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lifestyle

country’s distinctive political institutions, Because of the nature of changes in the possible from activities such as
which ensure that ordinary citizens are employment market, an increasing agriculture, horticulture and viticulture
involved in political decision making, and number of jobs are becoming based in the ● ●A range of jobs in mini industrial and
that no one interest group is able to home or the immediate area, such as commercial areas, such as engineering,
benefit unduly at the expense of another. consultancy, commerce, finance, crafts crafts and repairs
While the Swiss central government is and building maintenance. ● ●Local provision of social, educational
responsible for foreign policy, defence, Most important of all is the opportunity and recreational facilities.
federal railways and the mint, all other for people to experience a genuine sense Paralleling the growth of eco
issues – education, labour, economic and of belonging to and of being cared for in a communities is the increasing adoption in
welfare policies – are determined by the community. In such an environment, some Western European countries of the
governments of the cantons and communes. people with a learning disability and their concept of rewilding. This is where
Each canton has its own parliament and families could be more fully integrated. communities assume responsibility for the
constitution. The communes, which vary Several pressures are leading to the quality of the physical environment and
in size from a few hundred to more than a acknowledges humanity’s link to and
million people, have their own legislative dependence on this.
and executive councils. Cantonal and “ In this environment, Rewilding involves changing to less
communal governments are elected by expensive agricultural practices that
the citizens living in their areas. people with a learning lead to the regeneration of soil quality
The cantonal system has served the disability and their and productiveness, a reduction in
ethnically diverse people of Switzerland families could be more use of fertilisers and pesticides, an
for more than 700 years. We could learn improvement in air and water quality
to our benefit from the example set by fully integrated and a greater diversification in local
Switzerland and adopt similar systems of ” wildlife, including insects, birds, mammals
local, citizen-based government here. and fish.
growth of eco communities, including: In short, rewilding leads to a return to a
Eco communities ● ●Ecological pressures, such as climate natural balance and the creation of
It is also relevant here to explore the change and pollution (of the air, land, complementary habitats, where different
development of eco communities where river and sea) and their impact on species coexist.
residents, as individuals and in groups, quality of life
seek to become as self-supporting as ● ●Depletion of resources, such as fresh An alternative way
possible. In various parts of Europe, large water, fossil fuel and forests Let us be under no illusion as to how
eco communities are being created. ● ●Technological pressures, such as the serious the current situation this. The
In an eco community, there are: impact of robotics and AI. number of local authorities in England –
● ●A greater chance for the development Characteristics of eco communities including Northamptonshire and
of a sense of communal wellbeing include: Somerset – which are being forced to
● ●The possibility of a reduction in physical ● ●Power generated from a variety of abandon critical services for those most in
and mental health problems and sources, such as wind, solar, water, need will increase.
● ●Less of a need for expensive, professional geothermal and waste If one combines recent forecasts that a
health and social care support. ● ●Growing as wide a range of food as further financial crash comparable to that
of 2008 is in the offing with the damaging
economic consequences of a possible
Brexit, then we need as a matter of
urgency to explore alternative ways to
make provision for the most vulnerable in
our society.
The past three decades have
provided unambiguous proof that the
national government is incapable of
providing effective services for those most
Amsterdam EFFEKT Architects; WL Tarbert/Wikimedia Commons
in need. n
Robin Jackson is an author and social
commentator on social care and learning
disability and a visiting research fellow at
the University of Hertfordshire.

Do you agree profound change is
needed to the way we live? What kind
of changes would you recommend?
To respond to Robin Jackson’s article,
email the editor: simonj@jarr.
The first of several homes made out of whisky barrels in the Findhorn eco village in Scotland. The demon.co.uk
community has a co-operatively run financial institution, which issues a local currency

www.cl-initiatives.co.uk Community Living Vol 32 No 2 | Winter 2018 25