„Los geht’s Austria“ losgehts2014.wordpress.com
The first Austrian „Los geht’s!“(Let’s go!) meeting took place between the 14th and the 17th August at the „Hofkollektiv Zwetschke“ community near Zwettl, Waldviertel, Lower Austria. It was a great success!
What is Los geht’s?
„Los geht’s!“ is a meeting which has the aim of promoting and supporting egalitarian communities and communes. People looking for a community to join can get into contact with communes searching for new members. People wanting to start egalitarian communities can meet one another and start to organise. In addition, there are presentations and self-managed workshops about a variety of themes and subjects relevant to community life, networking between existing projects, tasty vegan meals, and concerts and celebrations.
The first „Los geht’s!“ was in Germany in 1999, organised and conducted by members of the Niederkaufungen commune (KNK), a member of the „Kommuja“ network of political communes. „Los geht’s has taken place regularly since then in various „Kommuja“ communes around Germany.(See : www.kommuja.de/core-principles/)
This first Austrian „Los geht’s!“ was organised by members of the 3 existing egalitarian communities in Austria: the Hofkollektiv Wieserhoisl (http://www.wieserhoisl.at/) the Land in Sicht (Land in Sight) community (laaandinsicht.wordpress.com/), and the Zwetschken collective (www.hofkollektiv-zwetschke.net/), which is a candidate member of the Kommuja network. They were supported by members of KNK, SSM (Sozialistische Selbsthilfe Mühlheim), and Kommune Waltershausen.
What is a Hofkollektiv?
The term „Hofkollektiv“ means „farm collective“ although „collective small-holding with a communal economy“ would be a more accurate term for the communities who use this name. In Germany, groups of a similar size and with similar libertarian, egalitarian and ecological ideas often call themselves „Kommune“ – commune. In Austria, the term commune was brought into disrepute by Otto Muehl’s „Friedrichshof“ commune in the 1970s and 1980s. (For more information, see: www.ic.org/wiki/aao-aktionsanalytische-... ).
The „Hofkollektiv“s are part of a socio-political spectrum which includes community supported agriculture communities at one end and (mostly urban) self-managed housing coops (e.g Mietshäuser Syndikat), food coops, and workers cooperatives at the other.
What was „Los geht’s Austria“ like?
Over the three and a half days the meeting was attended by about 100 people (which is good when you compare the size of Austria with Germany, and the fact that the first german Los Geht’s was attended by 250 people). There were about 30 self organised „open space“ workshops and presentations, and plenary meetings every morning and evening. The themes of the open spaces ranged from commune networks, finance, insurance, decision making, collective/communal economy, social and emotional tools in community including radical therapy, to straw bale house building, community supported agriculture, alternative, anti-authoritarian schooling, travelling communities, natural contraception, a yodelling workshop at the camp fire, and many more. There was also a „market place“ where the various projects, existent and at the planning stage, could present themselves, answer questions and find new people.
A „VoKü“ (peoples kitchen) group from Wieserhoisl and Mühle Nikitsch, supported every day by many volunteers, kept everyone well fed with delicious vegan meals. On Saturday night there was a concert by a klezmer band and a women’s clown show.
There was also an „internal“ meeting of members of the existing collectives with the concrete aim of improving contacts between the groups and a further collective network meeting has been organised for January 2015. There is already a HoKo mailing list/mail distribution system and there is the plan to bring new life to the HoKo Wiki at:
we.riseup.net/hoko.
At the final plenary meeting, a couple of volunteers came forward who will try to organise a second Austrian „Los geht’s“ next year.
The weather could have been better but the rain showers were short and when the sun came out it was pleasantly warm. (We were lucky. A day before the start it had rained for the whole day!)
In solidarity, frank richardson-schäfer.
