The Findhorn Foundation (also referred to as ‘FF’) has started in 1962 as a New Age community and increasingly developed into an ecovillage and education centre with today more than one thousand associated residents in the surrounding area. Based mainly at The Park, Findhorn and at Cluny Hill in the nearby town of Forres, in Northeast Scotland, the community extends also to individuals, businesses and organisations within a 50-mile radius.
The Findhorn Foundation is a charitable trust and a working community of people living together with common spiritual and ecological intentions. It is also an educational centre with two campuses, five miles apart: The Park, Findhorn and Cluny Hill College, Forres. The Foundation incorporates the Findhorn Foundation College. It has a trading arm called New Findhorn Directions Ltd (NFD). The company operates a number of businesses including the Findhorn Bay Caravan Park, Wind Park, Park Energy, Gnosis (an IT service business) and the Living Machine (waste water and effluent treatment).
Findhorn developed the aspect of an ecovillage, based on the spiritual connection with nature since the seventies more concretely. Within the Findhorn Ecovillage, sustainable values are expressed in the built environment through ecological houses, the beauty in the architecture and gardens, and applied technology in the Living Machine sewage treatment facility and electricity-generating wind turbines. Social sustainable values are expressed in the community’s social, economic and educational initiatives. The Foundation offers a range of workshops, programmes and events in the environment of a working ecovillage. Findhorn is founding member and hosted the inauguration event of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) in 1995.
The Findhorn community started with a couple, experimenting with spiritual practice of divine guidance from within, finally ending up unemployed at the caravan site in Findhorn. They did not intend to fund a community but were guided to take steps towards this. Findhorn community and the ecovillage emerged later.
The co-founder Eileen is told from within to stop the spiritual guidance for Peter and community. A year later the Findhorn foundation is legally established with its intentions and aims. The community is growing further to over 300 members.
The co-founder Peter Caddy leaves Findhorn ecovillage. With the new director/ foculizer a new kind of leadership and governance was implemented.
In October 1996 the entire board of trustees of the Findhorn Foundation resigned from their positions. A task force developed a re-invention strategy and strategic plan for the next 20 years.
Over the years affiliated people had been attracted to move in the surrounding area of the Findhorn Foundation without being a staff member. Finally, in 1999 the ‘New Findhorn Association’ (NFA) was established for governing the connection between FF and wider community and within the wider community.
In 2000 the Findhorn Foundation almost made bankrupt because of extraordinary investments for renovation. The management decided to take over decisions of a year. Afterwards the governance system had been reformed for better including co-workers in the management.
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