Friday, October 22, 2010

Videos about ecovillages and ecological living

Videos "Living in Future"



Videos "EcoVillage Pioneers"



Videos "The Journey"



DVD movie "A new We"



Ecovillages and intentional communities in Europe




These are some of the larger and most important intentional communities and ecovillages existent in Europe. This list does not include a lot of other ecovillage, because I only wish to inspire the reader to visit and create new community projects. Explore the different ecovillages by browing the list of links below.









Portugal
Tamera, 150 people (peace and spiritual work)

Spain

Beneficio, 200 people (spiritual and vegan, near Granada)
Matavenero, 70 people
Ecoforest Education for Sustentability, 4 people (vegan, near Málaga)
France
La Borie Noble, 40 people
Ecolonie, 20 people
Eco Chateau (co-housing, forming)

Switzerland
Goetheanum (center for anthroposophical studies)
Schloss Garisegg

Italy
Damanhur, 600 people (one of the main intentional communities, new age)

Germany
Sieben Linden, 120 people (one of main ecovillages in Europe)
Tribe of Likatien, 280 people (spiritual)
Dolphin Community, 100 people (spiritual, ecological living, LETS)
Kommune Niederkaufungen, 80 people (left-wing political orientation)
Schloss Tonndorf, 60 people

Austria
Lebensraum, 80 people (co-housing, near Vienna)
Kleimbatt Okodorf, 10 people
Das Dorf, 10 people

Hungary
Krishna Valley, 150 people

Slovakia
Zajezka, 90 people (center for holistic education, green building)

Netherlands
Het Carre, 100 people
Het Hallehuis, 56 people (urban location)
Anastasia Village

Belgium
La Poudrière, 60 people (Brussels)
La Grande Cense Cohousing, 50 people (near Brussels)
Kasteel Nieuwenhoven, 20 people
Lorien (forming)

Denmark
Christiana Freetown, 1000 people (Copenhagen, anarchist)
Dyssekilde Ecovillage
Svanholm Ecovillage, 105 people
Munkesogaard Ecovillage (Roskilde)
Udgaarden, 55 people (eco-farm)

Sweden

Stacken, 80 people (cohousing in Gotenburg)
Tullstugan, 77 people (cohousing in Stockholm)
Utsikten Ecovillage, 4o people (near Gotenburg)
Tuggelite Ecovillage, 30 people, Karlstad (urban community)
Earthway Experience (Permaculture retreat center)
Suderbyn Ecovillage (forming, forest garden and permaculture project)

Finland
Keuruu Ecovillage

Norway
Hurdal Ecovillage, 26 people
Økobo co-housing (Oslo)

Iceland
Sólheimar, 100 people (oldest ecovillage in world, anthrosophic)

Scotland
Findhorn, 200 people (one of the world-famous ecovillages)

England
Clanabogan Camphill Community, 71 people (healing work)
Tinker's Bubble (low-impact eco-building)
Hanham Hall Development (largest projected ecovillage in the UK)
Lammas (ecovillage new project)
PFAF (eco-farm with large collection of edible permaculture plants)
Beddington ZERO Energy Development

Wales
Brithdir Mawr, 15 people

Polland

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Learn how to sucessfully start an ecovillage

Not many ecovillage projects remain alive after a few years.
Learn some suggestions to suecessfully start an ecovillage

1. “Visit” ecovillages through well-produced media. I advise anyone who wants to start an ecovillage to visit successful ecovillages to find out what they look like and feel like.
2. Show the rewards of ecovillage life. I want course participants to know why we create ecovillages: that it’s not only good for the Earth but feels good too!
3. Draw from real-life stories of people who created successful ecovillages. Course participants need to know what ecovillage founders actually do to get their projects up and running.
4. Give ‘em a taste — of ecovillage design. The best way to learn something, I believe, is to apply what you’ve learned soon after learning it by teaching it to others. So I ask course participants to meet periodically in small groups to design an ecovillage they envision, and present it to the rest of the group at the end of the course.
5. Give ‘em a taste — of small-scale ecovillage economics. Another exercise is for participants to study alternative currency systems used in various ecovillages (like Findhorn’s EKOS or Dancing Rabbit’s ELMS, for example) and then design and create an alternative currency scrip out of construction paper to exchange among themselves for small goods and services.

Read more about this topic at EcovillageNews.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Ecovillage resources

BOOKS
- Creating a Life Together, Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, Diane Leafe Christian
- Finding Community, How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community, Diane Leafe Christian
- Ecovillages, A Practical Guide to Sustainable Communities, Jan Martin Bang
- Ecovillages: New Frontiers for Sustainability, Jonathan Dawson
- Eurotopia, Directory of Intentional Communities and Ecovillages in Europe


NEWSLETTERS

ARTICLES AND NEWS
ECOVILLAGE DIRECTORY

Monday, September 13, 2010

Six Ingredients for Forming Communities

There are several aspects necessary to the sucessful formation of sustainable communities and ecovillages. From http://www.ic.org/pnp/cdir/2000/20diana.php
  • Choosing a fair, participatory decision-making process that is appropriate for the group. And if it's consensus, getting trained in it.
  • Identifying their vision and creating a vision statement.
  • Learning what resources, information, skills, and tasks they would need, and then either learning or hiring them.
  • Drawing up clear agreements, in writing.
  • Learning good communication skills, and making clear communication a priority, including ways of reducing conflict.
  • Selecting cofounders and new members for emotional well-being.