Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen is in the preparation phase to become Zoöp and may call itself proto-Zoöp. This was announced at a meeting for invited guests in May 2023 at the Nieuwe Instituut. The meeting also included an extensive presentation of two other upcoming proto-Zoöps: sustainable incubator De Ceuvel in Amsterdam and regenerative farm Bodemzicht near Nijmegen.

Zoop(eration) is an organisational model that makes the voices and interests of non-human life part of organisational decision-making. Merged from the Greek “zoë” (meaning “life”) and cooperative, Zoöp represents cooperation (cooperative) between human and non-human life, representing the interests of all zoë.

The idea of Zoöp stems from a study by the New Institute, itself the world’s first Zoöp. Together with ecologists, philosophers, artists, entrepreneurs and lawyers, it looked for a way to strengthen the position of non-human life within our human societies. When organisations like Zoöp work, they counterbalance the framework in which humans extract materials and resources from the living world and give nothing back. A Zoop actively works for ecological revival and wants the quality of life to improve.

For more information about the Zoop, visit the Nieuwe Instituut’s website here.