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As guest at ‘Wir bauen Zukunft’ (‘We build future’)
I (Cathérine) have just come back from a week ‘in the future’. This is the short name of the community that is organising the future project Wir bauen Zukunft (WbZ) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern near Hamburg. I will explain later why a stay there really does feel like a trip into the future – in other words, why the name is very appropriate. Let’s start by finding out about the place, the community and the purpose of my stay.
Six years ago, a group of committed people bought the site of a former botanical adventure park that was not economically viable. The 10-hectare site contains some buildings from the former park and, above all, a lot of greenery and biodiversity. The vision is to create a regenerative place of the future “that explores new living and working models in practice and opens up access to new experiences and perspectives.” This may sound abstract at first, but it becomes clear in the following.
Together, people are renovating the buildings ‘of the future’ and building new ones as sustainably and environmentally consciously as possible. So far, it has been possible to spend the night on the site in (glamping) tents and yurts, in special bunks and in various tiny houses. I tried the latter and was particularly close to the pattering of the rain on the roof, the warming sun, the starry sky and the morning birdsong. There are various event formats that are constantly evolving and people can visit the site as part of these.
One of these formats is our CREATE Convention in June this year, to which we at WeMaCo GmbH as the organiser and the entire CREATE organisation team cordially invite you to WbZ.
Communal living & activities
At WbZ, communal living and activities take centre stage and go beyond the usual residential community. Team spirit is encouraged at the three daily meals by distributing the kitchen tasks such as cooking, washing up, tidying up, etc. among everyone. For example, each person had one turn to make breakfast and one turn to cook dinner together with two or three other people. We spent maybe 2 hours in the kitchen each time and were provided with delicious food all week. And the great thing is that we were able to have a nice chat and get to know each other better while completing the tasks. The principle works in the same way for all other household tasks.
The WbZ team also organises its own events, gives workshops, continues to build the facility (you can help with this in May) and is also active in many other ways in the area. In the spirit of a regenerative life and work, there is no shortage of relaxation during joint music sessions, sauna evenings, campfires and other enjoyable activities.
Together with Ilya from the CREATE organisation team and our co-creator Katja, I spent a special week ‘with the future’. Ilya and I prepared CREATE on site together, supported by programme manager Anni. And that wasn’t all…
ComYOUnity Deep – an experience of a special kind
In spring, as part of WbZ’s ComYOUnity time, people were able to live on the site for co-working and work there in beautiful surroundings outside of communal meals. We were there during one of the special ComYOUnity Deep weeks. Here we had time in the afternoon for our own work and the CREATE preparations. In the morning, however, there was a special programme together with our facilitators Anni and Kari and our group of around 20 people.
We looked at the Inner Development Goals, which consider inner development in addition to the Sustainable Development Goals. It’s about how we think, act and work together to bring about change in ourselves and in the world. Particularly important, however, is the seemingly more passive dimension of ‘being’, which is about attitude and dealing with oneself and issues such as, for example, presence and the inner compass. It is also important how we relate to other people.
Through various guided experiences that we had as a group in the seminar room and in the forest, we were able to experience the five dimensions for ourselves and see where we want to develop even more. Mention should also be made of the wonderful music by Jannis, who will also be inviting guests to the Ecstatic Dance at CREATE. The days we spent together were very unifying and we all took away a lot for ourselves, our work and the community. There was also an optional joint morning routine, additional offers in the afternoon and a programme after dinner, which was co-created by the WbZ team and the Deep participants.
I don’t want to say too much about the content, because it will certainly change a bit before the next Deep and it’s nice to just go in confidence and be surprised on site. I can definitely promise a very special week that everyone will remember for a long time to come.
Returning to the ‘old world’ & integration
Now it is not so easy to return from the future to the normal, old world. The biodiverse, green, quiet place has a very special energy that is quite different from the energy in a city or even a village surrounded by monocultural fields and criss-crossed by a motorway. We also gained an insight into what it is like to live and work with empathetic, conscious, loving and open-minded people without exception. We got on very well and were very close despite all the differences in age, origin and background.
Afterwards, the aim is to see how we can transfer our personal learning experiences and insights into our everyday lives. Be it a newfound morning routine, a more tolerant attitude, a new clarity about your own values or something completely different. Furthermore, I am now (even more) motivated to allow as many people as possible to participate in such experiences, in which we can create future spaces together and thus bring the future more and more into the present. Continuing to live together in the way we have done so far will not make people happy in the long term and I therefore see the need to accompany this change.
What if all people were loving and connected with themselves, their fellow human beings and the world around them? I think our planet would look very different! I have had an experience that can be summarised well by Charles Eisenstein’s book title: “The more beautiful world our heart knows is possible“. I would even say that not only does my heart now know a part of this world, but the rest of my body and being has also been able to immerse itself in such a world over the past week.
Into the future with WeMaCo at the CREATE Convention
It is therefore a matter close to my heart to invite as many people as possible into our desired future now and to see how we can shape the present in this way. This can start from a place like Wir bauen Zukunft and be transferred to your and my home through our changed way of being and acting. So I cordially invite you and all people who want to shape the future and are interested in sustainability, inner development and regeneration to our CREATE Convention on 27-30 June 2024.
We sell the tickets according to the “pay what feels right” principle in a range from €180 to €680. Du kannst den Preis entsprechend Deiner persönlichen Finanzlage und dem Wert, dem Du der Convention beimisst, selbst wählen. The ticket price includes full catering with delicious veggie organic food and the programme. You can also book your preferred accommodation via our website. Come with us to WbZ ‘into the future’!