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Ecovillages and Permaculture: a Reference Model for Sustainable Consumption?

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Ecovillages and Permaculture: a Reference Model for Sustainable Consumption? Ecovillages and Permaculture: a Reference Model for Sustainable Consumption? Autoria: Paulo Ricardo Zilio Abdala, Gabriel de Macedo Pereyron Mocellin Abstract Ecovillages are intentional ecological communities based on the harmless integration of human activities into the environment (Van Schyndel Kasper, 2008). The inspiration for this lifestyle comes from a concept called Permaculture, a term coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist, and one of his students, David Holmgren, as a contraction of "permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture” (Mollison & Holmgren, 1978). In this research, we approach the theme of permaculture and ecovillages, focusing on ecovillagers ideas regarding sustainable consumption. Our intention is to present how people immersed in sustainable communities lifestyle deal with consumption issues by using different strategies and behaviors that are less harmful for the environment and the future generations. To accomplish this research, the sample was constituted of two ecovillages located in the south of Brazil. Both places were visited for a weekend each, during which we participated in the communities activities. Hence, the research has a qualitative methodology, best described as a short participant observation. Data collection includes field notes of the researchers, institutions website contents, as well as 4 hours of filmed interviews with a total of 7 subjects. The complexity of the phenomenon presents itself in the richness of the raw data collected. We consider this article a kind of working paper in broad terms, in the sense that new studies with more triangulation and further data collection are needed to extend the comprehension of the topic and to answer the additional questions this study brought. So far, results indicate some key issues regarding the topic. In terms of permaculture and ecovillages, the multiple dimensions of the communitarian life emerged, with emphasis in the ecological, social and economic themes. Many examples and glimpses of this apparently simple and deeply utopian lifestyle are discussed. Regarding sustainable consumption, the presence of advanced knowledge, both in theory and practice is evident. In general, subject’s ideas about consumption and sustainability were based on the premise of individual responsibility for the future of the planet. Implied in this logic, it is a sense that personal choices can make a difference, and that human beings are beyond the acceptable limits of materialistic lifestyle, urging a process of rethinking life in a broad perspective, which according to the ecovillagers means: evaluating products based exclusively on their usage value; rejecting products and services that are supplied by huge international companies and/or companies that don´t have a public environmental and social friendly policy; preferring local products, since they spend less energy in transportation and create a monetary flow that benefits local economy; and last, but not least, reassessing the “need” concept, or rethinking consumption practices and life priorities. Finally, even though some advances occurred, the study leaves some new questions answered, like: what are the deep motivations behind Ecovillage movement? Is this a viable general model for sustainable consumption? Are we able to replicate this lifestyle in another context? 1 “Utopia is on the horizon: when I walk two steps, it takes two steps back. I walk ten steps and it is ten steps further away. What is utopia for? It is for this, for walking” Eduardo Galeano INTRODUCTION A series of critical natural events in recent history, like volcano eruptions and tsunamis, are indicating that we, as a mankind, need to discuss seriously the human role in the environment unbalance. This includes reflecting on how we can change our consumption (lifestyles) and production systems for a less environmentally aggressive model. This research has the main goal of addressing this question from the individual consumer point of view, by studying an intrinsically interesting phenomenon: the ecovillage movement and the permaculture perspective. Ecovillages are sustainable communities based on permaculture (permanent culture) principles. Since their main goal is to reach a perfect integration between men and nature, they form a rich context to study alternative sustainable consumption possibilities. Hence, it is our intention to present how people immersed in sustainable communities´ lifestyles deal with consumption issues. The sustainable consumption topic, and the discussion about consumer co- responsibility for environmental problems are important themes since the preoccupation for environmental issues started to grow (Halkier, 1999). The observation of facts indicates that many consumers are increasingly changing their behaviors towards more sustainable practices (Doane, 2002). They are the so called “green consumers”, a broad term used to represent the engagement in consumption behaviors that are seen as “environmentally friendly” (Connoly & Prothero, 2008), acting as recommended in the model of the “5 R´S” stated by United Nations: reduce, reuse, renew, recycle and rethink (Maclean, 2005). To accomplish this research, the sample was constituted of two ecovillages located in the south of Brazil. Both places were visited for a weekend each, during which researchers participated in the communities activities. Hence, the study has a qualitative methodology, best described as a short participant observation. Data collection includes field notes of the researchers, institutions website contents, as well as 4 hours of filmed interviews with a total of 7 subjects. The complexity of the phenomenon presents itself in the richness of the raw data collected. We consider this article a kind of working paper in broader terms, in the sense that new studies with more triangulation and further data collection are needed to extend the comprehension of the topic and to answer the additional questions this study brought. So far, results show different strategies and behaviors used by ecovillagers in order to be less harmful for the environment and the future generations. Many interesting issues emerged, both on consumption and on community lifestyle, indicating that permaculture has a lot to add to consumption behavior knowledge. In the end, the study allow us to presume that ecovillages are places where human life is lived in a way that causes almost no impact on the planet, however, a key question remains answered: is it possible to replicate this model in another context? This provocative doubt addresses the same problem as the one in the title of the article, and cannot be responded in a simple straight forward manner. Maybe one of our informants gave a hint on a possible answer, saying that “who wants to work for sustainability doesn´t have to live in an ecovillage. Everyone can take its steps and be on the way on the changing process, starting 2 with small actions in the city”. We hope this article is an inspiration for more studies and discussion on the theme. PERMACULTURE AND ECOVILLAGES BACKGROUND Permaculture is a term coined in 1978 by Bill Mollison, an Australian ecologist, and David Holmgren, one of his students, as a contraction of "permanent agriculture" or "permanent culture” (Mollison & Holmgren, 1978). Permaculture is the harmonious integration of landscape and people. The ethical basis of permaculture is to take care of the earth, the people, and to set limits on consumption and population (Mollison, 2002). For Miranda (2007): Permaculture is about the execution of projects and the conscious maintenance of productive ecosystems using traditional techniques for the planning of socio environmental development of all complexity of agricultural practices in the ecodesign, in sustainable buying and selling, in product life cycle analysis, in solid waste management, among others; providing concepts, practices and working methodologies for medium and small rural producers, by interaction and innovation of the traditional productivity models; by discussing the knowledge and valuing of human and social dimensions; and by pushing the frontiers of the organization and sustainability of life on Earth (Miranda, 2007, p.7). Essentially, permaculture deals with the problem of scarcity of energy in the world. Based on this fact, systems were designed in order to avoid from spending more energy than necessary, first in the agriculture, and after in the social realms of life. For Mollison (1981, p.145): “there are plenty of resources in the world for everybody. There is land, food, everything. The fact that some of the people are trying to accumulate these resources is the reason for the problems we have today. This centralization of resources has extended to the centralization of energy.” Since permacutlure is best known for its agricultural perspective, its social dimension has been widely ignored. However, it had already appeared in a series of pamphlets published back in 1981 based on a Bill Mollison´s permaculture course, in which he brought to the public the main ideas behind his and Holmgren´s thinking system. A great part of this material is dedicated on explaining how agriculture can benefit from a better integration between the elements (plants, trees, vegetables) within the many types of ecosystems. Nevertheless, in one of the last chapters he introduces the social idea saying that “by using the same methods that integrate the elements of a garden system, we can attain surprisingly similar benefits accruing
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