Arthur James Northwood Maori woman with catch of fish on Northland coast, New Zealand 1910
Atamai Village in New Zealand is an ambitious project aimed at providing its villagers’ basic needs, food, water, shelter, once the global economy and its energy resources start running dry. Changes to the climate are also on many people’s minds. The idea is to build a community that has an internal economy, with people buying each other’s products, in which permaculture plays a major role, while others work outside the village as long as that is viable. Since it’s expensive to set up a project of this scale, we’re talking a few hundred people, it’s not cheap to purchase a plot of land and/or a home. That is a problem in and of itself, because it selects for those with a certain amount of wealth, who will on average be “older”, while a good age balance is vital. It’ll be interesting to see how Atamai, and other projects of its kind, deal with that issue. Still, you have to start somewhere.
Atamai director Ben van der Wijngaart speaks with Nicole Foss, renowned expert on financial instability and limits to growth. They discuss some of the features and benefits of living in Atamai, and the best responses to the coming uncertainty.
Atamai is actively searching for new people to join. If a project such as this appeals to you, and you possess a skill set that you think would fit in with what’s required to make it run well – or better -, do read through the info provided at the Atamai site and contact the village.
NB: As you can see in the video, Nicole has joined Atamai and moved from Canada to New Zealand. That does not mean that she’s bought land or a home there. In fact, The Automatic Earth is on the verge of bankruptcy, we’re awfully underfunded. Nicole provides advice and skills for Atamai, in exchange for which she receives lodging. But the work for Atamai also means that you have seen less of her here at The Automatic Earth lately (though she’ll be back soon, don’t worry). That’s a vicious circle that only you can break by funding us through donations and purchases. Nicole and I don’t mind surviving on little, in fact that’s exactly what we signed up for, but we do still need to survive.
For more info on Atamai Village, visit: atamaivillage.com
See also this ad that we have been running for a while now in our right hand sidebar:
