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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 ecocommunities, are: lack of proper leadership, unclear structures and boundaries, unresolved interpersonal conflicts, and ,consumer behavior in the choice of ecocommunity: many people who want to live in an eco-community visit many ecocommunities 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
