Ecovillages

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.

Goethe’nin “Yapabileceğiniz ya da düşleyebileceğiniz ne varsa ona başlayın. Cesarette zeka, güç ve sihir vardır. Hemen başlayın.” cümlesini çalışma masasının başucuna asan Liz Walker, ne zaman bir güçlükle karşılaşsa, dönüp bu sözü okuyor ve yeniden motive oluyordu. Ne kafesten çıkıp özgürleşmek, ne de Platon’un mağarasından kaçıp yüzünü güneşe dönmek kolay. ABD’de iki kadın, bir ekoköy kurma düşüyle yola çıktıklarında da önlerine binbir türlü engel çıktı ama Ekoköy İthaca her zorluğu aşarak kuruldu.

Liz Walker ‘yeşil yaşam’ sürdüren birisinin etkisinin dalgalar halinde yayılarak pek çok başka yaşamı etkileyeceğini düşünüyor. Tuttuğu günlükten çıkardığı notlar böylece gezegenin herhangi başka bir yerinde benzer düşleri paylaşanlara umut veriyor. Ekoköy kurmanın tek bir yolu ya da tek bir şekli yok. Zaten böyle bir tektipleşmeye de ihtiyacı yok. Her topluluğun, her kültürün ve farklı coğrafyaların birbirine hiç de benzemeyen yolları, yöntemleri olabilir. İlham almak, dayanışmak ve paylaşmak, işte bunlar bu zenginliği benzersiz kılıyor. Günümüzün rekabetçi ve patent odaklı dünyasının aksine, her öğrendiğini koşulsuz olarak dağıtan, alternatif bir dünya önümüzde aralanıyor.

Yeni İnsan Yayınevi, Ekoköyler: Yeni Rotamız kitabıyla genel anlamda ekoköylerin değerleri neler olabilir tartışmasını başlatmıştı. Şimdi Ekoköy İthaca ile öznel bir deneyimi kitaplaştırdı. Farklı coğrafyalardan farklı deneyimlerle bu yolculuğu sürdürmeye niyetliyiz.

“Başarıya ulaşmış bir ekoköyün kurucularından birisi tarafından kaleme alınmış bu anlamlı ve içten bakış açısı, kendi ekoköyünü ya da topluluğunu kurmayı planlayan herkes tarafından okunmalıdır.” Diana Leafe Christian (Creating a Life Together yazarı)

The aim of this investigation, born within activism, is to present an alternative to the current prison services that requires radical transformations in society. In other words, it aims to replace the space currently occupied by prisons with new institutions that will work to expel the prison from our social and psychic landscape. This project focuses on organizations in open spaces that prioritize the social wellbeing of female detainees and their families: ecovillages. Besides contributing to the global motion towards a society of sustainable communities, ecovillages promote social reintegration and solve the issue of severe poverty amongst female inmates. These ecovillages, built from the remnants of aban doned villages, on the principles of ecofeminism, provide an opportunity for women to overcome un favorable conditions and build better lives for themselves and their communities-while contributing to the construction of a fairer, more sustainable democratic society.

Angesichts globaler Krisendiagnosen setzen einige Aktivist*innen nicht primär auf Reformen innerhalb der bestehenden Verhältnisse – sie träumen von einer komplett anderen Ordnung. Oftmals ziehen sie sich deswegen aus bestehenden Institutionen und dem Alltag der Mehrheitsgesellschaft zurück. Anstelle von Eskapismus kann es sich bei ihrem Rückzug aber auch um radikalen Widerstand handeln. Philip Wallmeier stellt ein Netzwerk an Aktivist*innen in den Mittelpunkt seiner empirischen Studie, die zwischen den frühen 1970er Jahren und der Jahrtausendwende in den USA in »Kommunen«, »intentionale Gemeinschaften« und »Ökodörfer« zogen. Die Analyse zeichnet die historischen Veränderungen nach und beschreibt anschaulich, welche Widersprüche sich in der Praxis für die Aktivist*innen bei dem Versuch ergaben, alternative Lebensformen zu entwickeln, um so die Verhältnisse grundlegend zu transformieren.

Wetland ecosystems are among the ecosystems that have long played an important role in the development of their surrounding communities in environmental, economic and social dimensions. Has trouble. Accordingly, the aim of the present study is to analyze environmental sustainability in rural communities along the edge of the wetland ecosystem based on the rural ecosystem model in the villages along the Zarivar wetland in Kurdistan province. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and in terms of method of collecting descriptive-analytical information. The statistical population of the study consists of 3389 households, of which 355 households have been selected as a sample size. The villages studied were randomly classified based on the distance from the lake. The validity of the present research questionnaire was estimated to be 0.93% through Cronbach's alpha test. In order to analyze the data, statistical methods of one-sample t-test and ANOVA test were used in SPSS software, non-statistical barometric techniques and radar method (to calculate the level of stability). Also, for spatial analysis and production of maps based on statistical data, low / high clustering methods, spatial self-correlation, hot spot analysis and IDW method have been used in GIS software. The results show that the share and importance of environmental sustainability analysis indicators in the studied villages is such that socio-cultural indicators have the highest share and ecological-environmental indicators have the lowest share. In the second place, economic indicators have the highest share in the field of environmental sustainability of the studied villages based on the rural ecosystem model.

This article uses foodscapes as a lens to explore the potential of ecovillages’ food practices towards enhancing sustainable food systems. Ecovillages are collective projects where members attempt to integrate sustainability principles into daily community life. In these communities, food acts, not only as an element of social life, but also as a venue through which to interact with mainstream food systems and society. Yet, how food practices at ecovillages contribute to sustainable food systems remains vague. This article proposes foodscapes, as a lens, for exploring the sustainability potential of place-based food practices in ecovillages, while also directing attention to how these practices intersect with networks at broader social and spatial scales. It asks, how can we better understand and draw from sustainable food practices, when considering these as both, place-based and relational? And what is the potential and the role of ecovillage communities to contribute to broader s...

The large-scale ecological damage caused by growth societies calls for economic degrowth in terms of a radical decrease in matter/energy throughput. This article examines the role of modern technology in degrowth with a focus on the question of agency and its ethical implications. After conceptualising technology as practice, the paper finds that while technological practice encompasses an agency for social change, it is restricted to transforming the non-human world to human-made objects. This is because in technological practice the world and its objects unfold as a standing-reserve for human use. Due to this calculative and anthropocentric thinking, technological practice does not and cannot support the emergence of a kind of agency that either does or can let things be. Moreover, the more technological the practice, the more objects are utilised. The paper concludes that technological practice does not support the transition to degrowth, because it directs its agents towards the continuous transformation of non-human-made objects into human-made objects resulting in an increase in cumulative throughput. The paper thus suggests that an ethos of releasement is needed to attain, as well as to live in, a degrowth society. The rationale provided for refraining from the technological practice in order to contribute to ecologically sensible social change is the chief contribution of this paper.

Climate change has been an issue for over a quarter of a century, but it has only been in the past years that global warming has been taken more seriously (Giddens, 2009). However, it is still not acted upon sufficiently and the lack of systematic policy-making prevents concrete action and intervention on a global scale (Giddens, 2009). Collective action is required and for this, utopian thinking and the formation of groups can be helpful and motivating for individuals who are aiming towards the revision of values and behaviours concerning the environment. Communities living in " ecovillages " have taken this seriously for over thirty years. They strive for sustainability, reject an over consumptive way of living and acknowledge the interdependence of people and nature. Supporters of the movement have called it " the most significant event of the 20th century " (Trainer in Jackson, R. 2004). This paper will explore and analyse the ecovillage movement and the " Global Ecovillage Network " (GEN) in regards to their utopian characteristics. First, it is going to describe the concept of ecovillages and provide an outline of the historical background of the movement. Informed by writings by Ruth Levitas and Lucy Sargisson, it will then introduce the concept of 'utopia', to clarify this widely contested, variously applied and yet effectively used term (Levitas, 2003).

ԼՈՒՍԻՆԵ ԹՈՐՈՍՅԱՆ- ԷԿՈԶԲՈՍԱՇՐՋՈՒԹՅՈՒՆԸ ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆՈՒՄ ԵՎ ԱՐՑԱԽՈՒՄ
Սույն հոդվածում ուսումնասիրվում են Հայաստանի Հանրապետության և Լեռնային Ղարաբաղի Հանրապետության էկոզբոսաշրջության զարգացման հնարավորությունները և  ոլոորտում առկա խնդիրները։ Վեր է հանվում և հիմնավորվում է այդ ոլորտի զարգացմանն ուղղված ծչագրերի ֆինանսավորման անհրաժեշտությունը։

ЛУСИНЕ ТОРОСЯН- ЭКОТУРИЗМ В АРМЕНИИ И В НАГОРНОМ КАРАБАХЕ
В данной статье рассмотрены проблемы и перспективы будущего развития экотуризма в Армении и Нагорном Карабахе. Проанализированы характерные особенности экотуризма в данных странах. Выявлена и обоснована необходимость финансирования этой сферы деятельности.

LUSINE TOROSYAN- ECOTOURISM IN ARMENIA AND NAGORNO-KARABAKH
In the following article, the problems and perspectives of the future development of ecotourism in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are discussed. The outstanding characteristics of ecotourism in the mentioned countries are analyzed. The necessity of providing funding for this field of activity is revealed and substantiated.

Ecovillages worldwide address the contemporary quest for sustainability while increasing bioregional literacy and developing processes and tools that aim to reduce their ecological footprints. The Scotland-based Findhorn Ecovillage is one of them. Designated UN-Habitat Best Practice as a model for holistic and sustainable living in 1998, it has been incorporated in the UN Habitat data base of initiatives which are making outstanding contributions to improving the quality of life in cities and communities around the world (UN Habitat, 2017). The article analyses how twenty years later the pioneering eco-settlement has advanced the sustainability agenda in the context of food production, energy systems, built environment, biodiversity, local economy and carbon footprint. The article concludes, two decades later, the Findhorn Ecovillage continues to play a role as a research and development centre for carbon-constrained lifestyles , providing solutions to human and social needs, protecting the environment and offering an enhanced quality of life for all.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Ecovillage merupakan program desa berbudaya lingkungan yang diadopsi pemerintah Provinsi Jawa Barat sebagai rencana aksi daerah terhadap pengendalian perubahan iklim. Landasan pelaksanaan program ecovillage yaitu Peraturan Menteri Lingkungan Hidup Nomor 84 Tahun 2016 tentang Program Kampung Iklim (ProKlim). Rumusan program ecovillage juga bertujuan menanggapi Peraturan Presiden Nomor 15 tahun 2018 tentang Percepatan Pengendalian Pencemaran dan Kerusakan DAS (Daerah Aliran Sungai) Citarum. Upaya ini dilakukan setelah Pemerintah Provinsi Jawa Barat mendapat teguran keras karena Sungai Citarum menyandang predikat sungai tercermar di dunia. Kawasan Bandung Utara termasuk salah satu wilayah pengembangan program ecovillage, yang didasari karena Kawasan Bandung Utara turut menyumbang limbah organik yang mencemari Sungai Citarum melalui Sub DAS Cikapundung. Hingga tahun 2019, pelaksanaan program ecovillage, khususnya di Kawasan Bandung Utara, masih belum menunjang percepatan penangangan pencemaran dan kerusakan DAS Citarum karena terdapat berbagai kendala. Risalah kebijakan ini bertujuan menganalisis persoalan pelaksanaan program ecovillage di Kawasan Bandung Utara dengan menggunakan konsep struktur sosial, kultur, dan proses sosial

Quel est le monde des écologistes ? Cette thèse cherche à dépasser les explications réduisant leur engagement à de simples stratégies sociales en plongeant dans les représentations d’un réseau informel d’écologistes vivant en France et en Suisse qui ont la particularité d’être des producteurs de discours publics, à travers tous types de médias, ce qui en fait des intellectuels engagés de l’écologie (Chapitre II). L’analyse de leurs discours, mais aussi de leurs pratiques, met en évidence la thématique fondatrice de l’effondrement, celui de la « civilisation thermo-industrielle », dans un processus de « prise de conscience ». Par-delà les bases scientifiques avancées pour la légitimer, la perspective catastrophiste est révélatrice d’une quête d’alternative vis-à-vis du « paradigme » moderne ramené au dualisme mécaniste et à l’économie capitaliste (Chapitre III). Cette écologie relationnelle s’inspire par conséquent des courants de l’écologie profonde, de l’écopsychologie, ainsi que de l’hypothèse Gaïa. À une vision holiste en lien avec une approche systémique de l’effondrement, elle mêle une perspective moniste par la perception organiciste d’un monde vivant composé d’êtres unis par des relations d’interdépendance et de correspondance (Chapitre IV). Le Soi est alors en liaison intime avec le Tout, et cette écosophie s’actualise parfois par une relation écospirituelle à travers la méditation, des exercices ou des rituels tels que ceux proposés par les ateliers de « Travail qui relie » (Chapitre V). Cette médiation peut aussi se faire par des pratiques quotidiennes d’insertion dans la « toile de la vie » tel que le compostage (Chapitre VIII). Le « changement de paradigme », passage d’un monde à l’autre, est ainsi attendu et espéré et cette apocalyptique écologique fait souvent écho au millénarisme du New Age, ainsi qu’aux aspects contre-culturels de ce courant. La dénonciation de l’anthropocentrisme et le holisme affiché de l’écospiritualité peuvent aussi donner lieu à des accusations d’antihumanisme et de liens avec l’extrême-droite que cette thèse examine (Chapitre VI). Les variations de positions exprimées au sein du réseau d’écologie relationnelle permettent enfin de les comprendre comme s’articulant autour d’un pôle écocentrique, dans une relation d’attraction/répulsion avec les autres pôles théocentrique et anthropocentrique. En prenant les acteurs au sérieux, ce travail propose une compréhension approfondie des logiques des écologistes catastrophistes et spirituels, par-delà l’objectivité supposée des crises environnementales.

Gegenstand der Studie sind intentionale Gemeinschaften mit besonderer sozialökologischer Prägung. Sie begreift Ökodörfer und andere sozialökologische Gemeinschaften in ihrer Rolle als Lebensstil-Avantgarden und als Pioniere nachhaltiger Entwicklung. Sie untersucht sowohl das Nachhaltigkeits- als auch das Innovationspotential solcher Gemeinschaften. Ihre Absicht ist es sowohl das Phänomen der sozialökologischen Gemeinschaften zu beschreiben als auch auszuloten, wo solche Gemeinschaften unter dem Gesichtspunkt der Nachhaltigkeit die moderne Gesellschaft bereichern und zur Verbreitung ökologisch und sozial nachhaltiger Innovationen beitragen können.

Kapitel 1 führt in die Problematik ein und gibt einen kurzen Überblick über die Geschichte der Ökodorf- und Gemeinschaftsbewegung - nicht nur, aber vor allem der deutschen.
Kapitel 2 trägt anhand internationaler Forschungsergebnisse zusammen, inwieweit Gemeinschaften ihrem Anspruch gerecht werden, ökologisch und sozial orientiert zu sein. Durch eine quantitative Analyse von 129 Gemeinschaften aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum werden Alter, Geschlechterzusammensetzung, Konsumgewohnheiten, bevorzugte Wirtschaftsformen und
Tätigkeitsschwerpunkte analysiert. Eine Typeneinteilung erlaubt es dabei unterschiedliche Projektarten anhand ihrer weltanschaulichen Ausrichtung zu unterscheiden und zu analysieren, wie sich diese auf die Charakteristika der Gemeinschaften auswirkt.
Kapitel 3 gibt einen Überblick über wichtige Funktionseigenheiten solcher Projekte unter dem Gesichtspunkt der vielfältigen sozialen, kulturellen und technologischen Neuerungen, die Gemeinschaften anwenden. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf dabei Praktiken und Kulturtechniken.
Kapitel 4 bespricht die gesellschaftliche Ausstrahlungskraft und Wirksamkeit sowohl der Gemeinschaften als ganzheitliche Entitäten insgesamt als auch von einer ihrer zentralen Praktiken, dem gemeinschaftlichen Wohnen. (Letzteres wird als bereits erfolgtes Mainstreaming des Gemeinschaftsansatzes verstanden.) Das Kapitel zeigt auch Grenzen und Beschränkungen des modernen Gemeinschaftsansatzes auf und stellt dar, für welche Bevölkerungsgruppen gemeinschaftliches Leben, Arbeiten und Wohnen vermutlich kein wirksames Lebensstilmodell darstellen. Zudem werden Gefahren und Risiken einiger Eigenheiten der modernen Gemeinschaftsbewegung, wie sie sich als Gegenkultur am Ende des 20 Jahrhunderts entwickelt hat, besprochen.
Kapitel 5 gibt Empfehlungen an Akteure der Politik, Verwaltung und des Sozialwesens, wenn diese die vielfältigen Chancen und Vorteile, die solche Gemeinschaften als auch das gemeinschaftliche Wohnen im Allgemeinen bieten, für die Etablierung nachhaltiger Lebensstile nutzen möchten.

Die Studie ist im Rahmen eines Forschungs- und Dialogprojektes entstanden, dass European Business Council for Sustainable Energy
(e5) in Kooperation mit dem Global Ecovillage Network of Europe 2013 und 2014 durchgeführt hat. Das Projekt wurde durch das deutsche Umweltbundesamt und das Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit gefördert. Im Zentrum standen dabei Ökodörfer und vergleichbare innovative, gemeingüterbasierte Ansätze.

In this dissertation I invite you to explore a sentient, participatory universe. I am exploring a worldview and its implications: What it means to look at the world from within it, to become aware of our individual and collective participation in the process of the whole transforming. I discuss the philosophical, as well as the historical and scientific foundations of this dynamical way of seeing, thinking and participating. The concept of appropriate participation - at appropriate spatial-temporal scales - in the emergence of a healthy whole is introduced as a new participatory approach to the increasingly important issue of sustainability. Ecological design is identified as an interdisciplinary and community based approach to appropriate participation. I emphasize the importance of participation at the appropriate spatial-temporal scales, making a strong argument for empowered communities, bioregional self-reliance and a power structure based on the political concept of subsidiarity. The participatory understanding of the relationship between the whole and its parts and insights gained from complexity theory and chaos theory serve as the basis for identifying
resilience and diversity, self-reliance and interconnectedness as important indicators of the health of the whole, appropriate participation and sustainability.

This study briefly examines the theoretical and practical landscape of prominent Eco-Villages, Eco-Districts, and Eco-Cities throughout the world. It presents a concise summary of the principles behind successful application projects around the globe. The literature review and research explores various definitions for ecovillages, ecodistricts, and ecocities focusing on sources that are most commonly associated with the terms documenting several different examples under each category in the literature. The good news is that the types of applied research, demonstration and training that the ecovillages, ecodistricts and ecocities are engaged in are "precisely those that will be needed to navigate the rough waters ahead. Seen in this context, the initiatives that have been described on these pages – in reforestation, seed-saving, place-specific technologies for energy-efficient housing, food-growing, energy-generation, the development of inclusive decision-making structures, voluntary simplicity, and so on – appear not so much idiosyncratic tinkering as the very stuff that the building of future societies will be made of" (Dawson, 2006, p. 77).

Questo quaderno raccoglie i materiali, gli studi e i progetti realizzati in collaborazione tra il Comune di Anversa degli Abruzzi, la Riserva Regionale delle Gole del Sagittario, il WWF Abruzzo e un piccolo gruppo di ricercatori del Dipartimento Ambiente, Reti e Territorio (ora Dipartimento di Architettura, sezione Architettura e Urbanistica) a partire dal 2006, l’anno in cui si è dato avvio - come relazione interistituzionale tra amministrazioni e Università pubblica -  alla formazione del Piano di Recupero di una piccola parte, marginale ma strategica, del Centro storico di Anversa degli Abruzzi.

Alla formazione di questo Piano, si sono accompagnate, grazie anche e soprattutto all’attivismo sensibile dei partner locali, un discreto elenco di attività e di iniziative,  a partire da alcune esperienze didattiche, svolte con una certa costanza da alcuni corsi della (ex) facoltà di Pescara, e sfociate anche in alcune tesi di laurea.

Se non sono ancora un bell’elenco di best pratices, quelle che da alcuni anni si vanno costruendo attorno all’esile ma vitale fiume del Sagittario, nel cuore dell’Abruzzo dei Parchi e delle Riserve  - giudizio che lasciamo ad un commento esterno - certo qualcosa di inedito e di incoraggiante è successo, ad Anversa degli Abruzzi, in questi anni.

Da questo punto di vista Anversa degli Abruzzi sembra indicare una strada, non inedita in Italia e in Europa : quella della rinuncia al consumo di suolo produttivo e naturale a vantaggio di improbabili nuove edificazioni “turistiche”, e dello sviluppo dissennato di apparati energetici (per quanto rinnovabili),  a vantaggio, invece, del recupero del patrimonio residenziale storico, dello sviluppo di nuove forme di residenzialità (ecovillaggio, cohousing), di forme inedite e specializzate di turismo e di presenza antropica nelle aree protette.

E’ una strada di ricerca e di sperimentazione, difficile e non esente da rischi e da prospettive di insuccesso, su cui può essere utile e rilevante il contributo dell’Università Pubblica assieme a quello delle associazioni di difesa e valorizzazione dei Beni Comuni, in una logica che non può che essere di grande partecipazione e apertura al contributo di tutti. E nella speranza che  un sempre maggiore e partecipe coinvolgimento degli attori locali - abitanti, portatori di interesse, visitatori e turisti - porti presto a ulteriori azioni di progresso ecologico di questo complesso territorio, a vantaggio di chi vive e lavora nell’Abruzzo protetto, nel rispetto delle sue straordinarie qualità ambientali e culturali

P. Rovigatti, 16 agosto 2014






Piano di Recupero per l’Aia delle Piagge

Il piano è stato approvato nel 2012,

Gruppo di progettazione:

Prof. Piero Rovigatti, (responsabile scientifico),  DART, Dipartimento Ambiente, Reti e Territorio, Università di Chieti-Pescara
Prof. Stefano Civitarese,
Dipartimento Scienze Giuridiche, Università di Chieti-Pescara
Prof. Pierpaolo Palka,  PRICOS, Università di Chieti-Pescara

Hanno inoltre lavorato allo studio i seguenti esperti:
Arch. Taulant Dano,
Arch. Junior Valentina Leardi,
Arch. Anthony Padula
Arch. Mirko Solazzo,
Arch. Maria Di Fino,
Augusto De Sanctis.

Hanno inoltre collaborato alle attività di ricerca iniziali Luciano Di Falco, Antonio Fini, Ilaria Sferrella, Giulia Zaccari

Editing e impaginazione:
Piero Rovigatti, Marco Corsi

Research report on the Global Ecovillage Network as transformative Social Innovation. TRANSIT EU FP/ research project. Theme ssh.2013.3.2-1 Social Innovation-Empowering People, changing societies Project Full Title: "Transformative Social Innovation Theory project"

This chapter outlines the complex yet productive three-way relationship between utopianism, anarchism and intentional communities. It begins with a brief historical exegesis of the concept of utopia, and a critical exploration of the anti-utopian sentiment that has permeated modern political theory and contemporary culture. It then follows points of resonance between utopianism and anarchism, drawing on the anarchist theorists Gustav Landauer, Martin Buber, Max Stirner and Colin Ward, all of whom vindicate voluntary communities or unions of individuals who produce social change through experimenting with different values and meeting their needs in the here-and-now.

The chapter moves on to the intentional communities movement as a living example of critical, anarchistic utopianism. It is argued that intentional communities are incredibly diverse, not all are anarchist, though many draw on anarchist principles. This section explores anarchist approaches to property relations, decision-making and geographic scale and federation in the movement. Finally, the chapter covers controversies and tensions within and between anarchism and the intentional communities movement, including leftist versus post-leftist visions of social change, commitment to longevity versus temporariness and informality versus democratic structuring.

Runaway climate change threatens our world and way of life. Intelligent development and investment in the next ten years could largely mitigate the worst threats of climate change, while simultaneously providing continuous growth for the global economic system. The New
Climate Economy 2018 report projects that upwards of $90 trillion, invested over the next decade in efforts to combat this ecological collapse would result in $30 trillion in new annual economic growth by 2050 (NCE 2018). The Stockholm Resilience Center agrees, giving a
framework based on global ecological systems that calls for five critical tasks that can bring about this new period of growth and stability.
1. Renewable energy growth, exponentially increasing over the next decade
2. Sustainable food production, especially local and autonomous
3. New development models, based on what has worked globally
4. Reduction of wealth inequity, such that the richest 10% own <40% of global wealth
5. Education, health, gender equality, family planning access for women.
The School for International Training (SIT) can address these issues clearly and directly
at the local level, benefitting the institution and local community while setting new global models for Sustainability in Higher Education. In the summer of 2018, SIT hosted a student-led community garden, supported by SIT Student Association and the Lessenco Fund. This project
calls for long-term commitment to sustainability, including a look at institutional memory, an assessment of sustainability frameworks, and of the potential benefits of joining the thousands of sustainable campuses and educational ecovillages operating globally.

The contribution looks at ecovillages – commonly defined as human-scale settlements consciously designed through participatory processes to secure long-term sustainability – as first, communities where the human-nature relationship is being re-presented, and second, active minorities engaging in prefigurative politics seeking to make an impact in the world.

It is expected that within this process ecovillages are actively striving to resolve the tensions between different dimensions of the social representation in order to effectively put it in practice. Additionally, it seems that they have also incorporated the psychological construct of spirituality, as one’s striving for an experience of connection with what is within and outside oneself, which includes feelings of connectedness with nature.

In order to see how ecovillages are re-presenting the relationship with nature and the role spirituality plays in it, an exploratory ethnographic study of two ecovillages (Damanhur, Italy and Braziers Park, England) has been performed. Modelling approach was used, comprising participant observation, semistructured
interviews, document analysis and a short analysis of community art. Additionally, in order to evaluate how ecovillages are perceived as political actors in the wider political arena, a media analysis of both Italian and British newspapers was incorporated.

Results show that while both selected ecovillages are challenging the current hegemonic representation of the human-nature relationship based on modification and science, they are addressing the tensions in different ways, and are therefore using two alternative prefigurative paths. These conclusions underline the role of normative facets in regulating stress fields in social representations. Moreover, they not only pave the way to further investigations concerning issues of similarity and diversity, individual vs. collective, and implicit vs. conscious intentionality within prefigurative movements, but also the interesting role spirituality can play in environmentalist movements.

В статье рассматриваются результаты исследования группы ЦИРКОН «Экопоселения как форма внутренней эмиграции: мотивация и перспективы распространения», завершенного осенью 2012 г. В ходе исследования изучался пока еще слабо распространенный и малоизученный в России феномен альтернативных сельских поселений (в частности, экопоселений и поселений родовых поместий). Движение экопоселенцев можно пока расценивать во многом как контркультурное. Но в то же время в его рамках зарождаются и получают развитие некоторые новые передовые практики, которые могли бы помочь в решении ряда проблем, стоящих перед современным обществом, как узкоэкологического, так и общесоциального характера. В статье предпринимается попытка ответить на вопрос, в какой мере сегодняшние российские альтернативные поселения из маргинального явления могут превратиться во влиятельный социальный феномен, стать образцом для подражания; что представляют собой российские экопоселения сегодня — явление внутренней эмиграции или переход в новое качество, «социальный трансфер».

Revised 12-20-19
By now, most people are aware that climate change presents a dire threat to human civilization. But they don’t understand just how dire. International organizations and mainstream media continue to say that we have about ten years, maybe more, to start doing something about it. In my view, it’s already past the midnight hour to start doing something.

It’s already too late already to “save” ourselves from crisis. Not only is climate change accelerating and multiple tipping points could be reached within a few short few years or have already been reached, but also because of the CO2 which will linger in the atmosphere for several hundreds of thousands of years.

When people better understand how we got here, and why the civilization we have known cannot go on for very much longer, then we can hopefully apply what we’ve learned, as wisdom, to better prepare for the oncoming climate chaos. And we can plant the seeds of a successor civilization, starting with sustainable, resilient communities which can be enfolded into the future successor civilization.

A successor civilization will resemble nothing like what went before, except for sustainable communities that were established earlier and survive. A new civilization will need to be organized communally, as well as sustainably, to have the best chance for resilience in the face of the widespread destruction wrought by climate change and all its consequent effects.

Ecovillages are citizen-organised residential communities that strive for a more sustainable way of life based on a culture of cooperation and sharing, as deemed necessary to support a shift to a post carbon world (Dawson, 2006; Lockyer & Veteto, 2013; Korten, 2006). While much can potentially be learned from the study of these experimental sustainable communities, perhaps their greatest contribution is to help us understand how to transition from individualism and competition in order to live ‘smaller, slower and closer (Litfin, 2014)’. Drawing on a social theory of practice (Wenger, 1998) and concept of communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), this paper considers how one ecovillage is learning the social competencies necessary to live and work well “in community”, and in doing so, it co- constructs and sustains a cooperative culture.

In una prospettiva di sostenibilità tesa al raggiungimento dell’equilibrio tra paesaggio naturale, socio-culturale, produttivo ed economico e sistema insediativo, le conoscenze tradizionali possono costituire un vocabolario di riferimento preziosissimo a cui attingere, perché storicamente consolidate, culturalmente accettate, ecologiche ed economiche.  Oggi si fa fatica a credere che ritornare ad una più tradizionale gestione del territorio possa essere una delle condizioni auspicabili per il futuro. Questo perché la lentezza che contraddistingueva le società tradizionali non risponde alla logica della società capitalista e neoliberista del massimo profitto che si è imposta da un certo punto in poi, influenzando irrimediabilmente l’assetto economico-produttivo tradizionale che ha subito un’accellerazione a scapito della qualità. Alle economie locali, fondate sull’agricoltura, l’allevamento, l’artigianato e sul rispetto dei cicli naturali, gestite secondo metodi e modelli tradizionali si sono sostituiti sistemi e modelli finalizzati alla grande distribuzioni con l’imposizione di tecnologie che hanno il più delle volte compromesso l’equilibrio dell’intero ecosistema con lo sfruttamento indiscriminato delle risorse.  In passato l’introduzione delle innovazioni nel patrimonio delle conoscenze consolidate veniva valutata, accettata e incorporata solo dopo che la loro sperimentazione ne avesse dimostrato l’effettiva efficacia e la compatibilità con la capacità dell’ecosistema di rinnovarsi e rigenerarsi. Qualsiasi azione sul territorio deve essere quindi progettata e pianificata in maniera partecipata e valutata nel lungo periodo. Non si tratta di un’azione, ma di un insieme di azioni concertate che mirino non solo al recupero del territorio inteso come l’insieme composto dal patrimonio materiale e dal paesaggio, ma anche della memoria storica attraverso la valorizzazione delle risorse umane e delle relazioni che intercorrono tra i due massimi sistemi.  Ciò non presuppone un nostalgico ritorno ai modi tradizionali di vivere, ma la possibilità di organizzare modelli sociali autosostenibili e autopoietici in grado di “perpetuarsi e rigenerarsi continuamente” (P. Laureano) nel rispetto delle caratteristiche climatiche, geografiche e storico-culturali del luogo.  Dal latino tradere, cioè consegnare, trasmettere. La trasmissione del sapere e della conoscenza non resta immutabile nel tempo, ma si trasforma, adeguandosi alle trasformazioni territoriali e alle mutate necessità di chi le eredita.

Humanity seems to be obsessed with quick answers and silver bullet solutions (ideally the on-size-fits-all kind). Yet a brief reflection on history shows us - more often than not – that yesterday’s solutions turn into today’s problems. Why should our “sustainable solutions” not also turn out to be transitory? Some might even turn out to have unexpected negative side effects if applied at the wrong scale or without attention to constantly changing circumstances. Solutions and answers are temporary means to ask better questions. (A brief article in the Newsletter of www.gaiaeducation.net - a global training organization focussed on sustainable community design. It pronounces my forthcoming book.)

Este estudo busca compreender o fenômeno contemporâneo plural Ecovilas em uma perspectiva prático-teórica por meio do cruzamento de informações entre o levantamento da produção bibliográfica, da compreensão do conceito e a imersão na vida de uma Ecovila. O exame de textos sobre Ecovilas e as práticas de um grupo de indivíduos e seus componentes permite verificar a projeção e a definição de Ecovila como fenômeno contemporâneo e identificar os principais problemas relacionadas a sua gestão sustentável. Esta pesquisa contribui para a triangulação da temática “Ecovilas e gestão sustentável”, nos níveis teórico e prático. Nela são elencados os principais problemas enfrentados na conceituação derivada da compreensão de sustentabilidade prática para a governança de uma ecovila e seus desdobramentos nos acordos de convívio via pesquisa qualitativa. Como resultado, aufere-se que as decisões de governança das Ecovilas, por conta do seu compromisso perene com a sustentabilidade, são complexas e tem de apreciar não apenas as dimensões econômica e social, mas também ecológica, cultural e organizacional. Os resultados da pesquisa foram o mapeamento das publicações científicas brasileiras sobre Ecovilas no período de 2009 e 2019; atualização do conceito de ecovila e identificação dos principais problemas e conflitos que a gestão enfrenta no estudo de caso da Ecovila Terra Luminous (Juquitiba-SP).
Palavras-chave: gestão ambiental; sustentabilidade; ecoaldeia;

This study seeks to understand the contemporary plural phenomenon Ecovillages in a practical-theoretical perspective by crossing information between the survey of bibliographic production, the understanding of the concept and the immersion in the life of an Ecovill. Examining texts about Ecovillages and the practices of a group of individuals and their components allows us to verify the projection and definition of Ecovill as a contemporary phenomenon and to identify the main problems related to its sustainable management. This research contributes to the triangulation of the theme “Ecovillages and sustainable management”, at the theoretical and practical levels. In it are listed the main problems faced in the conceptualization derived from the understanding of practical sustainability for the governance of an ecovillage and its consequences in the conviviality agreements through qualitative research. As a result, it is clear that Ecovillage governance decisions, because of their perennial commitment to sustainability, are complex and must appreciate not only the economic and social dimensions but also the ecological, cultural and organizational dimensions. The results of the research were the mapping of Brazilian scientific publications on Ecovillages in the period 2009 and 2019; update of the concept of ecovillage and identification of the main problems and conflicts that management faces in the case study of Ecovila Terra Luminous (Juquitiba-SP).
Keywords: environmental management; sustainability; eco-village;

Bugün pek çoğumuz kentte ya da kırda daha ekolojik ve onarıcı bir hayatın hayalini kuruyor, bu hayali gerçekleştirebilmek için birlikte yol alabileceğimiz bir topluluğun izini sürüyoruz. Ancak bu yolda karşımıza çıkan engeller, aklımızı karıştıran sorular ve sorunlar bizi yıldırıyor, yoruyor hatta hayalimizden vazgeçmemize neden olabiliyor. Öyle ki, bütün dünyada topluluk girişimlerinin yalnızca yüzde onu başarıya ulaşabiliyor. Peki, bu başarılı yüzde onun sırrı ne?

Birlikte Bir Yaşam Kurmak; başarılı yüzde onun sırrını açıklayan, ekoköy ya da niyetli topluluğunuzu kurarken iyi bir başlangıç yapmanıza yardımcı olmaya çalışan muhteşem bir rehber. Bu kitapta, 90’lı yılların başından beri kurulan hayallerini hayata geçirmiş düzinelerce topluluğun yaşadığı zorlu deneyimler damıtılarak sizin bir grup olarak nasıl başlayacağınıza dair elle tutulur tavsiyeler sıralanıyor. Vizyon belgelerinin oluşturulması, karar verme sürecinin ve topluluğun idaresinin belirlenmesi, anlaşmalar ve ilkelerin oluşturulması, arazi için para kaynağı bulunması ve arazinin satın alınması, iletişim ve işleyişinden size katılacak insanların seçilmesine kadar bu büyülü yolculukta karşınıza çıkabilecek bütün meseleler tek tek irdeleniyor.

‘Her potansiyel ekoköy sakini okumalı. Bu kitap, topluluklarda yaşayan veya onlar için tasarım yapan birçok permakültür tasarımcısı için önemli bir kılavuz ve el kitabı olacaktır.’

— Bill Mollison, Permakültür Hareketinin Eş Kurucusu

‘Başarılı bir topluluk oluşturmak, vizyon ve pratiğin özel bir karışımının bilgelikle harmanlanmasını gerektirir. Bu kitabı fevkalade bir ayna olarak düşünün. Bu kitaptaki bol deneyime dayanan uygulanabilirlik sizi sevindiriyorsa, muhtemelen vizyonunuzu gerçekleştirme bilgeliğine sahipsinizdir.’

— Robert Gilman, In Context’in Kurucu Editörü

This paper analyses the experimental nature of alternative spaces and the affective, emotional and embodied experience their enactment generates. In so doing, it grounds the analysis on the intentional community of Damanhur (Italy), as an example of experimental spaces. Scholarship concerning intentional communities draws on utopian studies that consider them as utopian laboratories. More recently non-representational approaches have emphasized the processual nature of utopias, yet studies have overlooked the experimental nature of these alternative spaces. Drawing upon in-depth ethnographic data, this paper engages with community experimentations that took place in Damanhur for residents and visitors. It illustrates how utopian enactment is experimental and thus, disordering, unsettling and creative. Moreover, I argue that experimentations are not limited to unsettling the social structure of the organisation but rather that in studying the enactment of an alternative space emphasis should also be on their capacity to affect the individual.

The goal of this paper is to provide a preliminary analysis of European ecovillages considered as rural grassroots experiments with the sustainable management of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus. The article presents empirical data on the management of basic resources in 60 European ecovillages collected with an online survey in 2020. The results show that a vast majority of ecovillages pursue some self-sufficiency in food, water or energy, and that 50% of them seek some self-sufficiency in all three of these resources. However, ecovillages do not try to be completely self-sufficient but rather aim at achieving feasible levels of self-sufficiency complemented with local and regional cooperation. While the role of ecovillages in driving conventional rural growth is limited, they can help in guiding sustainability transitions by illustrating opportunities and difficulties of reducing resource consumption of settlement units without reducing personal and communal well-being.

Az utóbbi fél évszázad növekvő környezettudatossága az ökofalvak és ökofalu
kezdeményezések megjelenésében is megnyilvánul. E cikkben a Magyar Ökofalu
hálózat tagjainak bemutatására, közülük négy kezdeményezés alaposabb elemzésére
törekszünk. Az elemzés dimenziói a fenntarthatóság négy oszlopa: az ökológiai,
társadalmi, gazdasági és kulturális dimenzió. Az elemzés folyamán a települések
történetét, a felmerülő konfliktusok természetét is elemezzük. A négy település
(Galgahévíz, Gyűrűfű, Krisnavölgy, Visnyeszéplak) választásának indoka, hogy ezek
jutottak legtovább lélekszámban, társadalmi és/vagy gazdasági és/vagy ökológiai
megújulásukban. Ökológiai dimenzióban valamennyi település magas teljesítményt
mutat, a társadalmi és gazdasági dimenzióban azonban az a kettő a legeredményesebb,
melyek esetében a lakosokat nem „csak” a fenntartható fejlődés eszménye iránti
elkötelezettség tartja össze, hanem vallásos értékek is - legyenek azok keresztényiek
vagy az indiai kultúrkörből eredők. A hazai kezdeményezéseket európai kontextusba
helyezem, a tervezett közösségek építésének buktatóit is vizsgálva. A cikk az ökofalvak
szerepével, hatásaival zárul.