Community Lab: Learning to Live Together
A youth exchange in an ecovillage about personal growth, conflict resolution and community living
Format: Erasmus+ youth exchange, about 10 days
For: young people aged 18 to 30
Where: Earthbound ecovillage, Sweden
When: June 2027
What is Community Lab?
Community Lab brings young people from different countries together to live as a temporary community inside a real one. The question guiding us is: how can we design our lives to feel satisfied with ourselves, resolve what keeps us apart and live together in a sustainable way?
Personal growth
Learning new skills, taking initiative and critically exploring different ways of living.
Conflict resolution
Understanding why communities struggle and learning tools for dealing with conflict in a transformative way.
Community living
Living and working together in an ecovillage and taking that inspiration home.
How we work
Mornings are for community work with the hosts, such as gardening and permaculture. Afternoons are for participatory workshops. Methods include nonviolent communication, Open Space, Theatre of the Oppressed, educational live-action role play, sharing circles and permaculture. Each day ends with time for reflection, and participants receive a Youthpass certificate.
Who can take part?
We welcome young people interested in sustainable community living, from ecovillages and from cities, from rural and remote areas, and from every background. We give priority to young people with fewer opportunities, including those with low income, those who have never taken part in an Erasmus+ project and those whose mother tongue differs from the national language. The exchange itself carries no participation fee, and we make sure travel costs are not a barrier.
History of Community Lab?
Community Lab began as a youth exchange in October 2021 in Damanhur, Italy. It was organised by former participants of the Yes to Sustainability network, and this new edition builds on what we learned. It is hosted by Earthbound, an ecovillage in our network in Sweden, in cooperation with partner organisations from several European countries. It will be the first youth exchange hosted at Earthbound.
More about the Community Lab methodology: communitylab.gr