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