it's thyme - Interview with Lotus Studio

How did the idea for it’s thyme come about, and what inspired you to embark on this journey together?

After finishing our Masterstudies in International Development (Hannah in Grenoble, France) and Leadership for Sustainability (Julia in Malmö, Sweden), we both felt terribly worried about the state of the world and confused about our role in it and our next steps. We were supposed to kick-off our careers, yet we felt like we needed to change our lifestyles drastically in order to escape the extractive mechanisms of society. Instead we had a longing to contribute to regenerating our ecosystems and communities and become more happy and hopeful ourselves!

We decided to look for alternative career and life options and took one year off from “normality”, taking a 1 year permaculture course on a small farm in the middle of Germany and learning about healthy ecosystems and regenerative principles! We fell in love with life again: with the beautiful nature, with ourselves and the potential of our future. We saw a world where our systems and communities were back on track mimicking nature: diverse, cyclical and self-organizing towards increasing resilience, beauty and productivity. We understood that the connection to nature as well as a culture of deep trust and strong relationships are essential to our sense of belonging and our authentic self-expression. This year was so energizing and we developed such a strong vision and longing for a different future, that we both knew: we cannot go back losing this feeling! So that’s when we decided to found it’s thyme as a promise to ourselves to try everything we can to create new structures so that one day we will reach this different future for us and for everyone who wants! We developed the Hope Hub concept as a means to get there. We envisioned our Hope Hubs to be accessible community and education centers for regeneration, where sustainable solutions in architecture, construction, food production, land ownership and business models and practices are showcased and a culture of care, trust and reciprocity is cultivated. This would not only allow people to experience a more nature-aligned and relational lifestyle and become healthier again but also open up their imagination of what's possible and inspire them to act. Our Hope Hubs could become regional innovation hotspots and regenerative accelerators for all involved - we thought the concept in theory was amazing, haha!

What is so incredible to us is that 2 years after leaving the farm, we started co-creating the first Hope Hub by restoring a beautiful abandoned village in Galicia, Spain with the local owner Manolo who had the vision of restoring the village in a regenerative way! It felt like a destined match! We have connected to core partners to bring our concept to life and let us tell you: the Hope Hub will be already as amazing as we thought! The core of the village is a huge stone ruin in the center, which we are transforming into the community house and co-living space. Next to that, food forests, permaculture gardens, a café, an event and workshop space, camping platforms and wooden tiny houses, sauna, natural ponds and much more are in the planning!

The vision is to learn from the process of building up this Hub and then empower many more leaders to co-create globally connected but locally rooted Hope Hubs in the world through a learning platform and community consulting. Additionally it’s thyme offers regenerative leadership retreats and workshops for all who seek to create positive change in their own lives and ecosystems.

As twin sisters, how do you feel your unique bond has contributed to the success of it’s thyme?

Read the full interview here: https://www.lotusstudioagency.com/blog/interview-itsthyme-coliving