Erik van Lennep

Looking to join an ecovillage, and open to location. I’m now living in Maastricht, NL but would also consider places within and beyond Europe. The geographic location is less important than the type of community and its spirit.
I am intrigued by the possibility of working with a community which has a “foot” planted in two locations, one north and one south, as a way to establish an energetic circuit based on bi-location polarity (ask me about this if you are curious). For instance, I’ve noted a few projects with contact addresses in Germany or Denmark, but sites in PT and ES. What’s happening there? Northern folks fleeing to the south? Or an intention to maintain and develop this sort of interchange and polarity between regions? I can see many benefits in such a configuration. But this is just one type of intriguing possibility, and I am quite open to explore others.
I am more interested in joining a community which has the intention and practice of interfacing with the surrounding world than I am in communities which seek to isolate themselves from it.
My skill set includes “deep design” which includes process and project design, design of strategies and communications, narrative and storytelling, and the application of permacultural thinking and practices. My formal training is a mix of art, botany / biology, ecology, landscape scale design, ecological restoration and design psychology. I carry a massive amount of knowledge about plants, their uses and habitats. I’ve practiced this mix for more than 30 years now, and in several distinct geographies and cultures. Wherever I live I create a botanical garden (seriously).
I’m also very experienced in creating education projects and centers, both informal and formal education (from primary school to adult learners) and curriculum development, learning journeys, capacity building and community economic development. I teach and offer services in team building, and this can scale from small projects to organizations and occasionally, world movements. I also do grant writing and consult on building membership strategies.
My focus is transformation: personal, group and beyond. I’m not sure about “world changing” as an aspiration, but I’ve certainly experienced it as a result of my work. In the state of the world today, I believe we all have a vital role to play in this time and in our lives, to participate in the shift towards the emerging paradigm which seeks to restore and regenerate individuals, our society and the natural world. So I work with this in mind and I focus my activities accordingly.
I have been working to develop a prototype for a learning center based on healing participants through the practice of healing the Earth. The model is quite evolved at this point, and now seeks a place to land (in the literal sense of rooting and earthing). Think of it as a School for Changemakers which spans the range of “soft skills” like spiritual growth, 21st century shamanism, applied quantum energetics and storytelling to the more hands-on practices of project design and eco technologies and eco innovation.
Like anyone, there is more to who I am and what I do than my profile. But it’s a starting point, and if you want to know more, just ask.