Directory of Eco-villages in Europe - Kennedy Bibliothek
Directory of Eco-villages in Europe - Kennedy Bibliothek
Directory of Eco-villages in Europe - Kennedy Bibliothek
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f<strong>in</strong>d ourselves <strong>in</strong> new landscapes: no longer <strong>in</strong> a tightly dictated village<br />
atmosphere, but <strong>in</strong> sett<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>of</strong> challenge, discovery, growth - territories<br />
<strong>in</strong> which people are important and where the typologies and classifications<br />
are transformed or loose their traditional mean<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
What is the difference between a susta<strong>in</strong>able or <strong>in</strong>tentional community<br />
and an eco-village ?<br />
There are always considerable discussions about def<strong>in</strong>itions and eco<strong>villages</strong><br />
are no exception. GEN has a discussion list on the Internet,<br />
called <strong>Eco</strong> Balance. We have discussions go<strong>in</strong>g on <strong>in</strong> article.form between<br />
<strong>in</strong>terested people, a draft has been put together by Hildur Jackson<br />
<strong>in</strong> Jan. 1998, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>Eco</strong>-village Pr<strong>of</strong>ile. GEN has also an<br />
<strong>Eco</strong>-village Self-Audit whereby groups (who th<strong>in</strong>k they are such) can<br />
get a copy and go through the questionnaire to assess themselves - it is<br />
like a check list. All these documents can be sent out to you on e-mail<br />
(web and e-mail addresses below) or, if you have no access to the Internet,<br />
we can post you them as a pr<strong>in</strong>t-out (we need Euro 3,- each to<br />
cover costs <strong>of</strong> copy<strong>in</strong>g and postage).<br />
There has a lot been written and discussed about susta<strong>in</strong>able communities<br />
over the last decade or more, both <strong>in</strong> UN circles and at the local<br />
level. A susta<strong>in</strong>able community can be implemented by two or more<br />
persons on a farm, <strong>in</strong> a village or town, by a city, a region or a state. An<br />
eco-village is a susta<strong>in</strong>able community, but not all susta<strong>in</strong>able communities<br />
are eco-<strong>villages</strong>.<br />
An <strong>in</strong>tentional community is "basically any groups <strong>of</strong> two or more<br />
adults that choose to call itself a community". An eco-village can be<br />
and usually is a <strong>in</strong>tentional community, but there are many <strong>in</strong>tentional<br />
communities that have little or noth<strong>in</strong>g to do with ecology and would<br />
not call themselves a village nor an eco-village.<br />
Co-hous<strong>in</strong>g is a style <strong>of</strong> co-operative liv<strong>in</strong>g that orig<strong>in</strong>ated <strong>in</strong> Denmark,<br />
comb<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the autonomy <strong>of</strong> private dwell<strong>in</strong>gs with many <strong>of</strong> the<br />
resource advantages <strong>of</strong> community liv<strong>in</strong>g. Usually <strong>in</strong>itial residents participate<br />
<strong>in</strong> the plann<strong>in</strong>g and design <strong>of</strong> the community so that it directly<br />
responds to their needs. They can, but must not necessarily, be ecologically<br />
oriented. Often if they expand, they will consider themselves then<br />
as an eco-village.<br />
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