What’s An Ecovillage?

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Ecovillages are urban or rural communities of people who strive to integrate a supportive social environment with a low-impact way of life. To achieve this, they integrate various aspects of ecological design, permaculture, ecological building, green production, alternative energy, community building practices, and much more. Ecovillages are living models of sustainability. They represent an effective, accessible way to combat the degradation of our social, ecological, and spiritual environments.

                                                          – Global Ecovillage Network (GEN)

“A human-scale, full-featured settlement in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development, with multiple centres of initiative, and (which) can successfully be continued into the indefinite future.”

                             – Robert & Diane Gilman (co-originators of the term ‘ecovillage’)

If you’re interested in learning more about ecovillages and intentional communities, here’s some additional reading we recommend:

‘Gleanings From the Harvest: Learning From Ecovillage Experiments Around the World’ by Karen Liftin

http://scorai2012.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/litfin.pdf

‘Creating a Life Together’ by Diana Leafe Christian

http://dianaleafechristian.org/creating.html