Directory of Eco-villages in Europe - Kennedy Bibliothek

Italy
Baldissero
existing
eco-village
Damanhur
Damanhur was founded in
1979 by a group of people inspired
by Oberto Airaudi's idea
of uniting a spiritual philosophy
with practical everyday
life. It is now a federation of
several villages and communities:
Damjl, Etulte, Tentyris,
Rama and Valdajmil. They are
situated in the Valchiusella
area, a pre alpine valley in the
Piemonte in northern Italy.
The Federation now numbers
over 400 full time members
and 300 others who live nearby
and take part in its activities.
Residents are of all ages
and come from all over the
world, allthough at the moment
the majority is still Italian.
Damanhur offers different levels of membership according to the level
of involvement each person chooses, from full-time residency to people
who live all over the world, but visit us regularly. Damanhur has several
centres in Italy, one in Berlin and maintains contacts with spiritual groups
world-wide. Every year, thousands of people, especially from abroad,
come to Damanhur to study and research, or simply to share everyday
life.
Damanhur has more than 40 economic activities, artistic workshops, a
daily newspaper to stimulate debate and exchange of ideas, a Constitution,
a currency (Credit, value in Feb. 1998 = 1,400 Liras), internal
schools, elective bodies, an open university offering seminars in many
fields of social, artistic and spiritual research.
At the centre of the Damanhurian spiritual path is the expression of the
individual's artistic creativity. Creative expression serves the purpose
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