long? Again, the answer is: economic reasons.
After a little tour of the garden, we finish the walk by going up into a treehouse. The treehouse turns out to be a fully equipped dwelling with everything you need: kitchenette, shower, toilet, sofa bed, and a hanging chair. Of course, almost all the materials here are recycled as well. We notice that there are no tiles in the shower. Erik explains: “It depends on the fact that the house moves in the wind. Tiles would just break. Instead, we have wood with a surface layer where the water runs off. Good mechanical ventilation is needed for it to work!” Diny’s plan is to rent out the house as a holiday house to recoup their investment. The contract with the ecovillage states that they are allowed to operate this business for fifteen years. After that, the house will be available for the villagers.
Eco-villages as a solution to societal challenges?
When we return to the house, we eat pumpkin soup and three types of quiche that Erik offers. María cuts them into small pieces while the rest of us watch hungrily. So, now we have seen yet another eco-village. The goal is, like for other eco-villages, ecological, economic, and social sustainability. Are eco-villages possibly the solution to society’s challenges?
“Community life has become foreign to us. Most of the time, we live in our small nuclear families, isolated from each other,”
Diny thinks for a moment. She believes they have good potential, but there is still a risk that they will face the same problems as the rest of society — if they don’t communicate well. For many, communication is difficult. Erik feels that in our society today, we have somewhat forgotten how to live together. “Community life has become foreign to us. Most of the time, we live in our small nuclear families, isolated from each other,” he says. Petra believes that a common mistake many make when testing community life is thinking that they have to try to like everyone. “But it’s not possible to like everyone, no matter how hard you try. And that’s completely okay.” Erik agrees: “If you try to see a person as something they are not, then it won’t work.”
“Connection is more important than who is right or wrong.”
We continue to talk about functioning together as a community, with all the differences that exist between people. Petra has noticed two main types of eco-village residents: the thinkers and the doers. Some build and take action, while others value freedom and doing things when they feel like it. These groups do not understand each other, according to Petra. “There will always be a clash.” “And that’s a shame,” adds Diny, “because then creativity and spontaneity are lost. Both are needed.” Diny calls it, in her own words: making space for being different. “You need to see the beauty in seeing things in different ways. Imagine a group of children who have built something in the courtyard. Some people will point out that the children haven’t cleaned up after themselves. Others will say, wow, look how creative they have been, look at what they have built!” She summarises: “Always find the reconnection. Connection is more important than who is right or wrong.”
Just like in other eco-villages, sociocracy is applied in Ecodorp Boekel. The governance system states that everyone must be heard for a decision to be made. But how does it work to make decisions sociocratically when there are fifty people with fifty different opinions in the village? “It’s not very efficient,” admits Diny. “On the other hand, the decisions influence one’s life, so it’s important that everyone gets a say. But if there’s a leak in the roof, then it’s clear that it needs to be dealt with quickly.”
Many people long for a different lifestyle and want to live in an eco-village. Petra, Diny, and Erik agree that unfortunately, not everyone is suited for it. “Many want to learn,” says Petra, “but it doesn’t always work out. It’s a challenge.” Diny believes that not everyone is equally willing to do “the lousy work,” as she puts it. Last year, for example, they had no people in either the finance group or the house-building group. However, the social group had plenty of members. Petra, Diny, and Erik reason that eco-villages often attract people who are interested in humanitarian and social issues, but who may not be so practically and technically inclined.
Not everyone is equally willing to do “the lousy work”
But can’t one learn then? Those who are knowledgeable about house building have also learned the job somewhere. Diny believes that there are often tensions between older and younger eco-village residents. The older ones are experienced but often tired, while the younger ones have energy but lack experience. Diny thinks that eco-villages are currently too amateurish. Even though many people possess useful skills, eco-village projects are new for most, which is why they have spent much more money on the eco-village than they needed to. She believes that if eco-villages are to be as sustainable as they strive to be, they need to change their structure. How they will do that, she does not know yet.
During our conversation, I think about how much needs to fall into place to start and run an eco-village. You have to dare to experiment, invest a lot of money, establish a good collaboration with the municipality, and attract other people who believe in the same thing. And you have to learn to accept – and like – each other’s differences. Diny doesn’t know if eco-villages are the housing of the future. She says: “It’s challenging to live in a community like this and to do it ecologically. But this is a start!” she laughs. “At least we started.”
Our visit to Ecodorp Boekel is over. I have many thoughts in my head and feel excited and inspired to write about it. I am grateful to have the opportunity to live in an eco-village myself, talk to other ecovillagers, and hear about people’s dreams and aspirations. It struck me that this is what I am most passionate about: interviewing people about their everyday lives and writing about it. Placing the stories in a larger societal perspective. Unfortunately, I am quite easily distracted and usually have trouble both starting and finishing tasks, even when they are fun. That’s why I have delayed completing this blog post for so long. Now it’s finally done.
A concluding reflection: It was interesting to delve into the possibilities and challenges of eco-villages. There seems to be such a good will to work together with other people, and yet it is often difficult. Externally, eco-villages need to assert their right to exist in relation to the outside world. Internally, they sometimes struggle with communication. I think of the times in my life when I haven’t understood certain people and how, instead of trying to understand and find a connection, I sought out more like-minded individuals. It’s so easy to avoid people. But if I am reluctant to find common ground with people I am very uninterested in, how can I expect the rest of the world to meet in its palette of differences? It must start small. The work must begin with oneself. Hm. Food for thought, definitely!