Desexos Comunidade Montes do Couso

Author(s)

Natalia Balseiro

The community of Montes de Couso put together their individual desires to imagine a possible form of the artistic work.

To see the Spanish version click here.

Towards the end of the afternoon of the first day of the Terra Común mediation process, we set up an exercise to start dreaming. Each participant, from their own knowledge, experiences and needs, but after a collective conversation about the attachment and connection to the land, the mountain, the Couso Mountains and the surrounding community - Parish of Couso (Gondomar) - expressed their first dreams for Couso Mountains, for this mediation process and for the design and production of an artistic work. 

They dreamed of being able to live with dignity in the countryside through a self-sufficient community, with a multifunctional and sustainable forest, in which preservation and protection of the native flora and fauna coexist, the recovery of quality woods, fixing population in the territory through the implementation of different cultural and leisure projects but also economic, creating jobs, directly or indirectly, through the community of Montes.  

They dreamed of generational change, trying to raise awareness among the new generations and encourage their active participation in the forest community. 

They dreamed of maintaining the community of Couso that exists today, but even more participative, they dreamed of having a public or community means of transport that would allow the elderly to continue to move around the territory with autonomy and to be able to continue living in Couso. 

They dreamed of building a monument to the people who have died in the parish, with the promotion of a community radio station, with an art project that is linked to climate change, but also with promoting beekeeping and herbal medicine projects. They also highlighted the value of the projects that already exist in order to continue working on them and thus increase their impact on farming. 

We share these dreams by writing them down and keeping them in a common box. These dreams were read out at the next meeting, on 27 April 2023, by other people, to share, aloud, the desires of all of us, from the beginning of the process. 

Towards the end of the afternoon of the first day of the mediation process Common Land we did an exercise to start dreaming. Each participant, from their own knowledge, experiences and needs, but after a collective conversation about the attachment and connection to the land, to the mountain, to Montes de Couso and to the surrounding community - Parish of Couso (Gondomar) - expressed their first dreams for Montes de Couso, for this mediation process and for the design and production of an artistic work. 

They dreamed of being able to live with dignity in the countryside through a self-sufficient community, with a multifunctional and sustainable forest.The project is a project that combines the preservation and protection of native flora and fauna and the recovery of quality wood, by establishing a population in the territory through the implementation of different cultural and leisure projects, but also economic projects.The forest community is a key element in the creation of jobs, directly or indirectly, through the forest community.  

They dreamed of generational change by trying to to raise awareness among the younger generations and encourage their active participation in the forest community. 

They dreamed of maintaining the community of Couso that exists today, but even more participative, they dreamed of having a public and/or community means of transport that would allow the elderly to continue to move around the territory with autonomy and to be able to continue living in Couso. 

They dreamed of building a monument to the people who have died in the parish, of promoting a community radio station, of an art project linked to climate change, but also of promoting beekeeping and medicinal herb projects. They also highlighted the value of the projects that already exist in order to continue working on them and thus broaden their impact on the farms. 

We shared these dreams by writing them down and keeping them in a common box. These dreams were read out at the next meeting, on 27 April 2023, by other people, to share aloud everyone's wishes from the beginning of the process.

See the photo gallery of the meeting here.