THE ECOVILLAGE MOVEMENT ——- a Case Study of Suderbyn Ecovillage - Challenges and Possibilities of Contributing to a Sustainable Transition

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

THE ECOVILLAGE MOVEMENT ——- a Case Study of Suderbyn Ecovillage - Challenges and Possibilities of Contributing to a Sustainable Transition THE ECOVILLAGE MOVEMENT ——- A case study of Suderbyn Ecovillage - challenges and possibilities of contributing to a sustainable transition Cindie Ørnstrup 52076 David Magrane 53524 Caroline Terese Vangstrup 52629 1 PROBLEM FIELD AND PROJECT MOTIVATION ........................................................................................................ 3 Research and working questions .............................................................................................................. 5 Problem Development .............................................................................................................................. 5 2 KEY CONCEPTS ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Intentional Communities .......................................................................................................................... 6 Ecovillages ................................................................................................................................................ 6 Ecovillage, cohousing - or traditional community .................................................................................... 7 Sustainability ............................................................................................................................................ 8 3 METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................... 10 Case study method ................................................................................................................................. 10 Field study ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Semi structured interviews ..................................................................................................................... 11 4 LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Interviews ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Language barrier .................................................................................................................................... 14 Location .................................................................................................................................................. 14 Bias ......................................................................................................................................................... 15 Diffusion theory ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Strategic Niche Management of Grassroots Innovations ....................................................................... 17 5 SUDERBYN ECOVILLAGE ................................................................................................................................. 20 Suderbyn field study ............................................................................................................................... 20 Suderbyn Earthcare, Fairshare and PeopleCare ..................................................................................... 22 Suderbyn RELEARN NGO, Networking and learning processes ............................................................... 23 Suderbyn as an educational learning institution .................................................................................... 25 Economic challenges for Suderbyn ......................................................................................................... 27 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 28 6 ECOVILLAGES AS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT ............................................................................................................ 30 Individuals ............................................................................................................................................... 30 Community Orientation .......................................................................................................................... 31 Social Dimension ..................................................................................................................................... 31 Decision Making Structure ...................................................................................................................... 32 Living Conditions ..................................................................................................................................... 32 Networking ............................................................................................................................................. 33 6.2 DIFFUSION OF THE ECOVILLAGE MOVEMENT .................................................................................................. 34 Replication .............................................................................................................................................. 34 Scaling Up ............................................................................................................................................... 35 Niche to Regime Translation ................................................................................................................... 36 Increasing awareness ............................................................................................................................. 37 Change of behaviour ............................................................................................................................... 37 Think tanks .............................................................................................................................................. 37 Influence policy ....................................................................................................................................... 38 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 38 7 GLOBAL ECOVILLAGE NETWORK AS A CHANGE AGENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ............................................. 40 History .................................................................................................................................................... 40 Goals and visions .................................................................................................................................... 40 Strategies and Projects ........................................................................................................................... 41 Partners and funding .............................................................................................................................. 43 GEN Africa, GENOA, GENNA and GEN CASA ........................................................................................... 43 GEN Europe ............................................................................................................................................. 44 Other eco-networks ................................................................................................................................ 45 Social innovation spread via GEN ........................................................................................................... 46 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 46 8 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 48 9 FURTHER RESEARCH ...................................................................................................................................... 50 10 LITERATURE ............................................................................................................................................... 52 2 1 Problem Field and Project motivation Our normative point of departure is that climate change and environmental degradation is a key challenge of our time. There are several reasons as to why this is happening, but we believe that one major problem is our consumerist culture in western societies leading to high use of fossil fuels, pollution and loss of ecosystems around the globe. Environmental concerns have led many individuals to take steps to lower their footprint and live more sustainable. Problems such as pollution, climate change, waste disposal and biodiversity loss are just a few of the environmental issues that must be confronted in order to prevent a major crisis. Much of the planet’s fresh water is no longer considered drinkable, respiratory diseases are on the rise as air pollution has spiralled out of control and the increase in global temperatures have made it easier for infectious diseases to spread (Peters et al, 2010). These are just a few, of the countless, environmental effects that citizens of the earth face daily. To many people, simply modifying their daily
Recommended publications
  • Eco-Collaboration Between Higher Education and Ecovillages A
    Partnerships for Sustainability: Eco-Collaboration between Higher Education and Ecovillages A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Kiernan Jeanette Gladman IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LIBERAL STUDIES February 2014 ©Kiernan Jeanette Gladman 2014 For John May the soles of our shoes wear down together. i Paradise (John Prine) When I was a child, my family would travel Down to western Kentucky where my parents were born And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered So many times that my memories are worn Chorus: And Daddy, won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County Down by the Green River where Paradise lay Well, I'm sorry, my son, but you're too late in asking Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away Well sometimes we'd travel right down the Green River To the abandoned old prison down by Adrie Hill Where the air smelled like snakes and we'd shoot with our pistols But empty pop bottles was all we would kill Chorus And the coal company came with the world's largest shovel And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land Well, they dug for their coal till the land was forsaken Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man Chorus When I die let my ashes float down the Green River Let my soul roll on up to the Rochester dam I'll be halfway to Heaven with Paradise waitin' Just five miles away from wherever I am Chorus ii CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS ...............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Zegg-Forum.Pdf
    Creation, Discovery and Community Formation in the ZEGG Forum by Thea Tupelo and Graham Meltzer In November 2005, we attended a five‐day course at ZEGG (Center for Experimental Cultural Design), located in Belzig, Germany. ZEGG is a large, well‐known, long standing intentional community that has featured in many Communities Magazine articles. The course, Forum I, was an introduction to the fundemental principles and practices of the Forum, a social technology developed and refined at ZEGG over 25 years; it is a critical component of their 'social glue'. We were both very moved and inspired by the experience and decided to jointly write this article as an expression of our appreciation. We came to the course from different directions and backgrounds. So we feel it's appropriate to write separately of our experiences and impressions. Graham's take is that of a social researcher and part‐time communal dweller. Thea has lived for many years at Twin Oaks, another long‐standing flagship community located in Virgina, USA. Thea's take ... For me, living in community has always been a personal and collective process of creating and discovering common values among diverse individuals. In my home community of Twin Oaks, it was a vision of a Walden. Two community (a la B.F. Skinner) that brought our founders together originally, but over the years we have emerged as one of the more philosophically diverse populations in the Intentional Communities Movement. We have developed many systems and practices over a period of nearly 35 years which have contributed to the creation of a stable and viable alternative to the mainstream society, and in my 6 1/2 years of membership here I've sought to understand the essential unity which underlies all the daily rituals that make up our communal life: our work, our self‐governance, our play, our art, and our support systems.
    [Show full text]
  • Den Okände (?) Grannen Tysklandsrelaterad Forskning I Sverige
    %FO PLÅOEF HSBOOFO 5ZTLMBOETSFMBUFSBE GPSTLOJOHJ4WFSJHF 4$)8&%*4$)&1&341&,5*7&/ 4$)3*'5&/%&4;&/536.4'¾3%&654$)-"/%456%*&/ Den okände (?) grannen Tysklandsrelaterad forskning i Sverige Centrum för Tysklandsstudier Södertörns högskola Zentrum für Deutschlandstudien Mai-Brith Schartau & Helmut Müssener (red.) Hochschule Södertörn S-141 89 Huddinge 2005 Schwedische Perspektiven. Schriften des Zentrums für Deutschlandstudien 4 ISSN 1651-8209 ISBN 91-974662-3-9 © Centrum för Tysklandsstudier/Zentrum für Deutschlandstudien Södertörns högskola 2005 Publicerad med stöd från Östersjöstiftelsen Fritz, Peter “Ort der Gefangennahme: Schweden” – Zur 145 Innehållsförteckning Auslieferung von Angehörigen der Deutschen Wehrmacht an die Sowjetunion 1945/1946 Förord 7 Frohnert, Pär Vergangenheitsbewältigung efter murens fall. 166 Der SPIEGEL och Historiedebatterna kring Abraham, Nils Die Rolle der Freundschaftsgesellschaft 9 Förintelsen och tredje riket. “Schweden-DDR” in der Auslandspropaganda der DDR gegenüber Schweden nach 1972 Gesche, Janina Ein Roman – zwei Lesarten. Die Blechtrommel 197 von Günter Grass in schwedischer und polnischer Almgren, Brigitta “Im Bannkreis der Ostsee.” Retorik och politik 30 Kritik. kring Östersjön i svensk-tyska förbindelser Hatemi, Abdulnasser/ The Development of the German Economy since 214 Bannert, Robert/ MuSIN: Om nybörjartyska som forskningsprojekt 45 Schuller, 1995 – A View from Outside Forsgren, Kjell-Åke Bernd-Joachim Brylla, Charlotta “Ty nyordning i en eller annan form kommer vi inte 57 Herrmann, Elisabeth Wo eigentlich liegt Deutschland von Schweden 242 Ifrån.” Nazistiskt ordbruk i svenska ordböcker och aus gesehen? Bortom de sju bergen. Tyska bilder dagstidningar 1993-1945 1958-1994 von Kaj Fölster als Beitrag der Kulturvermittlung Dodillet, Susanne Kulturkrock prostitution – prostitutionsdebatter 75 i Sverige och Tyskland mellan 1990 och 2002 Jendis, Mareike Perspektive und Fluchtpunkt.
    [Show full text]
  • In Community
    Wisdom of Communities Wisdom of Communities Volume 3 Communication in Community Published by The Fellowship for Intentional Community Rutledge, Missouri The Fellowship for Intentional Community, Rutledge, MO 63563 Copyright © 2018 by the Fellowship for Intentional Community All rights reserved. Published 2018 Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-0-9995885-4-3 Printed by CreateSpace. No part of this book may be reproduced for purposes of resale or republication without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review; nor may any part of this book be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other—without written permission from the publisher. Cover design: Megan Cranford, www.megancranforddesign.com Layout design: Marty Klaif Project managers: Chris Roth, Christopher Kindig COMMUNICATION IN COMMUNITY (Wisdom of Communities, Volume 3) CONTENTS Introduction . 1 I . COOPERATIVE GROUP CULTURE Business and Well-Being . .5 Communities 140, 12–15 Tree Bressen, Laird Schaub, Beatrice Briggs, Caroline Estes How can business decision-making and community well-being issues be kept both healthily separate, and integrated? Technology Doesn’t Change Just the Answers—Sometimes It Changes the Questions as Well . 9 Communities 142, 6–8 Laird Schaub Twin Oakers found it easy to say “no” to television—but the current ubiquity of iPhones and YouTube has dissolved formerly clear-cut boundaries of what is acceptable in their community culture. Cigarettes, Alcohol, Visitors, and Events . .12 Communities 142, 12–14 Beatrice Briggs, Tree Bressen, Caroline Estes, Laird Schaub How can communities maintain a culture free from substance overuse in the face of outside pressures and influences? Balancing Outer and Inner Ecology .
    [Show full text]
  • Ecovillages Around the World
    INSIDE THE GLOBAL ECOVILLAGE MOVEMENT Life in Cooperative Culture ECOVILLAGES around the World Local Solutions for Global Problems • Ecovillage Strategies in Areas of Crisis Creating Carbon-Negative Communities • True Sustainability: Indigenous Pathways Cohousing as a Building Block to the Ecovillage Summer 2016 • Issue #171 $7.00 / $8.00 Canada communities.ic.org SUBSCRIBE TO COMMUNITIES MAGAZINE Your source for the latest information, issues, and ideas about intentional communities and cooperative living today! Each issue is focused around a theme: • Ecovillages around the World • Finding or Starting a Community • Community and the Law • Food and Community • Community for Baby Boomers • Technology: Friend or Foe? • Business Ventures in Community • Gender Issues • Renewable Energy • Youth in Community • Diversity • Spirituality • Permaculture • Right Livelihood ... • Reach listings—helping communities looking for people and people looking for communities find each other. love Communities magazine. I’ve read and kept every issue ommunity has to be the future if we are to survive. Communities I since 1972. Deciding to be communal is the best decision Cplays such a critical role in moving this bit of necessary culture I’ve ever made in my life. Communities has been there from change along. Thank you Communities for beating the drum and the beginning. helping us see. — , The Cohousing Company, McCamant & Durrett Architects —Patch Adams, M.D., author and founder of the Gesundheit Institute Chuck Durrett ur mission at Utne Reader is to search high and low for new or more than 40 years Communities has done an outstanding Fjob of promoting the communitarian spirit to a public in need of Oideas and fresh perspectives that aim to start conversations and that message, as well as serving intentional communities and other cure ignorance.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding the Intentional Community Living Arrangements
    “We have lived together longer than the average Australian family” Understanding the Intentional Community Living Arrangements Jason Hilder B.App.Sc. UQ M. Natural Resources Studies UQ ORCID: 0000-0001-5910-0143 A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2021 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Abstract Over thousands of years, humanity has moved from kinship-based modes of living towards the family and, more latterly, the individual as a household unit. Housing and living arrangements in the Global North reflect this ideation in the historical growth of separated dwellings in free-standing homes, units and apartments. While enabling greater personal freedom of expression, separated living has brought with it increased social disharmony, a growing ecological footprint and affordability crises. Situations where people reside communally, such as Intentional Community Living Arrangements (ICLAs), may provide opportunities for renewed social cohesion, ecologically sustainable applications, and improved economic efficiencies. This thesis describes ICLAs as ‘A type of collaborative housing where a group of five or more unrelated people choose to combine their skills, resources and efforts to collectively build or rent and maintain homes and community structures, share social activities, offer neighbourly care for each other, and use a system of inclusive governance.’ ICLAs range in type from cohousing, to ecovillages and communes. The literature shows that ecovillage ICLAs are frequently in rural areas and, cohousing is a successful, tangible housing model that is suitable across housing densities yet primarily in urban areas. Prior to this research, it was unclear how ICLAs sat within the Australian housing landscape alongside other forms of communal living.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainability and Utopianism: an Ethnography of Cultural Critique In
    SUSTAINABILITY AND UTOPIANISM: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF CULTURAL CRITIQUE IN CONTEMPORARY INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES by JOSHUA PETER LOCKYER (Under the Direction of Peter Brosius) ABSTRACT Intentional community building is a phenomenon of socio-cultural resistance with a deep, cross-cultural history. It has been most prevalent in the nations of the Global North where people have sought ways to respond to changes wrought by the development of industrial capitalist political economies. In intentional communities, they have responded by joining together to live according to values different from those of the predominant society, to create small-scale cooperative or communal political economic institutions and alternative production and consumption rationalities. Interdisciplinary scholars have typically described intentional communities as utopian in nature, but they have disagreed with regards to the transformative potential of such utopian undertakings, their ability to successfully achieve the goals they set for themselves and their utility as sites for social science research. This research builds on recent theorizations of intentional communities to suggest that they are of increasing relevance to contemporary social and environmental problems and of increasing utility to social scientists wishing to engage with potential solutions to those problems. Most prominently, it empirically tests a recent conceptualization of intentional communities as explicit forms of cultural critique similar to the cultural critiques implicit in much of anthropological
    [Show full text]
  • Permaculture”
    LIFESTYLES OF THE DOWN AND PROSPEROUS: NATURE/CULTURE, COUNTERCULTURE, AND THE CULTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY By MICHAEL VAN PATRICK LEMONS A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2012 1 © 2012 Michael Van Patrick Lemons 2 Dedicated to the coyotes and the faeries, to the dragons and dryads and pixies, to the street mongrels I have met, to the feral dogs and stray cats, who hide within the shadows of and sneak between the pillars of the city, who roam and rule the edge of the city, and who run free in the fields and forests outside the city, where the fearful humans dare not go. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like foremost to thank my mother and father. Both came from unprivileged backgrounds and highly encouraged my pursuit of academics; they never steered me wrong. I began my freshman college year as an anthropology major but soon wandered down other paths, so thank you to Dr. Sarah Meltzoff of the University of Miami for steering me back to where I belong. Some years later, I entered the Peace Corps in Micronesia; each Sunday for six months I would hitch to the Peace Corps office and add a bit more to the statement of interest which I eventually sent to the University of Florida as part of my graduate application package. I could always write well—given enough time. Here I have Rick Stepp and Bron Taylor to thank for struggling to bring me into their respective departments with matching 4-year Alumni fellowship offers.
    [Show full text]
  • Sustainability and Ecology at the ZEGG Community Content
    Achim Ecker 5,00 Sustainability and Ecology at the ZEGG Community Content: 3 Introduction: Life within a Living Organism “Peace and survi- 5 Energy Use and Sustainability val of life on earth as we 6 A short History of Fossil Fuel know it are threatened by Consumption human activities that lack a commitment to human 7 The Protection, Conservation and values. Destruction of Restoration of Soil nature and natural resources is the result of ignorance, greed, 9 The Forest as the Matrix of Life and lack of respect for the 12 Permaculture earth’s living things. This lack of re- spect extends even to the earth’s hu- 13 Spiritual Ecology and Geomancy man descendants, the future generations who will in- 14 Cooperation with Animals herit a vastly degraded 15 The ZEGG Vegetable Garden plane if world peace does not become a reality and if destructi- 17 Awareness in the Kitchen and while on of the natural environ- Shopping ment continues at the 18 The Greening of Roofs and Façades present rate”. (Dalai Lama) 19 Water – a Living Substance 21 Waste Water Cleaning and Composter 23 Natural Pond Clarification 24 Compost Toilets 25 Energy Generation from Renewable Resources Imprint: 26 Cars run on Vegetable Oil Publisher and V.i.S.D.P.: Achim Ecker 27 Building and Insulating with Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 89 Plant Fibres D-14806 Belzig E-mail: [email protected] 28 Building with Earth Texts: Achim Ecker (Geomancy: Hermann Haring), 29 Living Buildings with Willows and Photographs: Achim Ecker, Georg Loh- Other Trees mann, ZEGG-Archive; Cover Photo- graph: A.
    [Show full text]
  • Carol Koziol Phd Dissertation with Final Revisions.Pdf
    An Exploration of Four Ecovillages through the Ecoresilient Lens of Spirituality by Carol Ann Koziol A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Human Studies The Faculty of Graduate Studies Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario, Canada © Carol Ann Koziol, 2020 THESIS DEFENCE COMMITTEE/COMITÉ DE SOUTENANCE DE THÈSE Laurentian Université/Université Laurentienne Faculty of Graduate Studies/Faculté des études supérieures Title of Thesis Titre de la thèse An Exploration of Four Ecovillages through the Ecoresilient Lens of Spirituality Name of Candidate Nom du candidat Koziol, Carol Ann Degree Diplôme Doctor of Philosophy Department/Program Date of Defence Département/Programme Human Studies Date de la soutenance October 14, 2020 APPROVED/APPROUVÉ Thesis Examiners/Examinateurs de thèse: Dr. Brett Buchanan (Co-Supervisor/Co-directeur de thèse) Dr. William Crumplin (Co-supervisor/Co-directeur de thèse) Dr. Philippa Spoel (Committee member/Membre du comité) Approved for the Faculty of Graduate Studies Approuvé pour la Faculté des études supérieures Dr. Lace Marie Brogden Madame Lace Marie Brogden Dr. Manuel Riemer Acting Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies (External Examiner/Examinateur externe) Doyenne intérimaire, Faculté des études supérieures Dr. Émilie Pinard (Internal Examiner/Examinateur interne) ACCESSIBILITY CLAUSE AND PERMISSION TO USE I, Carol Ann Koziol, hereby grant to Laurentian University and/or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or for the duration of my copyright ownership. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report.
    [Show full text]
  • Permacultures of Transformation: Steps to a Cultural Ecology of Environmental Action
    Permacultures of transformation: steps to a cultural ecology of environmental action Thomas Henfreya,b 1 Lucy Fordb a Schumacher Institute, UK b Lisbon University, Portugal c Oxford Brookes University, UK Abstract This article examines a trend over the past two decades towards more explicit politicization in some areas of the ecovillage movement, particularly where ecovillages engage with related grassroots movements for environmental and social change. It does so using an expanded political ecology framework, also drawing upon 'Multi-Level Perspective on Sustainability Transitions' and Gregory Bateson's Ecology of mind. It argues that apparently apolitical focii on lifestyle change and personal development have in some cases given way to overt recognition of the need for global political change. It attributes this to the global political economy of sustainability becoming more evident and critiques of dominant social, political and economic regimes more compelling and widely accepted. Key words: ecovillages, permaculture, social change, sustainability, transition Résumé Cet article examine une tendance au cours des deux dernières décennies vers une politisation plus explicite dans certains domaines du mouvement écovillage, en particulier lorsque les écovillages s'engagent avec des mouvements de base qui soutiennent le changement environnemental et social. Il le fait en utilisant un cadre d'écologie politique élargi, en s'inspirant également de la «perspective à plusieurs niveaux sur les transitions de durabilité» et de «l'écologie de l'esprit» de Gregory Bateson. Il fait valoir que les priorités apparemment apolitiques sur le changement mode de vie et le développement personnel ont dans certains cas cédé la place à la reconnaissance manifeste de la nécessité d'un changement politique mondial.
    [Show full text]
  • Gen-International
    GEN – connecting communities for a sustainable world GEN-INTERNATIONAL Annual Report 2013 The Global Ecovillage Network is a registered charity: SC043796 and has consultative status in the UN – ECOSOC. WEB: GEN International, GEN Europe, CASA, GENOA, GEN Africa, Next GEN GEN – connecting communities for a sustainable world GENERAL INDEX I. Global Dimension – GEN-International Message from GEN International President ………………………………………….………...3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………...6 Organization…………………………………………………………………………………………..6 - Organizational Chart 1……………………………………………………………………..8 - Organizational Chart 2……………………………………………………………………...9 - Priorities, strategic goals, targets…………………………………………………………10 - Adaptative Governance Cycle …………………………………………………………12 - Friends Of GEN……………………………………………………………………………….13 - More Info: Link to Resources ………….………………………………………....………..18 II. Global Dimension – Reports from Regions GEN-Africa…………………………………….………………………………………….……….....16 Council of sustainable Settlements of the Americas (CASA)………………………….…...25 Ecovillage Network of America (ENA) and of Canada (ENC) ……………………………33 GEN-Europe………………………………….………………………………………….…………...44 GEN Oceania & Asia (GENOA)…………………………………………………………............53 NextGEN…………………………………….………………………………………………………..62 III. GEN Information Services: Information Technology Overview 2013……………………………………………………....70 III. Financial Dimension - Financial Report 2013 Overview Gaia Trust Grants 2013………………………………………………………………..80 Financial Report Global Ecovillage Network (GEN International)………………………..81
    [Show full text]