Article written by Beatriz Segura , participant of Icod Remote 2021.

Exactly one year ago it began for my remote Icod, a three -week experience that would change the narrative of months and months marked by the pandemic.

Without wanting to stop to think about it, the last months of confinement were weighing a lot and the opportunity to travel to Icod de los Vinos, a town in Tenerife in which to spend 3 weeks working from paradise with my partner and 8 other telecommutants arose. Back to normal little by little? A yes I want resounding.

really supporting resilient communities and empowered in rural environments and vulnerable groups, so the proposal undoubtedly touched all internal bells in me, since we would also have the possibility of meeting local actors and learn from them (my inner student was jumping with joy)

I was especially interested in knowing these 6 people, their work, their day to day, their needs. He had never been in Icod of the wines and knew nothing of what affected, for example, the distribution of the land so that they could connect with each other and develop as an association in this part of the island.

Since we set foot in Tenerife, the group began to take shape. We begin to adapt, to know each other and to make contact in the activities with the entrepreneurs while we made our common room, our workplace. , routines began to From you to you, of dinners and sunsets, of improvised plans, to praise the work of some and help in the work of others.

'What has done Pueblos Remotos is to connect more to those who were already here (Icod de los Vinos) and the truth is that I am super grateful, because this is a gift'

Toñi González, founder of Finca La Costa ( see video of his full testimony)

From my point of view, the generalized conception that is usually had that these vulnerable rural or collective environments are contexts with an apparent less access to traditional possibilities than others, is wrong. Without a doubt, modern life (and COVID) have increasingly favored our individuality and isolation as a society, but it is in the facilitation of people's networks where the creation of real solutions, opportunities for growth, community and innovation arises , if we are able to grant tools for it.

Close your eyes and think about it, where do you have your best memories? When have you felt more useful? At what time have you felt that you were capable of anything?

I let you answer those questions, but I dare to tell you that I think you will have something in common in all of them and you must see be? 

'The first step and the most important in any empowerment process is to give those who have been marginalized, alienated or oppressed a new confidence that their ideas and opinions are valuable and deserve to be heard. Listening is, therefore, one of the most important skills that every team member must develop '.

Adapted from Hope and Timmell (Training for Transformation, Book 2 p.27)

All people, wherever we are, we have the ability not only to turn on that internal bulb, but to find the switch that ignites it in others, if we are given the space and tools to do so. 

• How is it heard actively around you to establish relationships and explore individual motivations?

• How do we perceive the power we have each one? And the power of the community?

• What motivates people to take action?

Developing active listening to the motivations, needs and concerns of people around you, analyzing power and how its structure influences the purpose of your environment's actions and being able to design an action plan are some of the points that generate a feeling of belonging to something bigger than oneself and unlocks a horizon of infinite possibilities, don't you think?

On June 14 and 16 , from We the Root we have the second edition of a training to learn all this in depth, and how through listening to people's motivations, connecting with each other and encouraging to build collective power, be It is able to unlock the transformation of all kinds of realities.

More information: https://www.eventbrite.es/e/entradas-course-ntroduction-a-la-creacion-y-organization-de-comunidades-317486620027