Global Ecovillage Network: Living 'Sustainable Plus' Lives
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 04.24.07
TreeHugger loves ecovillages, intentional communities and cohousing. Anything that gets people thinking about their connection to each other, and the earth, through community is hugely important. That’s why we love the Global Ecovillage Network, a “confederation of people and communities that meet and share their ideas, exchange technologies, develop cultural and educational exchanges, directories and newsletters, and are dedicated to restoring the land and living "sustainable plus" lives by putting more back into the environment than we take out.”
We also love the broad definition of ecovillages that GEN seems to support, ranging from traditional village communities, to modern urban developments:
“Network members include large networks like Sarvodaya (11,000 sustainable villages in Sri Lanka); EcoYoff and Colufifa (350 villages in Senegal); the Ladakh project on the Tibetian plateau; ecotowns like Auroville in South India, the Federation of Damanhur in Italy and Nimbin in Australia; small rural ecovillages like Gaia Asociación in Argentina and Huehuecoyotl, Mexico; urban rejuvenation projects like Los Angeles EcoVillage and Christiania in Copenhagen; permaculture design sites such as Crystal Waters, Australia, Cochabamba, Bolivia and Barus, Brazil; and educational centres such as Findhorn in Scotland, Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales, Earthlands in Massachusetts, and many more.”
The organization is split into three regions, GEN Europe and Africa, GEN Oceania and Asia, and the Ecovillage Network of the Americas. The network operates to support and promote ecovillages through providing information, networking and advocacy, and by partnering with both governmental and non-governmental organizations to share best practice.
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Check this post:
http://himachal.us/2007/04/24/the-power-of-corporate-greed-in-himachal/1859/activism/arun
Hydro-electric power projects of private firms in Himachal Pradesh are being pushed by local officers who have made it clear to the people that they have vested interest in these projects. Officers of the state government have tried to influence local activists to support projects that would destroy the livelihoods of local villagers. Revenue officials
Thanks for writing about cohousing and ecovillages!
As a local cohousing organizer in Northern California, we recently hosted Albert Bates of The Farm Community in Tennesee, author of The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook, and Director of the Ecovillage Training Center (ETC) at The Farm. The ETC, building on The Farm's experience with alternative fuel, building, permaculture, solar and farming techniques, has trained Ecovillage organizers from dozens of countries; I know he is active with GEN and ENA. It was very inspirational to see his presentation and connect with others around it.
Cohousing Researcher Graham Meltzer, in his book "Sustainable Communities: Learning from the Cohousing Model", has documented how cohousing neighborhoods can get people engaged in sustainable living practices... kind of ecovillages for beginners. We leverage the financial and legal system to create homes that are ordinary condos as far as banks and cities/counties are concerned, with low downpayments, but through design and connection with our neighbors, we create places where we live in half the private space of the typical American and use 75 percent fewer lawnmowers, 30 percent fewer washers/dryers, and have net savings in energy, water, and car trips that increase year-over-year... it's not just the "sticks and bricks" of green building, but the community support that makes it possible.
Raines Cohen, Cohousing Coach, Planning for Sustainable Communities / Aging In Community
Berkeley, CA
P.S. BTW, The American Heritage Dictionary lists cohousing as a single word, no intercap, no dash; you might want to adjust your style guide to reflect that.
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Author's note:
Thanks Raines for the insight, and thanks also for the spelling tips! I've corrected the post accordingly.