Today's convo is a special one with a gentleman I am proud to call a friend. Dr. Jason Hilder is on a mission "to live, play and work with others to co-create holistic communal living arrangements and local community ventures and share knowledge in alignment with regenerative global outcomes." While that might seem like a mouthful, he comes at it with a kind and open heart and we discuss the benefits and potential pitfalls of communal living whether it be in large or small groups of people. We share the belief that on the whole, as people we want the best of our global community and our planet, so we also discuss the need and desire of people to look at things a little differently along with the need for local, state, and federal governments to work towards different ideas regarding our current housing crisis.

The idea of intentional communities is not a new one, but there has certainly been some stigma built up over the years. We work together to dispel some of the myths and misconceptions while looking at why they have cropped up.

Originally coming from a small crop farming family Jason studied Rural Management and that lead him to work in the Landscape industry. Dismayed with the focus upon industrialisation and chemical reliance, he left that career and traveled to Europe intending to explore and ended up working for multinational organisations. This corporate rite-of-passage showed him how the economic world functions and he learned that it is more often than not, dysfunctional. While there, Jason had the good fortune to visit Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, which was a life and mind changer. Returning to Australia, he again studied, this time the interplay of urban design and urban forestry with a realisation of the urban forests dying under hard surfaces of housing sprawl throughout much of Australian cities and towns.

The lightbulb sparked… we needed to plan our cities, towns, and villages to support food production and the regeneration of forests wherever was possible. Water is vital for this. Jason wasn’t the only one with this thought, yet the mainstay of urban planning and industry seemed to be stuck on something else – economic return.

The experience at Findhorn showed Jason that when people pool their resources and make collective efforts much is possible and, it feels good too.

Most recently he has completed a Ph.D. to research Intentional Community Living Arrangements and is grateful for the University systems and support to study something that he is so passionate about and beliefs have many, many opportunities for solutions. Now completed, it is time for practical application and he offers to be of service to groups in co-creating regenerative communities and landscapes.

Enjoy episode #23!

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Credits: Production by 'MAV marketing' ([email protected])

Hosted by Dan Vanderhoek - Eco & Lifestyle Property Specialist (@dangympierealestate)

Guest was Dr Jason Hilder

Music by @DanielRaymxnd

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Mentions:

https://jasonhilder.com/

@Djalmbu Jason Hilder

https://crystalwaters.org.au/

https://www.findhorn.org/

https://simonsinek.com/find-your-why/