Zonca Ecovillage Italy

Logo of the Global Ecovillage Network with interconnected leaf and flower design.
  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • German
  • Social
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 1990

What we do

The beautiful wild village of Zonca in the Italian alps near Dommodossola is in urgent need of repairs. Many roofs are currently in bad shape and without maintenance there is a real danger of collapse. Many historical buildings could potentially be lost in the next two to five years.

For this reason we are looking for volunteers who would like to give 3-5 hours of work a day to help us restore and maintain this village. If you are interested in community building, permaculture and the restoration of historic rural homes, this project may be exactly what you are looking for! Interested in living and/or working in a wild beautiful, super quiet place in a pristine natural environment? Zonca has many houses for rent and for sale.
You will find a welcoming community of beautiful and wise people with extensive knowledge and skills. There are currently two families with children and kids will not be bored. There is a wonderful music room, fireplaces and tables around which to gather, play music, sing and so on!
As a visitor of almost 20 years I decided to buy a house in the village last year (2017) using crowdfunding. I enjoy the quiet, the forest which is all around and I very much love all the people in this wonderful place.

  • Purpose
  • Social
  • Languages
  • German
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • English
  • Italian
  • Community type
  • Intentional Neighborhoods

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 1990
  • Started living together

Video

  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
20

How to join

Zonca is not a community but a village. People who are interested in buying or renting houses should first spend some time in the village and get to know us. They should also do some volunteer work with others to learn what types of work there are and how hard it might be to live here. I would certainly suggest multiple visits and stays of longer than 3 weeks as well as trying different seasons. Since Zonca is not an official community there are no criteria for admittance. However, we all depend on each other and live in close proximity so it is obvious that you need to get along well with others and to understand what it will take to buy and maintain a house, work with others and also learn what you can contribute to others and to the world by living here. There are in any case many houses available for rent and to buy.

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Location

  • Italy

Promoted Needs and Offers

  • Events
10 years ago

Gaia Ashram Internship

The Gaia Ashram Internship is a one month program on Ecovillage Design, Permaculture and Deep Ecology. The internship will be a holistic participatory learning experience & process. Interns will experience being part of the Gaia Ashram Community and we will live together for one month at– Gaia Ashram-. At Gaia Ashram we belief in holistic learning that balances the head, hands & heart. Gaia Ashram encourages participatory learning & values the power of community in holding the learning space. We design the daily & weekly structure of the internship and of our lives here based on these values and principles. Theoretical learning (Head) The theoretical sessions will be participatory and interactive. It will cover the 4 keys of Ecovillage Design Education (Social, Economical, Ecological and Worldview inspired by Gaia Education). Each week will cover one of the Ecovillage Design Keys and integrated into this we will be introduced to Permaculture Design & Deep Ecology in terms of philosophy, movement and personal experiences. Overall, We will have a maximum of 2-3 hours of theory per day on the session days, to also create lots of space for practical experiential learning. See more details of the key content below. Practical learning (Hands – on) For the hands – on practical learning we will be developing the Gaia Ashram’s farm and restoring nature on the Gaia Ashram land using permaculture strategies & techniques that are appropriate for the Rainy Season & the land and its local context. The hands-on work will focus on Gardening work i.e. developing the vegetable gardens, planting seeds & seedlings, transplanting, propagation of plants, making composts, growing and maintaining a Food Forest, planting green manures, planting lots of trees, planting seasonal crops. Apart from the Gardening we will also will be doing some natural building which mostly will focus on creating natural finishes using mud plasters and art works on
  • Events
10 years ago

Deep Ecology and Mindful Gardening

Deepen our connection with nature through our head, heart, hands and spirit. Join us for this two weeks contemplative learning where we will learn together What is Deep Ecology as a philosophy, as a way to see and interpret life, as an approach to deepen our connection with nature and as a way of living. This two weeks program is designed to have balance of the learning through different channel of our being: Head: Theoretical learning, critical thinking, debate, discussion, deep reflection & deep questioning. The learning through the head help us to understand deeply of what is happening around us and in the world. Understanding and deeply questioning the reality presented to us is a way to liberate ourselves from it. Heart: listening to what we are feeling when we engage ourselves in nature and her stories. Allowing the heart to feel the love, joy, compassion or the feeling of sadness & fear allowing ourselves to feel the pain ourselves, the world & Mother Earth. We will use the activities of The Work That Reconnect of Joanna Macy and other practices to help our heart to learn deeply. We need the learning through our heart to bring about transformation at a deep level. Hand: Mindfully working with nature in the garden. When we are mindful we love, respect and connect as we are physically engaged. Practical work help us to ground our believes, philosophy and vision. It empowers us and assures us that the new reality we wish for is possible. It makes what’s in our head and heart become real and tangible. Spirit : Spirituality, Meaning & purpose. Learning at this level is about being conscious of our values and purpose, seeing ourselves as part of a greater universe and realizing our connection, relationship and responsibility in that picture. a learning at this level helps us to stay connected with our core and bring meaning to life.

Information

Communities

A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

Organizations

An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

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