Page 23 - C.A.L.L. #46 - Summer 2020

Studentenvrijstaat Droevendaal, The Netherlands

Here in Studentenvrijstaat Droevendaal, most of us are students who study at the
University of Wageningen. As the focus of most inhabitants lays on studying, we are not
self-sufficient. Therefore it is hard to isolate ourselves.

We apply the same rules as the rest of the Netherlands. We try to keep 1.5m distance from
each other and minimize the amount of visitors (both from outside and Droevendaal) to our

houses. Most group activities are cancelled.

In practise we don’t always follow these rules, as it is very much in the nature of our
community to visit each others houses and keeping the 1.5m distance is very hard. We do
meet outside a lot, and campfires have proved to work quite well to keep distance whilst still
engaging in social activities. The rest of the time (when we are not studying) we work in our
gardens or play music. It is not really the time of the year to have new students coming to
live here, and the movement is further restricted by the University cancelling most
internships abroad. But there is no stopping people joining us or moving out, also because the
houses are owned by an external housing agency, who ultimately decide who is moving in

when, and do not want to have empty rooms.

Bergen Ecovillage, Norway

Life goes on in Norway and the process of establishing Bergen Ecovillage in Norway goes on,
but our ecovillage work has slowed down a bit. On the one hand the pandemic has changed

and enriched our awareness about the importance and the value of our ecovillage project –
and of similar projects in Europe and all over the world.

We have our weekly meetings, but now in our homes or on Skype, because all public places in
Norway are closed. We have our monthly Social Friday outside and not inside the Student
Centre in Bergen where we used to meet, because the centre is closed. We have our monthly
Working Saturday as usual, and guests are still welcome, as usual, but we can only receive one
or two guests at a time, since the authorities have announced that only small groups of max 5
people are allowed to gather. When we start working in the fields in May and June, we will
probably choose to work in smaller groups at different places, instead of working all
together all at the same place.

Tersen, Sweden

At Tersen, those of us who have isolated summer cottages have moved there. Our meetings,
drinking coffee together at 10.30 and Friday dinners etc. have been stopped until further
notice. Those who feel any influenza symptoms quarantine themselves in their apartments.
The younger inhabitants have formed a purchasing group for us ‘oldsters’. We keep track of
each other. There is a lot of internal mail communication.

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