Hello everyone,

I am just back from Edinburgh where it was lovely to meet with people who told me how much going to Findhorn or contact with Findhorn nourishes them in their lives. Funnily enough, my contact with the 16,000 of you nourishes me as it reminds me of the powerful and positive ripple effect of this place.

Living here permanently of course is a rather intense experience and the second point of our common ground code of conduct - I commit to serving the whole with the understanding that sometimes I need to serve myself in order to do that - provides an enormous opportunity to learn the balance between selfless service and healthy self-care, a lesson which I am learning with particular intensity right now. We often say we offer sustainability from the inside out, and this captures a broader, more meaningful view of sustainability than is generally acknowledged.

In this sense, all our programmes are eco-programmes. We don't claim to be perfect and every day we find we have to make new choices, look at ourselves and the future with humanity, creativity and a sense of adventure, not to mention humour.

As usual, there is a lot going on in the community: Jonathan Dawson ran the London marathon and successfully raised money for representatives to attend the United Nations Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December; we had a sunny Easter Fair and open day; there have been changes in leadership in the Foundation and New Findhorn Association (you can read about both of those in our online Community News); our trustees visited in May; and 35 people had their toenails painted to promote the 350 campaign (350 parts per million CO2 emission level - visit www.350.org).

For even more of such positive news you are welcome to download the PDF of the first edition of a brand new newsletter which will go out at least twice a year, to catch up on local Findhorn community news, hear uplifting stories of people who support the Foundation in all sorts of ways and hear from some of those who have benefitted. We are very pleased to offer you this new way of communicating.

If you live in the UK, one great new way to support the Foundation - and at absolutely no cost to you - is when you want to buy a book or most things online from Amazon.co.uk, you can go to www.findhorn.org/amazon and a percentage of what you spend will automatically come to the Foundation from Amazon. It's VERY simple and will help us a lot - thank you in advance.

I also want to draw your attention to one of the many ways the Foundation is seeking to improve our inclusiveness. Through providing programmes to people with a variety of sexual lifestyles we are manifesting the vision that within all our programmes and events we can help to create a world which faces and dismantles the barriers that separate us from ourselves and each other. The next of these is Queer Spirit - Exploring Sexual and Gender Diversity, 15-22 August, which will create a supportive environment to explore identity through inner work, creative expression, group work and celebration. You can also get details of all our other programmes which celebrate and explore this diversity.

If the state of the world is prompting you to think about how to redesign our presence on the planet why not consider joining the Design for Sustainability comprehensive training of trainers, now in its fourth year and based on the four core pillars of the Ecovillage Design Curriculum - the social, worldview, ecological and economic dimensions of sustainability. Drawing on the experience and expertise developed in some of the most successful ecovillages and community projects across the globe, this advanced training provides a practical forum for learning and developing the skills needed to work effectively with design for sustainability at all levels.

One of our most recent pieces of exciting news is that Findhorn College will begin providing experiential modules in Ecovillage Practice and Community Design Practice as part of the curriculum of the new masters degree course in Sustainable Community Design run by Herriot-Watt University in Edinburgh from September 2009. Students will gain a thorough grounding in classical engineering services issues as well as gaining a holistic understanding of design vital for creating sustainable communities. The course, which is for a range of people including architects, engineers and planners, runs for two to three years depending on whether study is online or part-time on the Herriot-Watt campus, and will include a 3-week residential at Findhorn in their first year.

For something less academic, you might prefer an Ecovillage Experience Week beginning 11 July or 26 September or Resilience in Turbulent Times, 8-15 August, which, instead of building the skills needed to survive or cope, will focus on what in us needs softening and yielding, to allow change to happen gracefully.

Finally, and very importantly, we want to stay in touch with all of you so we ask you to please let us know about any change of street or email address, or phone number. We have created a simple way to do this via our website at a new page called www.findhorn.org/updatemydetails/

Let's all remember - a better world begins right now. And I find no better reassurance as to the possibility of creating a better world than Eileen Caddy's guidance: Do you want to help the world situation? Then look within, for never forget that it all starts in the individual. As you change your consciousness to love, peace, harmony and unity, the consciousness of the whole world will change.

love and laughter,
Yvonne Cuneo
Communications team