Ecovillage Movement Research Articles

From countercultural ecovillages to mainstream green neighbourhoods—a view on current trends in Denmark

This paper describes how the ecovillage model for sustainability is currently spreading in Denmark through two different avenues. The first avenue is the creation of new eco-communities inspired by the ecovillage movement but created through top-down municipal support or from the side by the involvement of professional community builders. The second avenue is the spread of some aspects of the ecovillage model to mainstream housing neighbourhoods through the green neighbourhood movement, when neighbours meet, discuss what kind of sustainable interests they share, and act together to live more sustainably. Although eco-communities and green neighbourhoods will probably achieve less impressive carbon footprint reductions than ecovillages, they are exploring interesting avenues through which the spread of the ecovillage model, which is slow, costly, and exclusive, can be speed up and can trigger a mass movement that has the potential of bringing widespread changes.

Eco Valley or New Vraja Dham? Competing Emic Interpretations of the Hungarian Krishna Valley

One of the reasons for the spread of the Western Hare Krishna movement is that it offers several alternatives for the practice of religion: devotees can be full-fledged members of the church in congregations located in complex urban or in simple rural contexts. An example of the latter is Krishna Valley, where approximately 130 Krishna-devotees live austere lives. My paper presents the interpretations of this settlement concentrating on (multiple) internal (emic) views: On the one hand, I will show how the leadership of the church contextualizes and interprets Krishna Valley and how they wish the inhabitants to conceptualize it. On the other hand, I will also show what Krishna Valley means for its ordinary inhabitants and what interpretations those living there attach to it. When I was gathering material for the current paper, Krishna Valley was in flux. The settlement has always favored following a sustainable lifestyle but—due in part to the strengthening of the Hungarian eco-village movement—it was at this time that the conceptualization of Krishna Valley as an eco-village gained momentum. This was the heyday of the Eco Valley Foundation, which was to strengthen the eco-village aspect of the Valley, and in the communication of Krishna Valley the ecological aspect became paramount, drowning out all other interpretations. Not all inhabitants of the village welcomed this change and in response some began to emphasize the interpretation of Krishna Valley as a sacred place. In the current paper, I will present these two processes and the relationship between them through the lens of the interpretations of the members of the community.

The Ecovillage Movement: New Ways to Experience Nature

Ecovillages have become a phenomenon as communities focused on shared goals of sustainable living and ecological engagement grew worldwide. Within ecovillages sustainability is not meant just in material terms, but also as a spe-cific way of interacting with nature, involving an ethics of closeness and care. The natural environment is considered as an active agent of intimate emotions. On this basis, this article focuses on the connection between multispecies ethnography and the human/non-human encounter that takes places within these communities, pointing out how it contributes to the production of new relational subjectivities.

Ecovillage as an Alternative Way of Rural Life: Evidence From Hungary and Slovakia

Abstract This paper offers a case study of three selected ecovillages (two in Hungary and one in Slovakia). The main objective is to characterize, analyse and eventually compare types, trends and problems in the development of ecovillages and to discuss the possible impacts and effects of ecovillage movement on sustainable rural development. The authors used interviews, observation and inquiry for data collection and methods of document analysis, content analysis of different sources, and analysis of foot marks. They attempt to bring the worldview closer by introducing the basic ecovillage concept and framework, and by describing the ecovillage types, recent trends, problems and challenges. The analytical part begins with a short characteristic of the ecovillage movement in Hungary and Slovakia and follows with six thematic subchapters that investigate and compare the observed ecovillages according to the purposes and motivation for their founding, the communication models and public relations, local economic systems and self-sufficiency phenomenon, the employment structure and the existing infrastructure. Finally, the last part is devoted to assess the main research findings.

Ecoaldeas en Colombia transitando hacia el buen vivir

Se presenta una investigación cualitativa cuyo objetivo fue comprender cómo se expresa la relación Humanidad-Naturaleza en el movimiento ecoaldeano, teniendo como referente las ecoaldeas Anthakarana (Quindío) y Aldea Feliz (Cundinamarca) en Colombia. Para ello se realizó una indagación documental y un acercamiento empírico haciendo uso de métodos etnográficos que permitieron conocer la vida cotidiana, los saberes y las prácticas de estas comunidades. Se diseñó un ciclo de análisis e interpretación de acuerdo con el enfoque de estudio de casos en el que se utilizó la herramienta Atlas.ti El argumento principal de la tesis consiste en plantear que las ecoaldeas estudiadas vienen cocreando nuevos tipos de relación en la naturaleza , que pueden ser leídos como una transición de la ontología dual hacia una ontología relacional en la que se intenta superar la desconexión humanidad - naturaleza. Esta transición ontológica implica un ciclo de transformación individual, con otros humanos y seres, en el que se cocrean saberes, prácticas y valores frente a la vida. En este proceso, han acogido la categoría de Buen Vivir para guiar sus propósitos comunitarios y posibilidad de resignificar conocimientos

Going back to the roots: the fourth generation of Swedish eco-villages

ABSTRACTLocal reactions to climate change and sustainable development take various forms. The literature on grassroots innovation has grown recently, and it illustrates the myriad of initiatives that are actively working with the issues. The eco-village movement is one example of a grassroots innovation that reacts and adapts to its prerequisites, all striving for an alternative living with reduced environmental impact. This paper focuses on the development of eco-villages in Sweden, arguing that in recent years a fourth generation of initiatives has emerged, with ideals close to the pioneers of the first generation’s idealistic views and ambitions for alternative living as a way of reacting to global trends. The fourth generation is highly diverse in form and goals, but with an emphasis on outreach and networking as well as more focus on small-scale agriculture and permaculture. This paper presents, through literature reviews, database searches and interviews, how the eco-village idea has moved between initiatives and has taken various forms over the generations. In the first generation via books, reports and personal contacts, in the second and third also via contractors and professionals, and in the fourth via the internet and social media in order to attract members and have impact.

Permacultures of transformation: steps to a cultural ecology of environmental action

This article examines a trend over the past two decades towards more explicit politicization in some areas of the ecovillage movement, particularly where covillages engage with related grassroots movements for environmental and social change. It does so using an expanded political ecology framework, also drawing upon 'Multi-level Perspective on Sustainability Transitions' and Gregory Bateson's Ecology of Mind. It argues that apparently apolitical focii on lifestyle change and personal development have in some cases given way to overt recognition of the need for global political change. It attributes this to the global political economy of sustainability becoming more evident and critiques of dominant social, political and economic regimes more compelling and widely accepted.

Comunicación y Marcos de Acción Colectiva en el Movimiento Global de Ecoaldeas

En el presente trabajo se investigó sobre los procesos de comunicación y los marcos de acción colectiva en el Movimiento Global de Ecoaldeas. A partir de la teoría de la Mediación Social se analizaron (1) los sitios web, (2) documentos elaborados en el movimiento y (3) entrevistas a los participantes. Los resultados dan cuenta de un movimiento global contemporáneo que, apoyado por internet, construye un proyecto global de cambio social, genera identidad colectiva y promueve una acción social transformadora. Un movimiento que aprovecha las ventajas las Tecnologías de la información y la comunicación como medio de comunicación y expresión de sus reivindicaciones

Agriculture and sustainable communities: Reflections from a comparative case study

The ecovillage movement places emphasis on the holistic sustainability of living. This study undertakes a comparative analysis of two forms of ecovillage development: establishing new intentional communities and retrofitting existing traditional villages. This article describes the achievements and limitations of intentional communities, with a special reference to the Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland, Crystal Waters in Australia, and Ecovillage at Ithaca (EVI) in the US. For comparison purposes, this article introduces Mundang Ecovillage, a traditional village located in South Korea. The three intentional communities have given priority to building low-impact housing and relying on renewable energy sources. Mundang Ecovillage has strengths in the aspects of agricultural sustainability and social cohesion. This study posits that collective and cooperative communal work on organic farms generates social interactions and enhances integrity among community members. Thus, a great deal of synergy can be generated from the co-development of traditional and intentional communities.

‘Very Little Heroes’ History and Roots of the Eco-Village Movement

Although the ecovillage-movement is a relatively new phenomenon (it was first formalised in the 1990s), the initiatives, which aim to integrate, do have a much longer history. The author of this article has been studying ecovillages since 2008. As a cultural anthropologist, her focus lies in the socio-cultural dimensions of the ecovillage-movement. In the present paper the history and roots of the movement are covered by positioning eco-villages within both the history of the broader environmental movement and that of intentional communities; the international and Hungarian history of the ecovillage-movement is presented; and, last but not least, an interpretation is given of the Hungarian ecovillages in the context of rural migration processes. The picture drawn up here is not intended to be an exhaustive one, since the ecovillage-phenomenon can be presented from numerous different perspectives. Yet, the paper clearly demonstrates the multiple embeddedness of the movement, and provides an insight into the aspirations of ecovillage inhabitants and the current functioning of ecovillages.

“Novi načini življenja, stari kao i svijet” Dobra praksa i održivost na primjeru Talijanske mreže ekosela

The ecovillage movement is an international network of intentional communities with a focus on social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Unlike other environmental movements, their struggle for achieving a more sustainable lifestyle includes efforts to enhance their living environment, based on the idea that humans are part of nature as any other living being. In pursuing this goal, they often recover traditional knowledge and practices rooted in a pre-capitalistic rural past, when, as they believe, the relations with the Other (community and nature as well) were more satisfactory than in contemporary industrialized society.

Ecofeminismo e comunidade sustentável

O movimento de ecovilas representa uma alternativa de organização social de baixo impacto sobre os componentes naturais e de novos valores condizentes com o bem-estar de vida social. O movimento ecofeminista, por sua vez, sustenta que a defesa do meio ambiente constitui parte essencial do movimento feminista. Esta pesquisa investiga se, na organização e dinâmica da ecovila, os princípios do ecofeminismo estão presentes e se contribuem para a sustentabilidade ambiental da comunidade nas dimensões social, econômica e dos componentes naturais. Para efetuar esta avaliação, tomou-se como base empírica a Ecovila de Piracanga, localizada no município de Maraú, litoral sul da Bahia, Brasil. Os resultados sustentam o pressuposto de que o ecofeminismo tem estreita relação com a sustentabilidade do meio ambiente, em nível local, e apontam para a possibilidade de soluções inovadoras no relacionamento entre sociedade e natureza

Environmental anthropology engaging ecotopia: bioregionalism, permaculture, and ecovillages

List of Tables, Figures, and Maps Acknowledgements Contributors Prologue E.N. Anderson Introduction: Environmental Anthropology Engaging Ecotopia: An Introduction Joshua Lockyer and James R. Veteto PART I: BIOREGIONALISM Chapter 1. Growing a Life-Place Politics Peter Berg Chapter 2. On Bioregionalism and Watershed Consciousness James J. Parsons Chapter 3. Growing an Oak: An Ethnography of Ozark Bioregionalism Brian C. Campbell Chapter 4. The Adirondack Semester: An Integrated Approach to Cultivating Bioregional Knowledge & Consciousness Steve Alexander and Baylor Johnson Further Readings on Bioregionalism PART II: PERMACULTURE Chapter 5. Environmental Anthropology Engaging Permaculture: Moving Theory and Practice Toward Sustainability James R. Veteto and Joshua Lockyer Chapter 6. Weeds or Wisdom? Permaculture in the Eye of the Beholder on Latvian Eco-Health Farms Guntra Aistara Chapter 7. Permaculture in the City: Ecological Habitus and the Distributed Ecovillage Randolph Haluza-Delay and Ron Berezan Chapter 8. Culture, Permaculture and Experimental Anthropology in the Houston Foodshed Bob Randall Chapter 9. Putting Permaculture Ethics to Work: Commons Thinking, Progress and Hope Katy Fox Chapter 10. Permaculture in Practice: Low Impact Development in Britain Jenny Pickerill Chapter 11. In Search of Global Sustainability and Justice: How Permaculture Can Contribute to Development Policy Aili Pyhala Further Readings on Permaculture PART III: ECOVILLAGES Chapter 12. From Islands to Networks: The History and Future of the Ecovillage Movement Jonathan Dawson Chapter 13. Creating Alternative Political Ecologies through the Construction of Ecovillages and Ecovillagers in Colombia Brian Burke and Beatriz Arjona Chapter 14. Globalizing the Ecovillage Ideal: Networks of Neighborliness, Seeds of Hope Todd LeVasseur Chapter 15. Academia's Hidden Curriculum and Ecovillages as Campuses for Sustainability Education Daniel Greenberg Chapter 16. Ecovillages and Capitalism: Building Sustainable Communities within an Unsustainable Context Ted Baker Further Readings on Ecovillages

エコビレッジとパーマカルチャー

エコビレッジとパーマカルチャー

Debating the Significance of the Global Eco-village Movement: A Reply to Takis Fotopoulos

Debating the Significance of the Global Eco-village Movement: A Reply to Takis Fotopoulos

Where Are We, Where Do We Want to Be, How Do We Get There?

This article briefly summarises the core causal elements in the global predicament, focusing on the market system and the relatively neglected limits to growth, i.e. over-consumption, and then 'draws implications for the form a sustainable society must take'. 'The Simpler Way' must involve far less affluent lifestyles in small scale, highly self-sufficient and localised economies, within a zero-growth post-capitalist society. The paper continues by discussing the strategic implications and argues that the most promising arena in which to work for transition at this point in time is the Global Ecovillage Movement. Differences with orthodox left thinking about strategy are discussed, including the notion of attempting to build the new society before the old has been abandoned, the potential significance of setting examples and whether or not it makes sense to confront capitalism.

The Limitations of Life-style Strategies: The Ecovillage ‘Movement’ is NOT the Way Towards a New Democratic Society

This paper compares and contrasts the life-style strategies (like that of the Global Ecovillage Movement) with the transitional strategy for systemic change proposed by the Inclusive Democracy project. The limitations of life-style strategies, as well as those of direct action, the main example today being the anti-globalisation movement, are discussed. It is argued that the differences in strategies reflect paradigmatic differences, i.e. differences related to the respective analyses of the present situation, as well as differences in goals and means.

The global sustainability crisis

Begins with a summary of the limits to growth analysis of the global situation, identifying over‐production and over‐consumption as the basic causes of ecological damage, resource depletion, Third World deprivation and social breakdown. Gives attention to the destructive effects of market relations on community and the social bond. States that if this analysis is valid some inescapable implications follow for the form that a sustainable society must take. Finally, outlines a general strategy for the building of sustainable communities and makes reference to the global ecovillage movement beginning to undertake this task.