Families and Neo-rurality in Choachi, Colombia: building relational spaces towards collective well-being

Abstract

A better quality of life, development and well-being are interests of the families and communities that migrate to have greater opportunities; however, migrating from urban zones to the countryside implies recognizing the experiences  of the families that have made the decision by themselves with the conviction of a better life and thus observing the practices and rituals that configure the bonds in the families and rural communities to understand their adaptation process and new forms of relationship with the rural. Results from the first phase of the research project with families and neo-rurality in Cundinamarca from Instituto de Estudios en Familia at Fundación Universitaria Monserrate are presented. From a systemic complex perspective, dialogic interviews were conducted with two people who are territory referents, Municipio Choachi in Cundinamarca and two families that had moved from rural areas to the countryside (Choachi) . The results are analyzed under two categories: family practices and rituals and neo-rurality. Neo-rurality is a dialogic and recurrent process that is not only lived by the ones who moved to the countryside but also by the ones who have lived there and welcome the families coming from the city. Both sharing knowledge and rituals that organize neo-rurality as ritualized wellbeing practices and the relationship with the other, land, animals, and nature in general.