ZEGG (Zentrum für experimentelle Gesellschaftsgestaltung or Center for Experimental Cultural Design) is an ecovillage located on the outskirts of Bad Belzig, Germany, about south-west of Berlin.
It is an intentional community and an international seminar centre aiming to develop and implement practical models for a socially and ecologically sustainable way of living. To do this, it integrates personal growth work, the establishment of a cooperative and environment-friendly way of living and participation in political issues. In particular, ZEGG focuses on exploring innovative approaches to love and sexuality and it has developed and practices the use of tools for personal expression and trust building in large groups, including the ZEGG Forum.
ZEGG was founded in 1991 on a 37-acre site (15 hectares), where approx. 100 people now live, including 15 children and youth (as of 2011). The facilities on site include: an ecological sewage plant, a CO2-neutral heating system, organic vegetable garden, some clay buildings, a meditation room, artists’ studios, workshops, a guesthouse, the "Children’s Building" and a range of other rooms and facilities for events and seminars. Since 2015 ZEGG is recognized as a non-profit organization.
Workshops and Festivals
ZEGG Community offers several large festivals and many workshops throughout the year. They cover topics such as community knowledge, communication, love and sexuality, non-violent communication, arts and singing. The official host for all these events is the non-profit limited company ZEGG gGmbH.
Community Life
ZEGG's social aim is the long-term promotion of a community-based way of life and it has created its own social structure to achieve this. Community members participate in social processes designed to promote communication, resolve conflicts and support personal development processes. There are also regular discos, seasonal celebrations, internal lectures and discussion rounds and other cultural events.
Many of the community members work within the seminar business, which encompasses catering, accommodation, organisation of events and running seminars. Other areas where members work directly for the community include the garden and the site maintenance team. Community-members also are self-employed, some have day jobs in the region or earn their living further afield. Members are also expected to carry out some voluntary work within the community.
Most community members live in shared accommodation of various sizes; some live alone or as couples. Most children live together with their parents and go to nurseries or schools in the region. In the afternoons, a parents’ initiative organises childcare in the Children's Building. The whole community shares the costs of maintaining this building and providing accommodation, food and care for the children.
Decisions and Organisation
ZEGG has adopted a sociocratic model for its internal organisation. It is built on self-organizing teams that represent the whole organisation, with more comprehensive ones at the top and more specialised ones under them. The teams represent a clear area of activity within ZEGG, such as the garden or catering. The Management team takes financial decisions and implements the organisation's goals whilst keeping the higher-level interests of the community in mind. These are the responsibility of the Visionsrat or Board. All decisions can be revised if they turn out to be unworkable in practice. Important social and financial decisions are made by the community as a whole using consensus decision-making.
Focusing on Love, Partnership and Sexuality
One of the ZEGG community's founding aims was to research the issues of love and sexuality. In the early years the prevailing idea was that of free love. Inspired by Dieter Duhm’s ideas, the community set off on a search for a way to be together that would help to overcome the fears and possessiveness we often experience that hinder our ability to love. After the initial radical approach, more and more emphasis then began to be placed on partnerships. Today, some ZEGG members live in various forms of open relationships and others live as monogamous couples. The aim of ZEGG is still to take an open approach to love and sexuality, building trust among each other whatever form relationships may take.