BASIC INFORMATIONS
planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities
the members hold a common social, political or spiritual vision
they also share responsibilities and resources
Intentional communities include cohousing communities, residential land trusts, ecovillages, communes, kibbutzim, ashrams and housing cooperatives
survey in the 1995 reported that 54% of the communities were rural, 28% were urban, 10% had both rural and urban sites, and 8% didn't specify
TYPE OF GOVERNANCE
democratic (64%), with decisions made by some form of consensus decision-making or voting
9% have a hierarchical or authoritarian structure
11% are a combination of democratic and hierarchical structure
16% don't specify
Many communities which were led by individual or small group have changed to a
more democratic form of governance.
1)COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
villages held property in the community interest European and North American land banks invest in land to help
build family farms or to encourage economic development Reverse increasing poverty
MAIN IDEAS Reach control over local land and increase ownership Provide affordable housing for lower income people in the
community Keep housing affordable for future residents Capture the value of public investment for long-term community
benefit Build a strong base for community action
2)COMMUNE
community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, work and income
For communes is important communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures, ecological living, core principles
Some communes formed around spiritual leaders some from political ideologies
For others, the "glue" is the desire for a more shared, sociable lifestyle. Moreover, some people find it is more economical to live communally.
Three main characteristics: 1. egalitarianism (equality) 2. human scale - members of communes saw the scale of society as
it was then organised as being too large 3. communes were consciously anti-bureaucratic
DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNESDr. Bill Metcalf, defined communes as: the importance of the group, a "common purse„ collective household group decision making in general and intimate affairs Sharing everyday life and facilities commune is an idealised form of family commune members have emotional bonds to the whole group
Elisabeth Vob (Germany): live and work together communal economy, common finances and common property (land, buildings,
means of production), have communal decision making - usually consensus decision making try to reduce hierarchy and hierarchical structures have communalisation of housework, childcare and other communal tasks have equality between women and men have low ecological footprints through sharing and saving resources
3)KIBBUTZ
kibbutz = "gathering, clustering” collective community in Israel based on agriculture Communal living that combines socialism and Zionism Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic
branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises firma.
There are three types of kibbutzim: Kibbutz Shitufi: preserves a cooperative system. Kibbutz Mitchadesh: number of cooperative systems in its
intentions Urban kibbutz: exist within an existing settlement (city). Since the
1970s around 100 urban kibbutzim have been founded within existing Israeli cities. They have no enterprises of their own and all of their members work in the non-kibbutz sector.
4)ASHRAM
The word ashram is derived from the term āśraya, which means "protection"
intentional community formed primarily for spiritual upliftment of its members, often headed by a religious leader or mystic
located far from human habitation, in forests or mountainous regions, conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation
residents performed spiritual and physical exercises, such as Yoga, sacrifices and penances
Ashrams also have residential schools for children
5)HOUSING COOPERATIVE
usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings.
Each householder is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes it is a lease
fee-paying members obtain the right to occupy a bedroom, share the communal resources of a house that is owned by a cooperative organization
student cooperatives in some college neighborhoods in the United States
6)COHOUSING
composed of private homes with full kitchens, supplemented by extensive common facilities
is planned, owned and managed by the residents, groups of people who want more interaction with their neighbours
common large kitchen and dining room where residents can take turns cooking for the community
other facilities may include a laundry, pool, child care facilities, offices, internet access, game room, TV room, tool room or a gym
thanks spatial design and shared activities, community enable intergenerational interaction among neighbours
also economic and environmental benefits to sharing resources, space and items
7)ECOVILLAGE
intended to be socially, economically and ecologically sustainable intentional community
aim for a population of 50-150 individuals members are united by shared ecological, social-economic and
cultural-spiritual values is composed of people who have chosen an alternative to
centralized electrical, water, and sewage systems
Definition by Robert Gilman : human-scale full-featured settlement plan human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world supporting healthy human development can be successfully continued into the indefinite future
CHARACTERISTIC OF ECOVILLAGE principles can be applied to urban and rural settings, as well as to
developing and developed countries followers seek a sustainable lifestyle for inhabitants minimum of trade outside the local area independence from existing infrastructures / more urban settings
- integration with existing infrastructure rural ecovillages are based on organic farming, permaculture and
other approaches promoting ecosystem function
USUALLY RELIES ON: autonomous building or clustered housing, to minimize ecological
footprint; renewable energy Permaculture
North AmericaBerea College Ecovillage, Kentucky Cobb Hill, Vermont Dancing Rabbit, Missouri Dreamtime Village, Wisconsin Earthaven Ecovillage, North Carolina EcoReality, British Columbia EcoVillage at Ithaca, New York EcoVillage of Loudoun County, Virginia Enright Ridge Urban Eco-Village Cincinnati, Ohio Ecovillage Training Center at The Farm, Tennessee Kakwa Ecovillage Cooperative, British Columbia Huehuecoyotl, Mexico Los Angeles Eco-Village, California Lightwork Ecovillage, Gambier Island, BC, British Columbia Maitreya Ecovillage, Eugene, OR Manitou Arbor, Michigan The Nonmune, Vancouver, BC Mont Radar, Quebec, Canada Orange Twin Conservation Community, Georgia O.U.R. Ecovillage, British Columbia PAZ Ecovillage, Texas Plan B Ecovillage, Missouri Prairie's Edge Eco-Village, Manitoba Twin Oaks Community, Virginia Vegan Ecovillage, Hawaii White Hawk Ecovillage, New York Yarrow Ecovillage, British Columbia
LIST OF ECOVILLAGESAsia and Oceana
Aldinga Arts EcoVillage,
Australia
Kookaburra Park Eco-Village,
Australia
Currumbin Ecovillage,
Australia
Crystal Waters Village,
Australia
Homeland Community,
Australia
Somerville Ecovillage,
Australia
Cape Paterson Eco Village,
Australia
model village, Congo
republic.
Auroville, India
Europe
AiH in English, AiH in Danish, Denmark
BedZED, England
Brithdir Mawr, Wales
Ecoforest, Spain
Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland
Freetown Christiania, Denmark
Munksøgård, Denmark
Hermes Projekt, Turkey
Zonneterp-project, the Netherlands
Stamm der Likatier, Germany
ZEGG, Germany
Tamera, Portugal
Torri Superiore, Italy
Zajezka, Slovakia
Sólheimar, Iceland
South AmericaAldeaFeliz, Colombia Ecopueblo Pualafquén, Chile Ecovila Cunha, Brazil Gaviotas, Colombia Lothlorien, Brazil São Paulo Ecovila, Brazil Gaia Ecovilla, Argentina
7a)ECOVILLAGE IN DENMARK Membership fee: 300 DKK/ year
Members: About 130 adults. Most of them are living or plan to live at the Co-house groups of AiH.
Residents: 85 families: about 220 adults and children.
Contact Address: Gammel Kirkevej 82, 8530 Hjortshoj, Denmark.
Location: North of Aarhus, 15 km from the main central train station.
Transport: Local train or bus No. 58 (both from Aarhus main train station).
Established: 1986. Area size: 22 hectares
ECOVILLAGE IN DENMARK
Co-house Groups: There are 5 Co-House Groups. 2 more are planned presently.
Co-house Group 1: 10 families in twin houses
Co-house Group 2: 20 families in row houses
Co-house Group 3: 11 families in single houses and one twin house
Co-house Group 4: 26 families in row houses
Co-house Group 5: 18 families in row houses
Common Buildings: There are 4 Common Buildings and an Exhibition & Office Building
LIFESTYLE
AiH aims to be an example of living with sustainability as a keywordThis approach is visible in many ways in their daily life, examples are: Houses are built to be environmentally sustainable (e.g., rammed clay, earth
blocks, wood, paper insulation, solar collectors, ovens, paint from linen oil etc) Using compost or separation toilets rainwater is used in the common washing machines urine is to be irrigated to plants after 9 months of storage farming, with animals like chicken, cows, and goats car-sharing Association (two cars) common dinner three days a week less number people have cars and more people use bicycles and bicycle trailers,
against highways Energy Association providing hot water from a wood-pillet and a wood chip
burning boiler Common social events and arrangements (New Year, harvest celebration, art
workshops etc.) Cultural evenings and days with music, dance, story telling both for adults and
children Michels's Eco-green, which is a commercial organic vegetable farming and
organic ice cream production. Open two times a week. Biodiversity care: Re-establishment of a lake in August 2001. Gymnastic for different age groups, dancing for children, yoga
RESIDENT DEMOCRACY
reach goals through the principles of democracy and of co-operational organization
chairperson and monthly meetings, where the decisions are made
principles of a "resident democracy". The members are linked to a co-housing group, and to the associations e.g. car sharing, energy, vegetable farming and other activity
these associations also have separate chairpersons
7b)ECOVILLAGE BedZED
environmentally-friendly-housing development near Wallington, England
99 homes, and 1,405 square metres of work space were built in 2000–2002
Because of BedZED's low-energy-emission concept, cars are discouraged; the project encourages public transport, cycling, and walking, and has limited parking space (BedZED is serviced by the 127 bus)
DESIGN PRINCIPLES of BedZED Zero energy—using only energy from renewable sources generated
on site; 777 m² of solar panels; tree waste fuels the development's cogeneration plant to provide district heating and elektricity
Energy efficient—The houses face south to take advantage of solar
gain, are triple glazed, and have high thermal insulation Water efficient—rain water is collected and rezed
Low-impact materials—Building materials were selected from renewable or recycled sources within 35 miles of the site, to minimize the energy required for transportation
Waste recycling—Refuse-collection facilities are designed to support
recycling. Transport—car-sharing system, electric and liquefied-petroleum-gas
cars have priority over cars that burn petrol and diesel, electricity is provided in parking spaces for charging electric cars.
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