Hey everyone! 👋 If you missed today's hangout, the replay is now live! We had an inspiring conversation with @Maria do Céu Bastos , who shared her journey of turning her 1 acre land in Minho, Portugal, into a thriving hub for sustainability, resilience, and community connection. ▶️ [Watch the Replay Below] 🌟 Key Highlights & Discussions - 🌾 From City Life to Regenerative Farming: Maria shared the raw realities, challenges, and joys of running a 1 acre farm—from dealing with drought and mulching to harvesting seasonal crops and making homemade jams and chutneys. - 🎟️ Alternative Local Economies: We explored local exchange systems (like the French Système d’Échange Local), coupon-based trading for goods and services, time banking, and seasonal produce basket models (CSA). - ♻️ Community & Policy Action: Maria discussed organizing local swap fairs and opening policy dialogues around recycling and waste management in her village. - 🎬 Resource Shoutout: Flip recommended the film The Biggest Little Farm for anyone interested in regenerative organic agriculture. 📅 Mark Your Calendars: September Farm Event & Virtual Tour! We are planning a special co-working & hands-on week at Maria’s farm from September 21–26! - 🇵🇹 Join Us Live in Portugal (Sep 21–26): You are warmly invited to visit Maria’s farm in Minho for a week of co-working, hands-on learning around pre-industrial skills, and living together in nature! Reach out to Maria or drop a comment if you'd like to join in person. - 💻 Virtual Farm Tour & Brainstorm (Sep 22nd): For those who can't make it to Portugal in person, we are extending our regular Tuesday online meeting to 1 hour to include a live virtual tour of Maria’s farm and a group brainstorming session!

The decline of socialising in modern society has been a steady process, but on many measures of isolation a gap really opened up after the pandemic. The FT’s John Burn-Murdoch examines the data behind the damaging “new normal” which raises concerns about inner development and general wellbeing. 🥹 Very curious to hear your perspectives from the community on this Isolation

Hi everyone, Following the story @Maria do Céu Bastos shared during today’s hangout, I wanted to share two related discoveries that I did not get a chance to mention during the call. The first is iNaturalist, an online community that also contributes valuable biodiversity data for scientific research. Perhaps some of you already know it, but I joined only recently—and discovered that it makes Pokémon feel rather redundant when our world is already so full of real creatures to “catch.” 😊 You simply photograph a plant, animal, fungus, or other living creature with your phone. The app suggests what it might be, and members of the community can then confirm or refine the identification. I find it wonderfully engaging: I am finally learning the names of creatures I have seen throughout my life, while being surprised almost every day by how much I never noticed or knew. It makes me especially happy when I discover a species in my small garden that I had never noticed there before. And I get to keep a little photographic memory of each encounter. The image below shows part of my humble collection so far—caught only with my camera, of course, except perhaps for the obvious pests eating my tomatoes. 😄 The second discovery, also connected with regenerative agriculture and permaculture, is a film I have not yet watched but definitely intend to: Groundswell – Official Trailer (2026). The trailer gives me somewhat of a real-life Don’t Look Up feeling—but I will reserve judgment until I see the full film. Perhaps some of you will get a chance to watch it too and share your reflections!

The title of this United World College (UWC) endorsed online short course intrigued me so much that I applied and… I got accepted as one of 13 villagers entering the experience together! We are a deliberate mix: different continents, countries, genders and ages. Over four weeks, we will imagine the world as a village of 100 people while exploring global inequality, identity, interdependence and citizenship. We are guided by facilitator Kevin Fox, Human Geographer and founder of The Geographical Imaginations Expedition & Institute. Last weekend we had the first two sessions that were all about orientation: meeting the other villagers and looking at/discussing statistics. One thing became immediately clear: we all see through our own lens but often unconsciously adopt a dominant perspective when observing the world. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie called it the danger of a single story. I’d call it something more uncomfortable: the quiet acceptance of someone else’s definition of reality. That discomfort sits at the heart of what I want to explore in these four weeks, because the story of global inequality is not an accidental one. It is not a story of some nations simply failing to develop while others succeeded. The opening quote from the World Inequality Report 2026 says it plainly: inequality is a political choice. It is, in many ways, designed. Nations across the Global South are routinely labelled “underdeveloped”; a word that carries the assumption that the people there lack the capacity, financially and intellectually, to lift themselves without the guidance of the Global North. The so-called migration crisis is presented as a stand-alone emergency, stripped of its context: the decades of extraction, interference and deliberate policy choices that created the conditions for it.

Hello everyone, I wanted to talk about this during our hangout today but was happy to listen to what @Maria do Céu Bastos shared about her farm. I felt really happy because she really walk the talk and this what makes the Inner Development at Work community special to me. Here is what I wanted to talk about. It can be easily understood if you go through my "Note from the Exhibition Organiser" : "This exhibition was a bold step. For two years and four months, we had not been able to hold another public art exhibition, and we almost missed the opportunity to do so within this academic year. The success of Whitesands School's first public art exhibition, together with the support and encouragement of parents, students, and members of the school management, made it possible to continue this journey. The first exhibition took place on 9 March 2024. It grew out of the experience I had gathered from the Southcreek Centre Annual Vacation Programme Bazaar, where I organised exhibitions of students' artworks and robotics projects. Moses Bariki, the former senior school art teacher of Whitesands School worked with me for three years before we finally brought the idea to Whitesands School. Our hope was to continue guiding and mentoring students from Whitesands School who had attended the Southcreek Vacation Programme, while also discovering and supporting more artistic talents within the school. The art teachers, Mr Oyinloye Olanrewaju and Mr. Nosiru Olanrewaju, deserve full credit for guiding the students through the technical and creative process of producing these works. My contribution was to create the conditions for the creativity of the boys to be seen, celebrated, and taken seriously. This involved encouraging the boys, documenting their pieces, engaging supporters, and helping to bring the exhibition together as a shared experience for the school community. What makes this exhibition unique is not only the beauty of the artworks, but also the freedom of expression and confidence it has awakened in the students. Some of the boys discovered that their gifts could contribute to what unites our school community and the wider society. For others, it became a moment of recognition, a reminder that