Creating Community
(Page 2 of 8)
June/July 2003
By Dan Chiras and Diana Leafe Christian
Ecovillages are a worldwide movement. Many well-known ecovillage projects were launched on other continents, including Findhorn in Scotland (1962), Lebensgarten in Germany (1985) and Crystal Waters in Australia (1988). The 100-household Munksoegaard Ecovillage near Copenhagen, Denmark, won first prize in a 2000 Danish competition for the best sustainable design for the 21st century. And construction is to begin soon on the first such project in Japan, Kobunaki Ecovillage, a 250-home settlement on 30 acres near Kyoto.
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The Global Ecovillage Network, an organization that helps connect and support sustainable settlements, estimates more than 15,000 identified sustainable community experiments exist today. To foster a more holistic viewpoint, GEN has broadened the definition of ecovillages beyond the ecological aspect of sustainability to include social sustainability (cooperation and democratic decision-making) and spiritual sustainability (supporting its members' shared or diverse spiritual beliefs and practices).
"From the early stages of our networking activities, we and other ecovillage activists considered whether it would be useful and appropriate to specify criteria and establish a minimum threshold of achievement for a community to identify itself as an ecovillage," writes Albert Bates, GEN member and director of the Ecovillage Training Center at Summertown, Tennessee, in Communities magazine. "We decided that we're not about sitting in judgment and monitoring; rather, we're encouraging everyone to do what they can in order to live sustainably.
DESIGN FOR THE FUTURE
While they have certain commonalities, every ecovillage has its own design for the future. One of the most common strategies for community design draws from the concept of co housing.
A type of intentional community, cohousing developed in Denmark in the early '70s and was introduced to North America in the late '80s. In cohousing developments, residents live in smaller-than-average housing units and share a large community building where they dine together several evenings a week. Residents own their own homes and share ownership of all common facilities. They often design and build the community themselves, though increasingly they partner with a local development company. Often they begin with undeveloped land. like Ecovillage at Ithaca, in Ithaca, New York, or farmland, like Munksoegaard. whose founders built five 20-unit cohousing clusters around the original farmhouse.
Cohousing is a good fit for ecovillages because of its many environmental benefits. which include efficiently using land through the building of attached or multilevel units and sharing green space. Renewable energy systems, such as photovoltaic panels, high-efficiency water heaters or greywater systems also become more feasible when housing units are linked together.
The sheer organizing power of community also makes other endeavors easier. Centralized facilities make composting and recycling easy. Many communities establish common gardens where residents share the responsibilities of tending and harvesting. (assuredly, the bounty never goes to waste)! Carpooling becomes more convenient. although the biggest reduction in reliance on the auto comes from the fact that a resident's social group generally resides in the immediate area. Cohousers don't have to go far to enjoy a meal or visit with friends!
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