The Journey of the New Root at Earthaven Ecovillage

Earthaven’s membership committee started this process six months ago in February of 2021. We’ve been asking ourselves for years how to best represent the journey of membership at Earthaven from the very first contact to the settling in as a full member. Understanding that journey helps us create education programs, support systems, and a road map for everyone involved. Here is that road map.

A big shout-out to the Farm Beginnings Collaborative for giving us basic idea of structuring stages of learning. They do this really well in their “Growing the Next Generation of Farmers” worksheet which lays out the beginning, in-training, startup, seasoned stages of a farmers journey.

This road map helps us address the challenge of educating an incoming populace with a wide range of experience, expectations, ideals, and skills. It helps us be realistic about the process of membership and creates a structure for what comes next at each step of the process.

It allows us to co-create more successful outcomes for the incoming “New Roots” and encourages them to engage for fully in their own journey. Education is always an investment in the self so whether or not new residents stay at Earthaven long-term, they are deepening their relationship with regenerative culture along the way.

Many thanks to Lena Estes for the drawing and for the fabulous team of Courtney Brooke, Garrell Bevirt, Arjuna DaSilva, NikiAnne Feinbert, and Lee Warren for pulling it all together.