Sólheimar

Sólheimar is an eco-village in Iceland and is renowned for its ecological, artistic, and international community ethics. Its current population size is about 100 people. The village of Sólheimar locates in the south-western part of Iceland, the municipality of Grímsnes- og Grafningshreppur. It is a community where people with or without special needs live and work together. Sólheimar is a pioneer of practicing organic farming. In Sólheimar there is an organically certified greenhouse, forestry, arboretum and egg production. Other environmental-friendly projects in Sólheimar includes geothermal energy and recycling.

Sólheimar (Sunworlds) was founded on July 5, 1930 by a pioneering woman: Sesselja Sigmundsdóttir (1902-1974). She was a pedagogical innovator who was specifically interested in caring people with mental challenges as well as organic horticulture. In 1930, when Sesselja moved to Iceland, she kept in contact with other pioneers in organic farming and anthroposophy around Europe as the preparation to create a physical space where childcare could be achieved in a self-sustained community in a land with streams, hot springs and other natural surroundings.

On March 31, 1930, The childcare Committee of the Church of Iceland, purchased the land known as Hverakot for isk 8,000. Sesselja leased the land and founded Sólheimar, that started out as a fosterhome on her 28th birthday, the 5th of July 1930 with the arrival of the first five foster children and at first they all lived in tents In the fall of 1931, five children with mental challenges arrived to Sólheimar, while the first building, Selhamar, was constructed specifically for the developmentally disabled children in 1932 and 1933 with the support of Parliament. After World War II, besides Sesselja's foster children and the summer children, nearly all the children in Sólheimar had disabilities.

Today all activities in Sólheimar are based on Sesselja's lifework and visions: what started out as an isolated and primitive settlement in 1930 with around ten small children has now become a modern, self-supporting eco-village with organic farming, thermal and solar energy and with a thriving cultural life. Inspired by the theories of Rudolf Steiner, Sesselja’s focus was the interaction between the individual and the environment. She was a passionate advocate for integrating children with and without disabilities, and it was here in Sólheimar where this vision was brought to life. She made a home for children in Sólheimar and focused her work on organic horticulture (the first in the Nordic countries), healthy food and artistic expression. Many of these ideas sparked controversy with the authorities because at the time, it was perceived that “healthy” children should not play with those with special needs. It was also viewed that the high-vegetable diet promoted by Sesselja was, in fact, not healthy for the children. Although Sesselja's proactive ideas were hard to be accepted, such disagreements have faded into history and the Sólheimar community continues to support a healthy lifestyle for everyone in the village.

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