The Village - Building Sustainable Community

Ecovillages are urban or rural communities of people who strive to integrate a supportive social environment with a low impact way of life. To achieve this, they integrate various aspects of ecological design, permaculture, ecological building, green production, alternative energy, community building practices, and much more.

The means by which an ecovillage grows and evolves are as follows:

Community aspects

• Recognising and relating to the needs of the local community
• Sharing common resources and providing mutual aid
• Emphasising holistic and preventative health practices
• Providing work by fostering ecological business ideas
• Promoting unending education
• Fostering cultural expression

Ecological aspects

• Growing food as much as possible within the community bio-region
• Supporting organic food production
• Creating homes out of local materials where possible
• Using village based renewable energy systems
• Protecting biodiversity
• Fostering ecological business principles
• Assessing the life cycle of all products used from an ecological point of view
• Preserving clean soil, water and air through proper energy and waste management
• Protecting nature and safeguarding wilderness areas

Cultural aspects

• Shared creativity, artistic expression, cultural activities and celebrations
• Sense of community unity and mutual support
• Shared vision and agreements that emphasise the cultural heritage and the uniqueness  of each community

Links

The European Ecovillage Network
http://www.gen-europe.org/