Re: What is Real about an EcoVillage?

Aloha,

> Many have tried to pass off a small commune on 5 acres as an EcoVillage.

They might be a type of EV or they might not.  How I decide for myself is by
looking at what they're actually doing, instead of how many acres they have.

Since you don't say who/what/where you're talking about, I have less
opportunity to judge for myself.  Is that your goal?

> They will have to be asked to leave ENA because they do not qualify if the
> word EcoVillage is going to mean anything. They know who I'm talking about.

I hear that you have issues with people not matching your exact parameters for
"being" an EV.
Are you a "Judge" (as per your previous post, Judgement) in ENA?
Would you prefer to "kick them out" (assuming it is in your power to do so),
or would you prefer to educate them as to the responsibilities of being in ENA
and/or using the term "Ecovillage?"

> Shopping Centers and Strip Malls will also make use of the term.
> It will be exploited in many new ways.

No doubt.  Just as with "sustainable" and "eco-" so on.
I trust people who actually care to be able to tell the difference between the
'real experience' and the marketing hype.
For those who don't care, my ranting will not influence them in any case.

> It means nothing in itself unless we make it mean something here in ENA at
> least. The rest we cannot control.

Exactly.  Creating diverse examples of becoming-ecovillages is a powerful
approach.

> There really should be at least 300 acres for any Real EcoVillage and I say
> this only to help people think about these things.

"Acres" (like "square feet") are a creation of surveyors, land speculators,
real estate agents, those who commodify the surface of the earth and break it
into linear pieces, interrupting the vital and necessary flows that keep all
life healthy and flourishing.

"Acres" are arbitrary, so saying "an ecovillage must have X acres" is doubly
arbitrary.


John Schinnerer - MA, Whole Systems Design
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Design & Technology Services
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