ESC: Sustainable lifestyle

Sunny Hill association for a sustainable culture of living operates in the hinterland of Slovene Istra. It was established in 2017 with a mission to promote a sustainable lifestyle through education and by living example. The members of the association are dedicated to sharing our knowledge and experience, that we obtain through continuous learning and experimentation. We created a sustainability polygon that exhibits different examples of sustainable practices such as the renovation of the house with natural materials, permaculture gardens and recently planted food forest, an innovative system for wastewater recycling, collecting rainwater and a number of small innovations that we proudly show our visitors. Our model of a sustainable lifestyle is voluntary simplicity. We live and work together in a vibrant community composed of regular members of the association, long and short term guests and volunteers. The average number of people on site is between 8-12. Group is usually international and of different age groups. This model is attractive for young people who dream about life in connection with nature and share resources and work in solidarity, for the common good. At Suny Hill, they have a chance to gain experience and knowledge before they move on to their own projects. Many of them regularly return for a visit. We cultivate about 2 ha of land and have achieved a high level of self-sufficiency with vegetables, eggs and dairy products. We have goats and chickens. Goats help us with the regeneration of 3 hectares of abandoned land. We practice a nomadic grazing system according to the principles of regenerative agriculture that aims to regenerate depleted soil. We host volunteers all year round, who find us through our networks or through the Workaway platform. They help us with whatever task is at hand at the given moment, either it is building a new facility for the garden, preparing wood, help on gardens or with goats. We bake our own bread from the ecologically produced grain that we buy from a farmer that we know. We collect and dry herbs and fruits. We strive for the minimum waste household. For this reason, we buy dishwashing soap in refillable bottles and make homemade vegetable milk. There are always opportunities to learn and experience something new. We horizontal management and call weekly meetings. We believe that the inclusion of all stakeholders in decisionmaking processes empowers people and promotes responsible behaviour. We host workshops and courses on the ecological, economical, social and cultural area of sustainability. As well we organise and facilitate meetings for NGOs. We build connections with the local community and engage in the development of sustainable tourism connected to biological food production. In this scope, we occasionally organise cultural events, connecting art and nature. We connect to like-minded organisations on regional, national and international level. On a national level, we regularly cooperate with the Slovene Permaculture association. We are a member of the network of Slovene NGOs Plan B for Slovenia. We are a partner in the consortium for the promotion of a local food supply. Sunny Hill is a member of international networks GEN Europe (https://gen-europe.org/) and ECOLISE (https://www.ecolise.eu) and has the role of the national network for Slovene initiatives and individuals with them we share information as well as opportunities for learning through active engagement in the work of these two international networks. With the scope of bringing even more opportunities for young people to learn in an international environment, we regularly partner in different Erasmus+ K1 programs and bring opportunities to young people to learn and experience a multicultural environment either by participating in training or youth exchange. We organised a youth exchange in 2018 and have hosted two EVS volunteers in 2018-19 and we plan to do more such activities in the future. The association is a partner in 3 strategic partnerships all connected to education for sustainability. CLIPS - Community Learning Incubator Program for Sustainability is a mentoring program that supports new initiatives in their initial stages or in the moments when they face difficulties. Butterfly village - Program that is intended to present to young people the possibilities that rural life offers and inspire them to move from the cities to abandoned rural areas. European networks for sustainable future - Program, that aims to establish a new regional network of like-minded initiatives in the Balkan and south-east Europe. There are 5 active members of the association with a number of supporters and volunteers. Currently, two persons are employed full time.