Page 5 - C.A.L.L. #29 - Winter 2007

In our final, plenary session, which I chaired, Ross Jackson (Denmark)
presented “A Gaian Utopia,” about how environmental imperatives must
dictate the ways that not only intentional communities but all societies
develop. ICSA’s co-founder, Professor Yaacov Oved (Israel), then presented “Changes in Modern
Communes: from Utopian Propensity to Pragmatic Approach,” based upon his half-century of research.
We then collectively thanked the members of Damanhur Federation for opening up their lives, hearts,
and nucleos to us.

As well as these fascinating, albeit heady topics of ICSA’s formal presentations, we were entertained on
the first evening with a concert of esoteric music and interpretive modern dance by Damanhur
members at their Open Temple. On the final evening, we held an ICSA formal dinner, followed by a
Laser Light Show, with accompanying dance, also put on by Damanhur members. On the intervening
evening, we each had the chance to dine with different small groups of Damanhur members in the
privacy of their nucleos.

After the conference many of us took a bus tour to Torri Superiore ecovillage near the Italian Riviera.
Without a doubt, Torri Superiore is one of the most charming and welcoming intentional communities
in the world. Thirteen resident adults and six children operate a Guest House and permaculture
demonstration site, and offer various training programs. They live in a restored stone village dating
from the thirteenth century but abandoned after the Second World War. The 160 rooms of this
complicated and convoluted complex with eight levels are built against a steep hillside, with most
rooms having vaulted stone ceilings—reminding me of what it would be like to live in an M.C. Escher
print. ICSA conference members were welcomed with a tour, drinks, and a three-course dinner, on Torri
Superiore’s balcony, which overlooks their olive, grape, and vegetable terraces, stepped down to the
Bevera River. Most of us slept that night at Torri Superiore.

On the final day, our tour buses took us from Torri Superiore to visit two nearby medieval architectural
gems, the strikingly beautiful villages of Dolceaqua and Apricale. At the latter, we were welcomed by
the mayor and given lunch at the hilltop castle, Eidechsenburg, with its extraordinary views. Our buses
then headed home, taking delegates to catch trains, buses or planes back to our homes around the
globe.

During the conference, the ICSA Board decided that our next President will be Professor Michal Palgi, a
long term member of Kibbutz Nir-David (“The field of David”) between Haifa and Jerusalem, Israel.
Michal is a sociologist who has been involved for years in studying organisational and gender issues
within intentional communities, particularly within the broad range of Israeli kibbutzim. She has been
an ICSA member for many years.

The ICSA Board unanimously decided that our next conference, in 2010, will be held in northern Israel,
under the auspices of the Institute for Research of the Kibbutz and the Cooperative Idea at the
University of Haifa, and will focus on both the history of the traditional, rural Israeli kibbutzim (which
began in 1910) and on the recent establishment of numerous urban kibbutzim in that country. These
latter intentional communities appear to be modifying the kibbutz form of communal living, which
suited the 20th century, into a new form of communal living which might be more appropriate to the
21st century.

Among the associated issues discussed by the Board were questions of security and justice in the
Middle East, since we recognised that such issues will be in the minds of people who will participate in
our conference in 2010. We resolved that ICSA2010 should have the issue of peace as a key element. We
need to explore what intentional communities can contribute to promoting ethnic accord and peaceful
communities.

And will I be at ICSA in 2010 in Israel? Absolutely! ICSA gatherings are a wonderful opportunity to
learn, contribute, and enjoy a wonderful few days of fellowship with a wide range of good people, all of
whom are involved in intentional community in one way or another.

Professor Bill Metcalf, PhD., of Griffith University, Brisbane, is author of nine books on community, including The
Findhorn Book of Community Living. He is a past president of ICSA.

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