Collective Identity Supporting Sustainability Transformations in Ecovillage Communities

Ciska Ulug,Lummina Horlings,Elen-Maarja Trell

doi:10.3390/su13158148

Abstract

Ecovillages are collective projects that attempt to integrate sustainability principles into daily community life, while also striving to be demonstration projects for mainstream society. As spaces of experimentation, they can provide valuable insights into sustainability transformations. Through shared values and interpersonal connections, ecovillages possess collective identities, which provide a platform for enacting their ideals. However, many ecovillage residents question how to best enhance their role as models, resource centers, and pieces of a greater movement toward sustainability transformations, while simultaneously preserving their unique community and identity. In relation to the above, this paper addresses the questions: What can collective identity in ecovillage communities teach us about the objective and subjective dimensions of sustainability transformations? Furthermore, how can the perspective of collective identity highlight challenges for ecovillages for initiating sustainability transformations? Sustainability transformations encompass objective (behaviors) and subjective (values) dimensions; however, the interactions between these spheres deserve more scholarly attention. Using ethnographic data and in-depth interviews from three ecovillages in the United States, this paper reveals the value in collective identity for underscoring belonging and interpersonal relationships in sustainability transformations. Furthermore, the collective identity perspective exposes paradoxes and frictions between ecovillages and the societal structures and systems they are embedded within.

Highlights

IntroductionMultiple scholars have called upon the necessity for societal transformations in order to address current sustainability challenges, such as spatial inequalities, poverty, resource depletion, climate change, ecological hazards, and food insecurity [1,2]
All ecovillages attempted to be “models” for mainstream society, to inspire further action. This included growing and processing their own food, as well as hosting public tours and conferences—examples witnessed in all ecovillages
We found that collective identity underscores belonging and interpersonal relationships for sustainability transformations in the ecovillages studied

Summary

Introduction

Multiple scholars have called upon the necessity for societal transformations in order to address current sustainability challenges, such as spatial inequalities, poverty, resource depletion, climate change, ecological hazards, and food insecurity [1,2]. This so-called “transformative turn” in sustainability research attempts to address the unsustainable systemic roots in our society and confront different kinds of knowledge and experiences [3]. Ecovillages, or intentional communities (ICs), can be considered “frontrunners” and spaces of experimentation in sustainability transformations [4,5].

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