As discussed previously for this project I have focused on one such community, Coed, to uncover such things.

Coed pronounced as ‘Coyd’, a Welsh word meaning wood, the community at Coed Hills believe, “With urbanisation, global warming, climate change and the housing crisis in the UK, sustainable communities can provide a living solution that harmoniously co-exists with the world around them”
(Coed Hills Rural Arts Space 2024)  

The main principles of this community include equality and justice, together with inclusion and a respect for life and creativity, with norms and values that are reminiscent of years gone by.

“Visitors can take some aspect of our existence away with them and adapt it to their own lifestyle. The community is happy to engage with visitors, sharing their knowledge of, and enthusiasm for sustainable living.”
(Coed Hills Rural Arts Space 2024) 

The community at Coed Hills live in an array of buildings ranging from railway carriages, Mongolian Yurts, log cabins and straw-bailed buildings and have chosen to run the site on alternative energy, including high-tech wind turbines and biomass underfloor heaters. With its one hundred and fifty acres, eight of which are used as a market garden where food is grown using permaculture techniques and two acres used as a forest garden, Coed Hills is inspirational to any individual. This community encompasses a way of life which not only considers sustainability at the forefront of their very existence but also looks at how the five elements of Fire, Air, Earth, Water and Spirit impact them as individuals within this community. 

We have briefly touched upon sustainability within the wider world; however, Coed Hills amongst other eco-communities has been trying to achieve this away from the general public for decades. Each eco-community seems to have an agenda of what they want to achieve, living by their own set of rules and regulations. What I am trying to make you realise is that even the smallest of eco-communities have the stress of daily politics too! These can range from the dynamics within the communities, the expectations of what they expect from each other, and the job roles through to the household chores, for example.  I have briefly experienced and seen this with my own eyes, somehow everyone pulls together in times of need and helps each other. It is such a beautiful thing to see. 

So why would anyone choose this way of life? It is simplistic, and peaceful, with no judgement of who they are and where they came from. Everyone is accepted for just being themselves and what they bring to the community. Beauty is from within, deep from the soul and not just what is on the surface. There is so much information on Coed and it is forever changing, with that in mind the link at the top of this section will allow you to read it at your leisure. There are themes that I believe the community at Coed Hills are proactively doing: Community, Growth, Learning, Sustainability and Transformation. It works as a ripple effect.

My experiences at Coed Hills community have happened on several occasions throughout the previous year. There are too many to catalogue in writing, so visually the photographs tell the story. They have ranged from learning about the community within Coed Hills, the environment, sustainability, permaculture, and how everyone plays a part in saving our planet. I have experienced events held at Coed Hills which are very different from anything I have ever been to.  A true hippie-type place full of peace and love. From classes of meditation, the faery forest to that of taking part in fire walking, it is one of pure discovery.