Read the e-book with our memories, and visit our Instagram page with photos and posts from the journey.

Trans Istra eco journey has been completed. Times were challenging, we coped with stomach flu, and fear of COVID. We built a loving community, supported each other through the journey, and learnt new skills, changed our look on the world, built a more ethical attitude towards the environment. No one returned home the same person that have left it. An experience, that will stay with us for ever.

19. septembra med 14. in 18. uro vas vabimo na dan odprtih vrat na Sončnem griču na Hrvojih v Slovenski Istri! Videli boste lahko naše dobre prakse (ne le dobre, tudi kakšno slabšo — in kaj smo se iz nje naučili 😉 ). Dva skupinska ogleda prostora bosta ob 14.00 in ob 16.00. Ob domačem prigrizku in kozarcu soka ali vina bomo sproščeno poklepetali o tem in tistem. Dobrodošli! (Udeležbo prosim potrdite na narapetrovic@gmail.com).

IZZIV ZA POHODNIKE: POHOD IZ KOPRA NA HRVOJE

Računamo na to, da pridete zdravi in upoštevate predpise in priporočila NIJZ.

Dogodek je delno sofinanciran iz sredstev MOK za spodbujanje delovanja NVO.

Dogodek je del Evropskega dneva trajnostnih skupnosti.

Metuljna vas je program namenjen revitalizaciji podeželja. V treh državah bomo izvedli tri pilotna izobraževanja na temo življenja na podeželju. Raziskovali bomo kakšna je razlika med življenjem na podeželju in v mestu, kakšne so možnosti zaslužka na podeželju in komu je podeželska idila lahko pisana na kožo.

V okviru programa bomo partnerji razvili didaktično igro s kartami in izobraževalni program 4 letni časi na podeželju.

Projekt je sofinanciran v okviru strateškega partnerstva programa Erasmus+.

Skupnost na Sončnem griču poleg stalnih prebivalcev, ki skrbimo za prostor ter organiziramo aktivnosti, tvorijo še obiskovalci in prostovoljci, tisti, ki se na Sončnem griču ustavijo za teden ali dva in tisti, ki se ustavijo za več mesecev ali celo let.

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Poletna ekipa je bila stabilna. Trije čudoviti prostovoljci, fant in dekle iz Francije ter Klara, naše gore list so prišli v začetku julija in ostali do konca meseca avgusta. Mladi so se odlično razumeli, ter vzpostavili mini skupnost znotraj skupnosti. Prevzeli so skrb za koze in predelavo mleka v sir, jogurt ter skuto in na ta način prispevali k samooskrbi skupnosti na Sončnem griču. Pri delu s kozami so se zabavali, vsak je izbral svojo najljubšo, vsi pa so oboževali posebnico Veselko.

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V hiški z razgledom na vzhod in zahod je stanovala nemška družina. Namesto potovanja po Evropi so se zaradi varnosti odločili na Sončnem griču preživeti mesec dni. Tako všeč jim je bila izkušnja skupnosti in življenje z naravo, da so se odločili podaljšati še za en mesec in ostali do konca avgusta.

V prostor so prinesli otroški smeh, uredili otroško igrišče, pergolo pred hiško in uredili zanemarjen vogal pred hišo.

V poletje smo vstopili s kresom pri Bembičevem mlinu v dolini Malinske, kjer smo oblečeni v belo pripovedovali zgodbe in skakali čez ogenj, Mojca pa nam je zaigrala na gong.

Sredi poletja smo skupaj z Etno Histerijo prepevali hit poletja: Il pueblo… Združeno ljudstvo ne bo nikdar premagano.

Zaključili pa smo ga s pesniškim večerom v naravi, v sodelovanju s knjigarno Libris iz Kopra. Pobudo je dala pesnica Alja Adam, ki je na Sončnem griču našla zatočišče med karanteno in tukaj našla navdih za zbirko poezije, ki bo izšla konec meseca Septembra.

Hvaležni smo za bogastvo v odnosih, ki nam ga omogoča naša izbira življenja v skupnosti in zadovoljni, ko vidimo, da izpolnjujemo svoje poslanstvo, ko nudimo možnost mladim, da izkusijo drugačen življenjski slog, v povezavi z naravo in drug z drugim, v medgeneracijski skupnosti, kjer vsak prispeva kar lahko v skupno dobro, ob enem pa najde oporo za osebni razvoj.

V okviru projekta Butterfly Village, ki ga delno financira program ERASMUS+ sta se dve predstavnici društva Sončni grič udeležili srečanja partnerjev v skupnosti Zaježova na Slovaškem. Takole je dogodek opisala ena od udeleženk, Ines.

Slovenska delegacija s Sončnega Griča se je od 24. do 27. junija udeležila mednarodnega sestanka za projekt Butterfly Village. To je že drugi mednarodni sestanek, prvi se je odvijal na Madžarskem. Zbrala se je pestra skupina ljudi; štirje Madžari z otrokom in dve prebivalki ekovasi Zaježova na Slovaškem, kjer se je sestanek odvijal. 

Glavni fokus projekta Butterfly village je, da se mladim in tistim, ki razmišljajo o selitvi na  podeželje predstavi možnosti, ki jih takšno življenje ponuja.Eden od ciljev projekta je razvijanje izobraževalnega kurikuluma, ki se bo odvijal v vseh treh partnerskih državah. Na Sončnem Griču bo tečaj potekal štiri vikende, po en vikend v štirih letnih časih. Tekom tečaja bodo ljudje izkusili različne aspekte življenja na podeželju v različnih sezonah.

Predstavnici Sončnega Griča sva bili Ines in Margherita. Po 10- urni vožnji skozi ravno in monotono Madžarsko, sva bili zelo veseli ko sva naleteli na bolj razgibano in hribovito pokrajino Slovaške. Ekovas Zaježova se nahaja na približno 900 m nadmorske višine in je obdana z ogromnimi površinami gozda. Ko sva prispeli, sva že takoj imeli preizkušnjo ker sva se malo izgubili ko sva hodili navkreber skozi gozd natovorjeni s prtljago. Poti so bile zelo blatne, saj je v prejšnjih dneh veliko deževalo. Ko sva prišli, so naju prve pozdravile koze in trop psov. Nastanjeni smo bili v kompleksu dveh starih, a prenovljenih kmečkih hiš. Z Margherito sva se odločili, da bova spali na podstrešju s senom. Hiši sta polni tradicionalnih orodij, ki so jih uporabljali na Slovaškem za delo na polju in v kuhinji. 

Eden izmed glavnih poudarkov na sestanku je bilo razvijanje igre, ki bo privedla ljudi bližje k življenju na podeželju in povezovanju z naravo ter trajnostnimi vrednotami. Igra je zastavljena v obliki kart na katerih bodo močna in zanimiva sporočila, ki bodo poskušala takoj pritegniti igralce. 

Pokrila bodo štiri različne teme: načini preživetja in varčevanje denarja, razkošna preprostost, osnove samooskrbe ter sodelovanje v skupnosti. Igralo se bo lahko na različne načine, v skupini ali sam. Igralci bodo lahko izbirali med praktičnim izzivom ali refleksijskim vprašanjem. Refleksijska vprašanja naj bi vzbudila nove načine razmišljanja s katerimi se igralci morda še niso srečali.

Na sestanku smo prvi dan začeli delati na razvijanju igre. Najprej smo imeli skupinsko posvetovanje o konceptu in kaj na bi bilo na slikah. Nato smo rekrutirali fotomodele, na poti pa nam je vedno sledil profesionalen fotograf Dani, ki je bil venomer v pripravljenosti, da ujame dober in spontan trenutek. Tako smo zjutraj posneli nekaj skupinskih fotografij. Vsi fotomodeli smo izbrali eno barvo oblačil, tako da je sporočilo še bolj jasno in, da je poudarek res na tematiki slike. S tem se doda raznolikost ter se ustvari skupen vizualen jezik.

Popoldne smo imeli ogled ekovasi Zaježova. Vas se razprostira v 30 km dolgi dolini v kateri so posamezne hiše razpršene naokrog, tako da je glavni vtis, da imajo veliko prostora. V 50-ih letih je bilo v vasi okrog 600 ljudi. Po koncu komunizma so se pričeli preseljevati v mesta in vas je bila zapuščena. Nato je leta 1995 nekaj mladih ljudi tam kupilo hišo. Hoteli so živeti preprosto in alternativno življenje blizu narave. Ustvarili so majhno skupnost, kjer nihče ni bil plačan za delo, tako da je prostovoljstvo prisotno že vse od začetka. Ker so hoteli biti čisto samooskrbni so jedli nekaj časa samo krompir, ker je bil to njihov edini pridelek. Za občutek koliko so odtujeni od ostalega sveta služi podatek, da so bili do leta 2013 brez interneta in mobilnega signala.
V vasi, ki je decentralizirana in brez hierarhije, je trenutno okoli 250 prebivalcev. Vsako leto imajo več in več projektov, ki povezujejo prebivalce kot je na primer poletni festival, skupno praznovanje solsticija itd. Ponovno so odprli skupnostno šolo, ki je bila zaprta 30 let. Imajo tudi gozdni vrtec, izobraževalni center in skladovnico hrane. To je soba v kateri hranijo ekološko in lokalno hrano. Prebivalci si sami vzamejo hrano in zapišejo v svoj zvezek koliko so vzeli in koliko so dolžni, tako da celotna izmenjava temelji na zaupanju.
Sekier, prostor kjer smo nastanjeni in delamo, je skupnosti center na robu vasi. Trenutno gosti večinoma prostovoljce, ki ga vzdružujejo in pomagajo skupnosti in je na nek način prostor, kjer ljudje začnejo svojo pot v Zaježovi. Vzorec je, da ljudje pridejo najprej sem, so prostovoljci, nato pa se odločijo ostati dlje časa in kupijo hišo nekje drugje in si ustvarijo življenje v vasi. Med ogledom smo srečali veliko ljudi iz Slovaške in drugih držav s prav tako zgodbo. Zelo pogosto je v zgodbo vključeno, da se ljudje zaljubijo, ko so prostovoljci in si nato tam ustvarijo družino.

Po ogledu vasi, smo madžarska in slovenska ekipa predstavili svoje organizacije občinstvu iz Zaježove. Poslušalcev ni bilo veliko, a so bili zelo zainteresirani in so imeli veliko vprašanj. Zvečer smo zakurili taborni ogenj in peli pesmi.

Drugi dan smo se še vedno osredotočili na fotografije. Bili smo zadovoljni s svojim delom in učinkovitostjo. Tekom dveh dni smo naredili okoli 1500 slik. Za kosilo so nas slovaški gostitelji razvajali s pizzami pečenimi v zunanji krušni peči.
Popoldne nam je uspelo opraviti še celo nekaj dodatnega dela. Naredili smo dva intervjuja z lokalci o njihovim najljubšem prostoru na posestvu. Iz interview bo nastal poučen video.  

Zadovoljni smo z opravljenim delom in, da smo imeli priložnost izkusiti Zaježovo in njihov način življenja. Veselimo se naslednjega mednarodnega sestanka s partnerji projekta, ki se bo zgodil v drugi polovici tega leta v Sloveniji na Sončnem Griču.

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Leto se je začelo z udeležbo na delovnem srečanju Globalne mreže Ekovasi v Španiji. Nara je bil kot govornik povabljen v Ukrajino na festival skupnosti po modelu Anastazije.

Koze čistijo pokrajino okoli sončnega griča in odkrivajo kamnite škarpe. Vreme je prijazno in vrt zahteva pripravo na skorajšnjo zgodnjo setev. Za hišo želimo urediti letno kuhinjo, da se lahko poleti in spomladi čim več zadržujemo zunaj. Skoraj je že narejena sončna terasa nad novim 25m3 rezervarjem za reciklirano vodo iz gospodinjstva, ki jo uporabljamo za zalivanje vrta.

V letu 2020 imamo veliko načrtov. Sodelujemo v dveh strateških partnerstvih Erasmus+, z lansko jesenjo smo postali partner v Konzorciju za samooskrbo Slovenije in pripravljamo mladinsko izmenjavo Trans Istra eko Journey.

Želim, si, da bi imeli več časa za pisanje in poročanje o vseh zanimivih in lepih trenutkih, ki jih preživljamo na Sončnem griču, vendar je življenje pri nas tako živo, da splet preprosto ne pride na vrsto…

text and photos by Taco

My EVS project happened by a series of happy coincidences. After finishing my studies in the Netherlands, I felt the need to get away from it all for a while. I roamed around on Workaway looking for places somewhere away from the busy west. Eastwards, Bulgaria, Romania… I finally found a remote place in Slovenia called Sunny Hill, an eco-community in permaculture which seemed to be an interesting and peaceful place to hide out for some time. I came there and helped around the house, also to prepare the place for an upcoming dancing youth exchange.

During that time I discovered the existence of EVS (European Voluntary Service organised by the Erasmus + program) and that such a project was being organised here. Not giving it much attention, by the end of the two weeks I got to understand that Sunny Hill would soon be looking for volunteers to be part of it. Considering that I didn’t have many plans for the coming times and that living for a year in the middle of nature in a permaculture eco-community with friendly and like-minded people, starting a pretty awesome project, I couldn’t find many reasons why not. I was proposed to apply for this project that would start at the beginning of October and got accepted.

The main project for this EVS was initiated by Vida, a former cooperative member of Sunny Hill. Her idea was to establish a pilgrimage: the Camino d’Istria. A walking path that would go across the Istrian peninsula from north to south, going from Slovenia into Croatia. For one year we compared maps, explored the territory, looked for suitable accommodation and locations to find sustenance (food and water sources), discovered ancient trails, historical villages and researched about the philosophical and spiritual meaning of pilgrimage. Religion not being our cup of tea, we opened our pilgrimage to a universal understanding of spirituality, an all-inclusive version of pilgrimage.

We organised two inaugurating events, the first one in April celebrated the opening of the short walks in the vicinity of Sunny Hill. Three walks in total, two half days and one three day long walk. Most of the organisation went into the three day walk which crossed the border. The border at Hrvoji being only for accessible to locals with a key, we made special demands to the police in Croatia and Slovenia to give us permission, as a sportive event, to let us cross. The police came to check our IDs and opened the fence for half an hour in one direction and another two days later at agreed times. In two groups we visited and stayed in Motovun and Groznjan, both groups going in opposite directions. The event was a great success from the organisation point of view and the feedback of the 14 participants was overall very positive. This gave us the reality check that our endeavours and efforts were not just feeding our personal fantasies and gave us the cheer to continue our work in this direction towards the long Camino event in September. In the next four months we explored the region, looking for the best and most suitable trails, getting lost in the middle of nature, going off track to find another trail south west, 50 meters lower..

We finally came up with the present version connecting Koper, Hrvoji (Sunny Hill), Motovun, Pazin, Draguc, Kotli, Hum, the Poklon pass on Ucka, Vojak (1400m alt.) and Moscenice. A seven day walk of about 135km. Having learned from the first event, the second was organised in a trouble-less manner. Only finding the participants was a little bit more difficult, 8 days halfway September is not the best timing in the year. Finally we gathered a small group but unfortunately due to an injury from the previous walk I couldn’t come along.

Beside having had a year full of adventures, walking through beautiful landscapes, I finally got the grounding I needed and also developed a strong bond and partner- & friendship with Vida, complementing each other into a smooth work symbiosis. We also established the association of Camino d’Istria in Ljubljana which has become the node of a small network of friends, hikers and pilgrims interested and/or convinced of the potential of the project.

I shared this volunteering year and project with two french girls (separately). Working with them taught me a lot about teamwork. Living and working in the same place day after day can have a confusing effect, certainly when one is used to clear boundaries and a structured lifestyle. Also, life in a community can be quite confronting. Imagine living actively with a family in a house, cooking, working and sharing free time together and meeting every week. In such a setting it’s not uncommon to discover each others and your own boundaries and weak spots. To me it’s certainly a positive process of getting to know yourself and others but in order to make it fruitful one should have a humble and willing to learn attitude. If the ego is too deeply rooted then a clash can occur.

This humble and observant attitude can serve as a base to grow, in my case, from individualism and self-importance towards a more inclusive attitude of solidarity and togetherness. This to progressively find a balanced and healthy position in the community. On the ground this can be experienced as first taking things personally and having the sense of ‘what should I be doing’, to eventually understand that living in an eco-community means you are part of a living organism. Such an organism needs to eat, drink, digest, rest, and first of all: breath, take the time to enjoy. Reaching this realisation and perspective is not a simple thing when coming from a world of strong conditioning. It’s a tough self-confronting process which can eventually bring one to find one’s own place inside the group and unfold towards your full potential.

Being an EVS volunteer at Sunny Hill is great but can sometimes come to be tricky. I’m part of the community on a relative long term making me a solid and immersed member to it and it’s activities. At the same time my time here is also counted so there’s a psychological limit to the real commitment. Like a tree growing in a planted pot separated from the earth. Off course the possibility always existed to remain after the volunteering period (if the other members would agree) but that’s another story. Also, being mainly busy with a project that only remotely yields to the community’s interests, I often had the feeling of sitting between two chairs when it came to occupation and responsibilities. But on overall, the easy going atmosphere, friendliness and open-mindedness of the fellow members made my stay very enjoyable, filled with good moments, laughter and joy. We would never hesitate after a day of work close to the coast to take a dive in the sea and go for an ice cream in Koper on the way back during the warm days.

In total I spent 12 months in this peaceful corner of Slovenia, experiencing all the four seasons with in each its work and harvests:

The cheerful olive harvest in autumn at Goran on the hill above Isola. A few hundred kilos of kakis picked from one fertile tree in Pomjan serving as material for week long ‘kaky parties’ (cutting and peeling) in the winter. The spring planting and weeding campaigns around the sunny hill and at Romana’s in the valley of dragons. From salad and strawberry overdoses in spring to overabundance of cherries, tomatoes and plums for jam, sauce or drying in the summer.

Living for a year in this sunny community changed me in many ways. I improved my organisation skills through the Camino project and by organising local events such as the Christmas eco-fair where we set up a gift economy market of second hand christmas presents. Also my practical skills greatly diversified. Cooking for on average 10 people and up to 30 on special occasions. Helping out building or putting apart constructions, plastering, building stairs in the garden, doing the maintenance of dry stonewalls, helping build a green roof, and a lot of wood cutting and storing.

During these activities I learned how to use simple tools like an axe, a scythe or a hoe, discovering that, to use them properly, in the most energy-efficient way, one must learn for some quite specific techniques. This brought me to humbly realise how peasants and farmers in the past, and many still today, have to be quite skilled and hold a tight line on how much energy they spend versus the energy they take in. I might see this as an interesting practice, for others it’s a nice work out. For those having no other choice came to this balance by their own and, the generations before them, fine tuning and adaptation to their environment and climate conditions. Back when muscles and strong minds shaped the landscape.

I also learned to better appreciate the people I live with in order to avoid judging. Every person is the cover of a life story with ups and downs, weaknesses and strengths. One can’t understand a person by only looking at the title or having an overview of the present chapter. Community life makes a deeper reading possible and enables greater valuing of the persons qualities and more compassion for her or his short comings. Living in community has been a great lesson of life.

While inland is getting cold and foggy, here in Istria we still have full summer. After colourful and joyful visit of Floating castle festival the month of September brings series of events to Sunny Hills of Istria.

Our friend Michael organises Dschungel festival at his place just few kilometers from Sunny Hill

Camino’d Istria Association invites for a 8 day hike from Sea to sea, through Istrian woods and medieval villages

and on Sunny Hill we’ll host 13th Ecovillage day on 21st of September.

Written by Nolwenn

As an EVS volunteer I took the task to write articles about our study circles about sustainability . 
Just a quick presentation of myself : My name is Nolwenn and I am 23. I am a french volunteer volunteering here in Sunny Hill for almost 2 months now. I studied hotel management, sustainable development and tourism. I am interested in sustainability. I learnt a lot from my studies and from participations from training course/youth exchanges Erasmus + . I want  now to live a long-term experience in harmony with nature provide us and in a sustainable way of living . It is always enriching to learn theoretical knowledge not only in school but also by the way of non-formal education. Now I need something more concrete. Act and change my way of living become fundamental more and more for me. I need to keep hope and to challenge myself to live the way I believe in for our future. I am not in a fairy tale I know climate change is happening here by the weather, natural disasters happening all around our world or statistics of report from reliable institutions. It is scary and maybe it is already too late. But I want to do what is right for me, our society and what we can still save from our planet. I learnt a lot since I am here. That is why I think it is  interesting to share with you about our community and what we will learn in these study circles.

We were invited to be part of a study circle on sustainable culture of living, organised by Forest school Hosta and the mentor Marjeta Šumrada. Sustainable way of living is also the theme of the association Sunny Hill.  We found it interesting to have the opportunity to gather, share and talk especially about this topic. Indeed I think sustainability is not only an idea now, but a concrete process which needs to be considered quickly. This way of non-formal education will help a lot. We will share our background, knowledge, experience to be innovative in the future. I strongly recommend you to get information about the non-formal education learning. 

Before I summarise the main points of our first circle, here it is a definition of sustainability: “A characteristic or state whereby the needs of the present and local population can be met without compromising the ability of future generations or populations in other locations to meet their needs. ” ( found on the glossary of www.ipbes.net )

The aim of this circle was to understand how we are sustainable in our way of living in our community Sunny Hill. We organised this circle by the three pillars of sustainability : economy / social / ecology . Before starting each pillar we always speak a bit of what it is for us in the society. Then we did a brainstorming for each pillar. We started to write our hearts, it means what we are doing well in our community about this pillar. Then we finished by our deltas, it means how we can improve ourselves in the future. 

ECONOMY

As we are surrounded by an amazing unspoiled nature , we want to live in simplicity and preserve it as much as we can. So we try to minimise  our cost of living by working together. We cultivate our own vegetables, we cook and we store our own wood to not buy from outside. We are lucky to be a group of people with different skills and talents. So each of us can use them to build or fix something instead of buying new.  The heart of our economy is ‘magic jar’. The principle is that everybody can contribute in it according to their point of balance, that is the point that one can afford, still doesn’t take advantage of it by not contributing at all. This money is used for food, shopping or unexpected situations. It is based on solidarity between each other because we all have different role in our group.

We can still improve ourselves in the economic way because for the moment what we cultivate, cook, create is mainly for our community. As only some people here have a job outside of the community  it could be great to find a way of marketing development (sell our own products). Then our work here could contribute to the local economy and members of the community will not have to find a job next to the work in the community anymore.

SOCIAL

As we run this place together the social part of sustainability is important . Once per week we meet all together to speak about organisation of the community (what we have to do next week, who is here, who is coming…). On this meeting it is important that everybody is actively present because we can speak freely about what is relevant for the community life. We take some decisions which have to be approved by all members. To keep a conviviality inside our ecovillage we cook and eat together. We know that being around the table is a good opportunity every day to gather and care about each other.

There is still place for improvement in the organisation, communication or self involvement at the same level as it is a young community.  We have been creating a community handbook, that is being written by some members and it will be read and approved by everybody. It will contain clear indications on the decision making process and how to deal with conflicts for example. It will help  to understand our way of living to visitors and new (potential) members. It will help to all the members already there to communicate more and adapt the same way of living more sustainable if it is understood and practiced well in the future.

ECOLOGY

 This part will be maybe less detailed because I am planning to write more specific article and post some pictures about our ecological practices as it represents mostly our everyday lifestyle.
First about the food: we cultivate organic vegetables following  permacutlure principles. We still buy some food in the supermarket the products wrapped in plastic.  We are looking for ways to reduce plastic package to zero if at all possible. We are connected to the rainwater and we need to pay attention on how much do we use it. Especially in the summer, the need for water increases because of the gardens. To reduce water consumption we use compost toilet. The water from showers and kitchen goes in the reedbed where it get cleaned by the roots of the reed, so we can  reuse the water for our gardens. Of course, we need to use only ecological washing liquids and cosmetics. We heat the house and water with modern stove with double combustion chamber. We cut and store the wood ourselves. We plan to install solar panels to heat the water, however the investment is not small. We have still to figure it out. We are located in an isolated place so we do not have the choice than to drive when we need to go somewhere. We  try to organise ourselves to practice car share.

So these are the findings of our first circle. I’ll keep you posted about next gatherings.

Nolwenn je vključena v program Evropske prostovoljske službe ‘Prebudimo Istro’ .