Re: ecovillage and sustainability

>And yet...and yet...the time is coming soon when our choice will be
>either to form or join ecovillages, or perish with the rest of the
>collapsing industrial world order, once petroleum peaks and declines, the
>global market collapses, and prices of everything start skyrocketing
>uncontrollably. We face either a Gaian future, or no future. 

These are strong, vivid words Tom. And if what you say is true, then
that's all the more reason to focus energetically on polydimensional
ecovillage educational programs, where a typology of sustainable community
models can be researched and articulated: eco-enclave, eco-hamlet,
eco-village - each scale has its own set of potentials and design
criteria, and each scale has a different function and purpose within the
larger bioregional whole. This is ekistics: the scientific,
multi-disciplinary study of human settlements. The Village Design
Institute defines "ecovillage" as the sustainable "unit" of human
settlement in a theoretical ekistics for the 21st century. By the way,
"sustainable city" is an oxymoron.

Towards a Gaian future,
Chris Mare
-VDI






<[email protected]> writes:
>Dear brothers and sisters,
>
>The issues we are dealing with here are timeless, of course: inclusion
>vs. exclusion, individual autonomy vs. group solidarity, structure and
>hierarchy vs. consensus and flexibility; conformity to established
>behavioral norms vs. self-expression and spontaneity...So we should not
>be dismayed that we have not solved them, nor that different communities
>solve them in very different ways, with differing degrees of success.
>
>Having not yet directly experienced life for an extended period in an
>"intentional community" or ecovillage, I lack expertise, and would be
>very presumptuous to claim any. But I clearly remember the gut feeling I
>had after spending a weekend at a very enlightened spiritual community
>(whose name I will omit) in the Pacific Northwest.  Although the people
>there were gracious and openhearted, full of interesting visionary ideas
>and smiles, by the end of the weekend I felt a bit stifled. I remember
>one evening when we were all cooperatively washing the dishes, everyone
>joined into one of their group anthems about creating an enlightened,
>peaceful, and ecologically sustainable future "day by day, stone by
>stone."  All I remember at the time was a sudden craving for my usual
>dishwashing music--the Rolling Stones, turned up loud. Needless to say,
>any such suggestion would have completely ostracized me from the rest of
>the happy, enlightened group...
>
>Likewise, a year or two ago, I spent a week at a Buddhist retreat, and
>while it was, overall, a wonderful experience, I was similarly glad to
>leave--no longer obliged to recite the "five remembrances" before every
>meal, nor maintain a "noble silence" in the interstices of the various
>activities. While the mindfulness training was very good for me, I was
>relieved to return to "the world" where I could drink coffee (and beer or
>wine, if I liked),  speak freely and openly, and do as I wished.
>
>So, needless to say, I am still quite hesitant about creating or joining
>my own ecovillage. On the other hand, I wholly endorse all the basic
>values underlying ecovillages--permaculture, sustainability, community.
>But I also need, in my life, the freedom to say exactly what I think
>(albeit tactfully), and the spice of wit, irony, and sarcasm.  These
>would be hard to come by in any "intentional community;" they would
>likely be seen as indicative of a bad attitude, and get me expelled. 
>
>And yet...and yet...the time is coming soon when our choice will be
>either to form or join ecovillages, or perish with the rest of the
>collapsing industrial world order, once petroleum peaks and declines, the
>global market collapses, and prices of everything start skyrocketing
>uncontrollably. We face either a Gaian future, or no future. 
>
>Can there be an ecovillage--urban, suburban, or rural--that is not
>"intentional" per se, but rather the evolving consequence of free,
>uninhibited people recognizing their common interest in sustainability
>and solidarity, complemented by respect for individual differences, and
>above all a sense of humor? Can it be a true Sangha--a community without
>boundaries, in which, like a Moebius band, those "outside" are also
>inside? A community that takes care of everyone, and abandons no one;
>that takes care of ever	ything, and abandons nothing?
>
>I certainly hope so...
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Tom




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