Social and ecological experiments at ZEGG
(Zentrum für Experimentelle Gesellschaftsgestaltung / Centre for Experimental Social Design)
Wednesday, 8 June 2005
Workshop Leader: Achim Ecker, Germany
Email: achim.ecker@zegg.de
Web: http://www.zegg.de/
Process: presentation with slides, followed by questions
Overview
Sustainability and ecology of the ZEGG (Centre for experimental culture design) community. ZEGG is an intentional community of 80 people near Berlin. ZEGG applies permaculture principles on 15 hectare of land, the workshop will demonstrate this with slides. Further there will be given an example of regional, ecological and socially sustainable development.
Summary
ZEGG has been intentionally created as a community for experimentation with new forms of living and working together. It has developed its own ways of interaction, which are continually adapted as circumstances change.
Key Points
- Born out of Germany’s alternative movement in the 1960s/70s, the project “Bauhuette” (building shed) was initiated by Dieter Duhn in 1978. It was inspired by settlements of craftspeople working on the great medieval cathedrals. In a similar way, the project assembled pioneers of sustainable technology and social experimenters with the aim of creating new sustainable settlements and forms of living together.
- Out of these experiments grew ZEGG, which was set up in 1991 in the 40-hectare grounds of a former East German military training camp. There are currently around 300 people resident.
- A key process for community cohesion is the “Forum” – regular circle meetings that give individual people the opportunity to explore their relationship with the community, themselves and the world. Feedback is given by members of the circle, again individually. The process has been taught at other communities in Europe, and is also used by groups outside ZEGG
Learning & Sharing events are held when members want to present anything of interest to the community. In autumn, ten days of Vision Time give the opportunity to ref-focus the community after dispersed summer activities. A social co-ordinator organises the forum, learning and sharing events.
- ZEGG has always allowed and encouraged experiments with diverse love and family relationships, and fostered an open debate about them.
- The community is aiming at bioregional self-reliance and uses a range of strategies for food growing, energy production, building and waste management
- In recent years ZEGG has spawned a number of new shared living projects in the surrounding area, and community members have settled in nearby towns and villages. A regional network has been set up. The sister community of Tamera in Portugal has been in existence since 1995.