01 · ROOTEDNESS
What is this place?
Ground, water, boundary and tenure.
CHINA · DECEMBER 2026 → 2027
The Clearing.
Deep-sensing leadership for ecological communities.
A seven-day gathering, and the year that follows. For people leading villages, farms, networks, businesses and schools, with a real place and a real challenge to bring.
Join the 2027 waiting list ↗Fee-paying programme · bursary support sought · join without payment
THE WORK
Begin with attention.
The Clearing creates time for a different quality of encounter: with land, with other people, and with the habits through which we see.
The first invited cohort meets in Jiazi, China, in December 2026, followed by a planned Scottish cohort in spring 2027. Naturally Smart Group CIC works in partnership with the World Ecological Civilization Community Foundation. The 2027 waiting list is for people who would like to hear about the next opportunities as they take shape.
The practice begins with sitting, sensing and returning. People walk slowly, make things together and listen to the stories of a place. What they notice is brought into real decisions about community and land. Each programme’s format will be described when booking opens, including location, duration, access arrangements and cost.
01
Notice
Attend to what is here before reaching for an explanation.
02
Connect
Explore the relationships between self, community and place.
03
Carry forward
Consider what that attention asks of daily life.
THE PROGRAMME DESIGN
Eighteen people.
Eighteen focused hours.
Each participant brings an established initiative. For one focused hour, the whole group attends to that place: its ground, water, people, money and decisions.
01
Before you arrive
A one-page Place Sheet sets out the baseline: land, water sources, households, income and tenure. It names the practical challenge and the inner or relational barrier. Participants share these before travelling.
02
Your Hour
Ten minutes to state the facts. Ten minutes of questions without advice. Twenty-five minutes while the group works and you listen. Ten minutes to respond. Five minutes to name an action and a date, sealed in an envelope.
03
A brief you can use
On day seven, you present a one-page Development Brief: what to do next, what it costs, who must agree and how to recognise change. You ask another participant to witness the year ahead.
THE SIX-DAY JOURNEY
Inner capacity.
Practical ground.
02 · EMPATHY
What do you want this place to be?
People, households and purpose.
03 · ECOLOGICAL COHERENCE
What would nature do?
Soil, food, cycles and energy.
04 · COURAGE TO ACT
What are your intentions?
Money, legal form and the first build.
05 · HOLDING TURBULENCE
Are we acting wisely?
Governance, decisions, power and conflict.
06 · LETTING GO
What moved?
Measurement, evidence and succession.
THE LIVING NETWORK
The year that follows.
After three weeks, open the envelope and return to the action you named. Monthly witness calls ask what you noticed. Quarterly conversations ask what has changed on the ground.
The design includes two full-day group returns during the year, revisiting Development Briefs and running selected Hours again. What was done, changed or abandoned, and why?
What you bring.
Real numbers, a challenge that matters, and full attention to the other places in the room. The invitation is to turn trusted relationships into a plan you can stand behind with your own community.
Read the full programme ↓Programme design · Text edition, August 2026. Final 2027 arrangements, including follow-up, will be confirmed before booking.
What happens next?
Register your name and email. When the 2027 programme is ready, Naturally Smart can contact you with the details. Joining the list does not commit you to attending and does not guarantee a place.
Register your interest ↗For groups and organisations, start a conversation by email.