Deep adaptation: the Findhorn experience

The Findhorn community, an intentional community in the north of Scotland, came to deep adaptation a little later than Auroville. Daniel Rodary, who is part of the Auroville deep adaptation group, gave a Findhorn member, Michael Shaw, a copy of the Jem Bendell paper, Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy, in July. The paper had a profound impact, particularly around “inevitable near term social collapse”.  It was realised that something about deep adaptation needed initiating in Findhorn.

Forty copies of the article were distributed to the key players in their community, followed by an invitation for a meeting. Given the likely scenario of collapse and the need to prepare for this, the attendees were asked, ‘What do we want to keep, to let go of, and restore and reintroduce in Findhorn?’ 

What also helped focus minds was the realisation that the far north of Scotland, where Findhorn is located, is both cooler and less populated than the rest of the U.K., and therefore would become a prime haven for huge numbers of refugees from the rest of the country in the event of social upheaval.  

The first meeting was followed by several others at which people came together to focus on different aspects of deep adaptation. “There were existing groups, like the food and energy groups,” says Gail Shaw. “So all we were doing by introducing deep adaptation was planting a seed, and saying take it to your group and work with this. And it was like popcorn, it really took off.”  

Findhorn had just hosted a Climate Change and Consciousness conference in the community in which many leaders in the climate movement participated and so the ground was well prepared. 

The food production group realised that in the event of widespread collapse they would need to look at what is the most nutritious food, and what can be produced locally and stored for long periods. They came up with five or six different crops. They also realized that Findhorn did not have sufficient land to be autonomous in food production, so a land purchasing group was set up to explore buying more farmland. The bioregion is also being mapped to see where additional food can come from by building alliances with local regional food growers. 

The energy group is exploring options with the local army base who admitted they have no plan for climate change, but are happy to work with the community on energy. The army has a lot of the land and would like to install solar panels, and Findhorn along with two Scottish Universities would like to put together a district micro-grid solution with the army to generate energy in renewable ways. “We agreed we have to be very locally resilient and not rely upon the European energy grid working,” says Michael.

From the economic perspective, Findhorn already has its own alternative currency: For deep adaptation, some kind of internal system is crucial. But for the next five to ten years conventional money will be spent to buy land for farms, so it is fortunate that Findhorn also has its own bank, with several millions pounds invested in it.

Education is the main focus and money-earner for Findhorn at present.  One idea is to introduce a new course where everything is laid out ‘upfront’ concerning climate change and the need for deep adaptation.  “Essentially, people would be contemplating the end of the world as we know it,” says Michael. “They would be given the data and then helped in responding to this in a quiet and supportive environment.  The typical Findhorn attitude to climate change would be to trust and cooperate with nature as far as we possibly can, and to work on inner process as well as outer actions.”

Gail, who is a psychotherapist, explains there is an art to holding people when they are confronted with such a bleak scenario and helping them process it. “One of the things that helps people hold it is having a spiritual framework.  And when groups are organised around people sharing their strengths and fears, it builds energy. At the same time, I agree with Greta Thunberg that you should not pretend there is hope that a major disaster can be averted.  So we have to act now because we have very little time to get prepared if we are not all to be washed away.”

“Personally, I find it energising,” says Michael. “Suddenly it’s very clear what the focus of our lives should be and what has to be done. I would hope that Gilles Boulicot’s report that Auroville will run out of water in three years if there is not quick action will have the same effect here.”

Is there anything that Auroville can learn from Findhorn regarding deep adaptation?

Michael and Gail are doubtful, partly because Findhorn and Auroville are so different. “Findhorn is tighter, smaller, and functions in groups,” explains Gail. “There is a lot of group process, of group sophistication.  My experience of Auroville is that it’s much more amorphous and the consciousness here is pioneering but also anarchic. This is an energy that fights groups and authority.  But I think that wherever the deep adaptation people want to work in Auroville, they must link up with or infiltrate your existing governing structures. They must also be given real power to work on the deep adaptation agenda. There’s a lot of expertise in Auroville regarding new approaches to water management, energy etc. but money and power are needed to implement these solutions.” 

Findhorn and Auroville may be very different, but are there fundamental principles and practices of deep adaption that are relevant everywhere in the world?

They believe there are. For example, a simple lifestyle is essential, like growing one’s own food and minimising one’s energy use. There is also a fundamental need to protect the commons – natural resources like water, energy, food – while ‘smart’ tools can be particularly helpful when the communities are no longer connected to the rest of the world. (In fact, Auroville and Findhorn are already collaborating on such projects, like smart irrigation at Buddha Garden.)  

Gail believes that Auroville has one big advantage. “Quite a number of people here, as well as the villagers, are used to hardship; that’s a really big strength.  Findhorn has become too ‘cushy’, comfortable.  One of the things that brought us to Auroville is that here there is still a strong pioneering spirit. However, in a time of tremendous change we cannot keep holding on to a tight structure of how things have to be.  Auroville needs to open its gates to new people, new ideas, and I think this might be much better achieved here than at Findhorn.”