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264 JUDIT FARKAS
is practically fully achieved. They do not produce for sale, only for themselves and for
the programmes and events they organize. What they cannot produce themselves (e.g.
cereals, oils) they also try to acguire from sustainable sources.
The initiative is a member of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN). The Sunny
Hills Association, established by the founding members of the community, organizes
workshops, conferences, youth camps, retreats and other such events in a natural
environment, and generates part of its income from these activities. In addition, all
members of the community have part-time or full-time jobs in Koper, Ljubljana or in
a home office (e.g. as a writer, a psychologist, an organizer at GEN or a railway
employee). Several members of the community admit that the increased home office
opportunities since Covid have made their lives easier.
The community is made up of six core members, several more loosely connected
members and a number of even more loosely connected interested people (the latter
are, for example, sympathizers and regular volunteers of Slovenian and other nationalities
who are also involved in the life of the community to some extent). The community
has determined to operate on a grassroots democratic basis. There is no formal leader,
but there are people responsible for specific activities. Their activities include, for
example, a weekly one-hour meeting where they decide on their own affairs on the
basis of proposals and discussions. There are no strict rules for entering (except for
professing similar values) or leaving the community. Those who quit receive a pro-rata
return of the money they put into the community building.
The community admits that their problems include low membership and the high
turnover of members. The presumed causes of these problems, which affect many eco¬
communities, are: lack of proper leadership, unclear structures and boundaries,
unresolved interpersonal conflicts, and ,consumer behavior in the choice of eco¬
community: many people who want to live in an eco-community visit many eco¬
communities as volunteers before making a decision, and leave the chosen community
relatively easily if they experience problems.
Figure 4. Community place and outdoor kitchen, Sunny Hills of Istria, Slovenia.
Photos: Gabriella Szenderäk, 2023