Cloughjordan Ecovillage & Cargonomia | An M2M Solidarity Project

Cloughjordan Ecovillage & Cargonomia An m2m solidarity Project | photo essay

Cloughjordan ecovillage occupies a 22 hectare (67 acre) site behind the main street of Cloughjordan, a small village in north Tipperary in the Irish Midlands. It contains a residential area of 55 houses, built between 2009 and 2013, a wild woodlands area with 17,000 native trees, a community farm and a services area with a green enterprise centre, a district heating system fuelled by renewables, polytunnels and a biodiversity education centre and garden. The community currently comprises around 100 adults and 35 children. It is a registered educational NGO and runs courses on climate change, low-carbon living and community resilience. Numerous businesses within the ecovillage and the adjoining village provide livelihoods for residents. The average ecovillage resident has an ecological footprint of 2 global Hectares, less than half of that of the average Irish person.

Cargonomia and Zsámboki Biokert

Cargonomia works as a partner in cooperation with Zsámboki Biokert (collectively as part of The Open Garden Foundation) in organic food distribution and community outreach programming. Zsámboki Biokert is a 3.5 hectare organically certified and practicing biodynamic farm in the village Zsámbok, Hungary which has been in operation since 2010. The farm includes a one-hectare outdoor vegetable production area, a 3000m2 orchard of about 100 heirloom fruit trees, 2000 m2 of unheated polytunnels and three hectares of pastureland. Cargonomia’s volunteers manage a cargo bicycle logistics centre and local food distribution point in Budapest, and work in close cooperation with the farm team. The cooperation consists of a cargo-bike messenger service (Arany Kerek and Golya Futar), a bicycle-building cooperative (Cyclonomia), and volunteers who maintain a community space and donate time regularly on the farm in Zsámbok and at various urban gardening sites in Budapest. The project team members have worked officially as Cargonomia since 2015. They have been collaborating to implement advocacy and educational outreach and DIY workshops focusing on urban sustainability, organic gardening education, bicycle mobility, degrowth in practice, community activism for more liveable cities and self-sufficient living.

The system around us is in crisis, we need to build alternatives

Recognising the climate and biodiversity crisis, in Cloughjordan ecovillagers experiment with diverse ways of growing food naturally.

On the farm in Zsámbok, the team’s horse assists in cultivation of the diverse garden plot in contrast to mechanised monocultural practices of neighbouring farms.

At the heart of our alternative is community. As individuals we flourish in community

Left: Pat and his daughter Beth enrich the Cloughjordan community with their music. Above: Cargonomia promotes creative upcycling at bicycle mobility event in Budapest.

Together we unleash creativity and build resilience and create space for exchange

The Cloughjordan community gathers for stories and star gazing.

Cargonomia assists a local family in testing the resilient mobility of cargobikes.

Community means living and working cooperatively We make our decisions together

Left: Cloughjordan meetings can get lively. Right: Team meetings on the farm provide space for reflection and sharing.

We develop our power instead of handing it to others

Above: Logan keeps an eye on Cargonomia trainees Perrine and Enora as they gain confidence with the stirrup hoe. Right: Educating ourselves is at the heart of our community life in Cloughjordan.

Community means tending land and nature to allow them flourish: Regenerating the soil and ecosystems

Left: Torben, one of the farmers at Cloughjordan Community Farm, delights in its rich produce Right: Diversity is in full bloom at Zsámboki Biokert in late September.

Growing healthy food using natural means

Cloughjordan farm produces a colourful variety of tasty vegetables and fruit.

Kata from the Zsámboki Biokert farm team carefully selects the best basil seedlings to send off to customers in weekly food boxes.

Community means moving beyond money as the bond between us. Our motivation is the common good

Left: The team at Wekerle Community Centre, a community center and organic veggie box pick up point, shares a moment of down time during a busy box distribution day. Above: In Cloughjordan, we share freely what we produce.

Money is simply a means required for certain needs

Left: The collaboration between Cargonomia and Zsamboki Biokert helps deliver baskets of colourful produce weekly for loyal customers in Budapest and the surrounding area. Above: Cloughjordan farm members pay a set monthly fee and can collect what food they need.

Community means sharing with the wider society. We share our produce

Above: The Middle Country cooperative café on Cloughjordan main street uses the produce of the farm to share with the wider community. Right: Marti proudly provides a behind the scenes view of box preparation which takes place on the farm each Wednesday afternoon.

We share what we learn though education and provide support to other communities

Cloughjordan draws thousands of people a year who come to learn about low-carbon living, biodiversity and community resilience.

An enthusiastic group of visitors discuss their potato harvesting strategy during an open volunteer day on the farm in Zsámbok.

We use technologies to serve our goals not vice versa

Left: Logan enjoys using the wheel hoe for preparing a seeding bed before sowing coriander. Above: Jorge delivers food from Cloughjordan farm twice weekly to be picked up by members.

Our freedom lies in assuming our responsibility for society

Left: Patrick, a member of Cloughjordan ecovillage, speaks at a climate protest outside the Irish parliament in Dublin. Above: Cargonomia plays a role within a greater network of civic and social initiatives in Budapest. Golya, a collaborating partner of Cargonomia, is a social cooperative, community space, and serves as a distribution point for organic food boxes while managing their own cargobike messenger service.

We are just tiny seeds of the alternative being born around the world

Left: The night sky over Cloughjordan reminds us of our tiny place in the vastness of the universe. Above: Ica carefully transplants the endivia salad seedlings that will flourish with proper care in the garden.

The values of Karl Polanyi, a native of Budapest, help interpret what we aspire to do

Irish President Michael D. Higgins opens Cloughjordan community amphitheatre, valuing the significance of our community’s endeavours in the great transformation we require.

The extended Cargonomia and Zsámboki Biokert community also aspires to contribute to the great transformation and values the rich insights of Karl Polanyi (1886-1964) who grew up in Budapest and whose seminal work is The Great Transformation (1944).

This photo essay is an outcome of the M2M Solidarity project initiated by the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam. The project brought 11 European community-based projects together in groups of two or three with a brief to each to produce an expression of European solidarity. Cargonomia in Hungary and Cloughjordan Ecovillage in Ireland was one of the pairings and this photo essay is their joint expression of European solidarity, inspired by the rich insights of Budapest native Karl Polanyi (1886-1964) and particularly his classic work The Great Transformation (1944). Two podcasts Imagining transformation: Polányi’s insights for sustainability and Rebels with a cause: practicing decommodification and an info-graphic have also been produced by the Cargonomia-Cloughjordan collaboration.

Cloughjordan Photography by: Eoin Campbell JustMultimedia.com

Cargonomia Photography by: Noémi Bulecza

Appreciate

Credits:

Cloughjordan Photography by: Eoin Campbell JustMultimedia.com Cargonomia Photography by: Noémi Bulecza