The Avalonia Project was born out of a long-term vision: a place to gather people eager to express, share and deepen their love of Nature in meaningful ways, together as a community, to strive for wellbeing for all humans and non-humans in a symbiotic intimate relationship. Over time, the vision has gradually evolved from a place of community living to an eco-centre with a specific purpose and approach.

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The newest version of the project’s long-term vision drafted in Summer 2026 is offered to you below. May it inspire you, and perhaps call you to join the journey…

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The Vision 2.1

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We all have an innate relationship with Nature that falls somewhere on the spectrum of destructive to regenerating, of painful to prosperous, materialistic to animate, detached to intimate. Collectively, the relationship is waning with drastic consequences on human and planetary wellbeing. Yet, the growing umbrella movement of Regeneration shows a flourishing relationship and future are possible.

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Currently, there are no convening places near Geneva that address humanity’s relationship with – and as part of - Nature (a term increasingly coined as "kinship") in a collective, experiential, integrated and inclusive way. Not quite this way. Not yet.

At our local scale, here is what we propose: ​

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A Kinship eco-centre dedicated to regenerating

– tending to, repairing, rekindling and celebrating -

humanity’s relationship with (and as part of) Nature

for a paradigm shift at a systemic level.

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The eco-centre will be located at the French-Swiss border in/near Geneva in beautiful natural surroundings conducive to both individual and collective transformation for wellbeing and ecological purposes.

 

For a better understanding of the approach behind the vision (and the terms used above), please visit the page Avalonia Today.

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Illustration of the Kinship Eco-centre

Note: the above image was AI-generated and we would rather reward an illustrator –

please get in touch if you feel called to draw the eco-centre.

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Key Aspects of Design

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Inspired by Nature and Community projects, notably the Eden Project in Cornwall, the eco-centre's design will be dependent upon the opportunities to acquire land and existing buildings that will present themselves to the collective willing to support this project. Ideally, all buildings would be designed, built or refurbished using biomimicry.

The project requires three types of spaces:

• The Hearth: essential to the successful deployment of eco-community projects is having inclusive gathering spaces for the community to come together. Indoors, such a space would have been called a Hearth by our European ancestors. The Hearth would feature a café/brasserie where local, healthy, organic and ethical food and drinks will be proposed.

• Rooms: spaces, some of which may be modular, designed to accommodate the activities proposed by the eco-centre's programmes (more on these below).

• Natural outdoor spaces: the eco-centre will require access to land and Nature, notably for the purpose of having herbal, vegetable and forest gardens.

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The Concept

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Kinship is experienced in many different ways and is specific to each individual and organisation. The eco-centre will be dedicated to giving everyone an opportunity to relate to Nature in their own ways through the following key programmes, with suggested sub-programmes:

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These programmes are designed to address our diverse ways of relating to Nature with a holistic approach based on a four-dimensional model that converges the following existing models:

• Carl G. Jung’s model of the four types of intelligences: thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting;

• The four elements and their symbolism in European indigenous culture, notably associated with the four cardinal points: Earth (North), Air (East), Fire (South), Water (West);

• The four GEN dimensions used in building eco-communities: social, ecology, economy, culture;

• The four steps in the Dragon Dreaming methodology used in eco-communities to birth projects: dream, plan, act, celebrate.

• The four aspects of regenerating our relationship with Nature (invented by myself): tending, repairing, rekindling, celebrating.

 

See below what the associations would look like if they were to be layered one atop another:

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*A word on “intuitive intelligence”: the models don’t perfectly fit into one another and it would be presumptuous to pretend otherwise. I pulled together these models to create one that aligns as best as possible to Jung’s model and the indigenous Celtic wisdom of the four elements based on my training. Fitting “intuitive intelligence” with Fire might seem counter-intuitive given that intuition is widely associated with the element of Water, the latter relating to the soul and subconscious where it sprouts from. For the sake of our model, “intuition” is explored through the element of Water as a gentle quiet sense of knowing that opens doors of reflection. Instead, the Fire programme will focus on “inspiration”, an energetic spark that catalyses action. Though these models are used as an image and basis for design, the interrelationality and interconnectedness of all elements from a regenerative perspective inherently means that the emerging practices will likely trigger several intelligences to work together.

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These four dimensions give the foundation for the four key programmes held at the eco-centre - Earth, Water, Fire, Air - with a fifth programme called Wild Wisdom to bring all these dimensions together to help people identify their most natural ways of relating to Nature. Find out more about the programmes below.

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Why?

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Why kinship? Why the Geneva region? Why these four dimensions? What is so innovative about the concept? Why bother at all?

 

Ecology and sustainability are dominantly treated with a Cartesian intellectual framework that leaves little space to the other three dimensions, and too often forgets our own inherent place within Nature. Joy, creativity, gratitude and celebrations are regularly diminished and brushed aside, hushed to ensure the business is serious in the eyes of all. Consequentially, these topics rely heavily on scaremongering to draw people’s attention, leaving eco-warriors (meaning anyone working in those fields) frightened and guilt-ridden, finger-pointing or disengaged, disillusioned or quite frankly, dangerously burned-out and depressed. The overwhelming majority of other people will in turn engage through pro-environmental pride-enhancing behaviours legitimising judgment and condemnation, or look the other way and completely disengage too. Our disconnection from Nature has been extensively demonstrated as a thick root cause to the polycrisis we are facing, with drastic consequences on wellbeing and our planet.

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I, and others working in regeneration, believe there is another way: one that does not diminish nor exclude the important practical realities of the current state of things, and one that fosters inspired, joyful and creative stances whilst tending to grief through a holistic approach, combining all experiences for collective resilience. Few succeed in proposing such an array of practices that nourish our bond with Nature with yet a practical impact. That is why this eco-centre proposes a concept worthy of consideration.

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The Geneva area and neighbouring regions is a great place to start, being the home of countless renowned green international organisations, such as the Environment House and Geneva Environment Network, WWF, UNEP, IUCN, WEF’s Centre for Nature and Climate, Green Cross International, IISD, the Villars' Institute among others. These organisations are already doing a wonderful job, yet none of them offer such a holistic approach with a focus on Kinship - thus, there is a wonderful opportunity to complement each other through our approaches. Geneva is also the place I grew up in, with a beautiful lake at its centre, surrounded by the mighty protective mountains of the Alps and the Jura - alas overexploited for destructive tourism. Well-linked to the rest of Europe and named the Peace Capital, it seems befitting that a centre devoted to reconnecting with our place in Nature should be planted on these lands.

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The Next Steps - A collective journey

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The vision is that of a large project that can accommodate a myriad of kinship-related activities and there needs to be a path that leads there. Up until now, the Avalonia Project has hosted over 30 events gathering hundreds to celebrate the seasons and Celtic ways of knowing with the charity Mamajah and the retreat centre Viayoga. The project now needs a new location to deploy the long-term vision - and most importantly, a collective, a team of like-minded dreamers and manifestors.​​

 

The vision shared with you is captured by one person with feedback: it is expected to evolve as people join the project and possibly grow into something else. Evidently, the project must start more simply and be broken down in natural steps by those who will engage with the vision together. It is not firm nor rigid and certainly open to transformation. The vision is complex and a lot to compute: I did my best to offer a frame within which I hope you may identify agency for your own projects, providing there is alignment.

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Does the vision inspire you? Would you like to be a part of the adventure? Do you think the vision is missing something?​

If so, please get in touch and let us make this vision a reality.

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Programmes Overview ~ Suggestions

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To dive deeper into the vision I had, feel free to explore the following summary of each programme and sub-programme below. As discussed, these are mere suggestions of design and will likely evolve depending on the collective gathered to make this project happen.

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AIR

This programme focuses on ways of relating to Nature through the mind, or the intellect, to collectively develop and spread natural and social scientific knowledge.

Suggested sub-programmes:

• Education: for youth and adults to grow and share ecological and kinship knowledge, including a co-working space and library.​

• Incubation & Research: for ecopreneurs and researchers dedicated to bridging between humans and Nature.

• Synergy: for professionals to meet and collaborate on ecological and kinship topics through conferences and networking opportunities.

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EARTH

This programme focuses on ways of relating to Nature through sensorial intelligence with embodied, experiential and artistic practices in celebration of our relationship with Nature.

Suggested sub-programmes:

• Food & Soil: classes, workshops, trainings and lectures at the café/brasserie and in the permaculture community vegetable and forest gardens, including regular artisans and famers' markets.​

• Sense & Celebrate: artistic and creative practices to honour our bond with the Earth through five senses classes, workshops, shows, concerts, residencies etc. in visual arts, music, aromatherapy, manual crafts and others, including Kinship festivities and a Temple of Kinship featuring the artwork created in the eco-centre.

• Eco-camping: eco-tourism to welcome visitors all year round. 

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WATER

This programme focuses on ways of relating to Nature through emotional intelligence by offering safe spaces for transformation through intuitive therapeutical, introspective and relational practices.

Suggested sub-programmes:

• Healing: with a focus on ecopsychology and eco-therapy, a space dedicated to those curious and keen to peel the layers causing disconnection from Nature and the self, for both those requiring support and to train eco-therapists. 

• Introspection: classes and workshops on personal and spiritual development through guided quiet introspective, intuitive and creative practices in Nature, to reconnect to dreams, gentle healing and the power of imagination.

• Relationality: practices to communicate authentically between humans and with the other-than-human realms, and to develop compassion, understanding, care and affection towards Nature.

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FIRE

This programme focuses on ways of relating to Nature through inspirational intelligence by creating opportunities to get a spark, find ways to harness the resulting energy and manifest it into action.

Suggested sub-programmes:

• Inspiration: spark-inducing fire-side sharing and storytelling, notably from indigenous natural wisdom keepers.

• Energy: movement practices in connection to Nature, including martial arts, dancing and respectful outdoors sports.

• Activism: hub for collective and collaborative kinship and ecological activism to coordinate efforts for a stronger impact. 

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WILD WISDOM

Assumed to be a synergy of all four elements, Wisdom stands as a special separate programme. 

This topic is important, particularly in a technology-driven age where knowledge and science expand at unprecedented rates at the detriment of ethics, ecology and ultimately, collective wisdom. Inspirational talks of wisdom will be shared by the fireside, with the hope is that through inspiration and a combination of the right practices, individuals and our community will grow in maturity. To that end, Wild Wisdom workshops, talks and retreats featuring practices from all the other programmes will be hosted at the eco-centre to facilitate growth in harmony with Nature.  

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The Vision’s History

The vision was first born during my studies with the Global Ecovillage Network on eco-community design in Summer 2021. The project was presented to the French incubator InnoVales who selected it for incubation throughout the year 2022. In Autumn 2023, the vision was first written up and the dimension of eco-centre was added. In Summer 2026, the co-living dimension was removed for a more focussed approach.​

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See below the archived vision: