Time to plan an intentional AHE community in Scotland?

[IanAppleby]

Hi all

Given the widespread unease at the current review of EHE in England, and Graham Badman's assertions that the status quo will not remain, our family is seriously considering moving to Scotland. I know from conversations on Twitter that we are not the only ones.

Now, we have found great help and support from local HE families in our area, but nonetheless geographical spread, and the various other demands on everyone's time means that we haven't found as much support from like-minded people as we would like. I guess this is a similar position to many HE families.

So, if a number of us are considering moving to Scotland, would it not make sense for us to consider the same locality, and even perhaps creating an intentional community so that there is support and companionship in easy reach.

Our own approach I would describe as autonomous, and we hold close ideas akin to the Taking Children Seriously and Non-Violent Communication approaches. I am taken by the idea of trying to establish a more ecologically sustainable approach to living, as well, ideally off-grid.

I would very much like to hear from anyone who thinks there might be value in exploring these ideas further, or who knows of a similar community already in existence.

I am currently overseas, with an intermittent internet connection, but I will check back as often as I can.

best wishes

Ian

[Debs]

I think this is a brilliant idea. We are in the very early stages of planning our move to Scotland, and saving cash like our lives depend on it to try and make sure it happens.

Diggers and Dreamers have a page for new groups starting up to spread the word and attract members etc. They also list communities already in existence

http://www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk...ic%20community

"Our own approach I would describe as autonomous, and we hold close ideas akin to the Taking Children Seriously and Non-Violent Communication approaches. I am taken by the idea of trying to establish a more ecologically sustainable approach to living, as well, ideally off-grid."

Ditto!

I don't have too much to contribute to the discussion so far, but just wanted to lend my support to the idea and say I'll be back with ideas and contributions as I come up with them!

Debs x

[IanAppleby]

Thanks, Debs, that's looking like a very handy link. All ideas and contributions very welcome!

[Ali P]

I think you will find some like minds here, and quite a few of us are already in Scotland (which is far from full up!) It would certainly make sense for those interested in establishing such a community to look at feasible options to progress the idea.

Lots of people have been looking at moving notb as a result of this review. How sad is it that those in England have to seek educational asylum. We have a different govt in Scotland and could do with keeping them next time round (preferably without a big majority) as they don't just follow Westminster - but they still have a lot to learn.

[OrganisedPauper]

Not my cup of tea I'm afraid. We really like our privacy and space and prefer to only be on the friendly and polite, but slightly distant side with immediate neighbours.

If we did move we'd like to live in an area that had good transport links and facilities such as swimming baths, libraries, nature trails and things like that.

BWs Elaine

[Elaine Kirk]

We made the move 30 months ago and I think your idea is excellent you will never regret the move. Scotland is open spaces and thriving communities

[ashtonroy]

I am interested in theory in what u are suggesting Ian. I am in scotland and allready part of a a few home ed groups, though we are all quite scattered accross Aberdeenshire and Moray and not exactly a community within easy reach. I am one of two families living in an off grid situation, where we are aiming to be as self sufficient as we can be and are home educating our children in a fairly autonomous way. I would be interested to hear further ideas.
Rachel

[sazhig]

We are looking to relocate as DH has been out of work for what seems like forever and the job situation here is getting worse. MK is top on the list atm as it's more or less in the middle of our families and seems to be doing ok the current economic climate, plus we have friends (both HE & non-HE) who live there.....

...but we have talked briefly about searching for jobs for DH country-wide and Scotland was mentioned wrt the favourable HE situation. It just seems so far away....but rather appealing at the same time, and even more so if there are so many autonomous, eco-friendly families moving up there as well...

Shall be watching this thread with interest!

[Earthroots]

We're up in Aberdeenshire too, private tenancy, and keen to relocate - been discussing much the setting up of a housing co-op - self sufficient, green living - check out - http://earthrites.org.uk/ for an idea of what we've been up to - mostly just exploring ideas and researching so far - I can understand the need to move north for home-edding families in England. Autonomous learning is mostly what happens here at home - great to see the idea of intentional communities and green living being discussed among home educators - looking forward to getting to know folks on this thread.

Eleanor

[IanAppleby]

Wow, thanks everyone for your replies. I genuinely hadn't expected such a response, and I'm feeling hopeful that we might be able to create something positive here, rather than it just being a pipe dream (what was it they say on diggers and dreamers about some people being much fonder of the latter?)

There are already some very practical questions being raised - Elaine OP makes a good initial point about the desirability of sharing the same living space, or being that much more self-contained. I think my vision is of a combination of shared social space and separate family accommodation. One of the lacks we experience at the moment is physical distance from people who share our values, and with whom we can swap childcare, share cooking and cleaning, and so on. But how many households do we need to be viable without being so big as to be unwieldy?

The obvious next question, then, is what sort of dwelling would suit such a community? Olga and I currently live in a small row of terraced houses - about six. Something like that could work, but are we too influenced by our current situation. Would an old farm or former hotel be more appropriate? And then, what form of ownership?

The other obvious starting point is location. I'm seeing Aberdeenshire being mentioned a lot in this thread - would it make sense to select an area - this area - fairly early on?

I realise I am raising more questions than answers, here, but I would like to emphasise two points - firstly, that I am only thinking aloud: if it doesn't already show, I have no prior experience of this way of living, and I'm grateful to Debs and Eleanor for their links, which I will be exploring further. I don't want to be reinventing any wheels. From that point of view, Rachel, any insights and experiences that you might be willing to share would be very helpful.

The second point is that, while I am pleased to have catalysed the discussion, I would like to state clearly I picture a collective, consensual effort - I don't want this to be seen as "my" project. If it is to work, I would like for everyone involved to feel their needs have been fully met. I have some quite clear ideas of what I would like to achieve, but also no clue about how to go about other aspects. As far as the clear ideas go, I am making a request to myself to be flexible in light of other people's ideas and responses. Oh, and to remember that we will need plenty of time.