[Scpg] Sustainability and Sustainable Communities, or, "What is an Ecovillage, Anyway?"

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Sustainability and Sustainable Communities, or, "What is an
Ecovillage, Anyway?"  http://fic.ic.org/cmag/91/3291.html

compiled by Lois Arkin

O VER THE PAST FEW YEARS, ECOVILLAGERS everywhere have had to learn
how to translate the vision of our communities into pragmatic
everyday language. Here are descriptions from some of those who
have been the most helpful in teaching us how to more easily share
our visions.

Debbie Fryman and Linda Hicks Ashman describe sustainable community.

      Each person has access to nutritious food and adequate shelter and
      outlets for spiritual, cultural, and creative expression.
      There are many community-based businesses, and equal
      opportunities for fulfilling livelihood.
      Residents work, play, and learn in a safe and clean environment.
      Neighbors know each other and work together to identify and resolve 
community issues.
      Everyone feels a part of the decision-making process, and decisions 
are made based on the long-term
      well-being of the community.
      Residents understand how seemingly separate issues are connected, and 
that individual actions can affect the
      health and environment of people in other areas.
      While residents identify with their own neighborhood, which in many 
ways is self-reliant, they feel a kinship to
      communities across the region and across the globe.

Paul Hawken describes sustainability simply as a "golden rule": "Leave the
world better than you found it, take no more than you need, try not to harm
life or the environment, make amends if you do."
(The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability,
HarperBusiness, 1993.)

Elizabeth Klein identifies four characteristics of communities that are
becoming more sustainable:

      Economic Security. A more sustainable community includes a variety of 
businesses, industries, and institutions
      which are environmentally sound (in all aspects); financially viable; 
provide training, education, and other forms
      of assistance to adjust to future needs; provide jobs and spend money 
within a community; and enable
      employees to have a voice in decisions which affect them. A more 
sustainable community also is one in which
      residents' money remains in the community.
      Ecological Integrity. A more sustainable community is in harmony with 
natural systems by reducing and
      converting waste into non-harmful and beneficial products and by 
utilizing the natural ability of environmental
      resources for human needs without undermining their ability to 
function over time.
      Quality of Life. A more sustainable community recognizes and supports 
people's evolving sense of well-being,
      which includes a sense of belonging, a sense of place, a sense of 
self-worth, a sense of safety, and a sense of
      connection with nature, and provides goods and services which meet 
peoples' needs both as they define them
      and as can be accommodated within the ecological integrity of natural 
systems.
      Empowerment and Responsibility. A more sustainable community enables 
people to feel empowered and take
      responsibility based on a shared vision, equal opportunity, ability 
to access expertise and knowledge for their
      own needs, and a capacity to affect the outcome of decisions that 
affect them.

(Defining a Sustainable Community.Center for Environmental Management, 
Tufts University, Medford, MA
02155, 617-627-3486. $15.)

Robert Gilman of the Context Institute defines a sustainable community or
ecovillage as one with these qualities:

      Human scale;
      Full featured;
      Harmlessly integrates human activities into the natural world;
      Supports healthy human development;
      Can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.

Bill Leland of the Global Action and Information Network (GAIN) says that
definitions of sustainability must take into account environmental, 
economic, and
social factors. For example, sustainable agriculture must take into account
stewardship of the land (environmental), equitable means of distribution
(economics), and non-exploitative work relations (social factors).

This approach is complex but affords some promise of success. Bill also 
reminds us that technology will contribute to
sustainability only if it is the servant of clear social vision.

                                  Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, 
and Jergen Rander describe a
                                  sustainable society as one that can 
persist over generations, and is farseeing
                                  enough, flexible enough, and wise enough 
not to undermine either its
                                  physical or its social systems of support.
                                  (Beyond the Limits: Confronting Global 
Collapse, Envisioning a
                                  Sustainable Future, Chelsea Green, date 
--to come.)

                                  David Orr, Professor of Environmental 
Sciences at Oberlin College,
                                  cautions us to distinguish between 
"technological sustainability" and
"ecological sustainability."

      "Technological sustainability"--the concept that humankind is 
dominant over nature and will find a "techno-fix"
      for every problem.
      "Ecological sustainability"--recognizing that humankind is part of 
nature; that there are limits to growth and
      carrying capacity; and that nature should be regarded as a model for 
the design of housing, cities,
      neighborhoods, technologies and regional economies.

According to Orr, sustainability depends upon replicating the structure and 
function of natural ecosystems.
(Ecological Literacy, SUNY Press, 1992.)

Architect Sim Van Der Ryn's equation:

"Sustainability equals Conservation plus Regeneration plus Stewardship."

      Conservation is frugality.
      Regeneration is healing.
      Stewardship is responsibility.

He identifies five steps to sustainability:

      Solutions grow out of knowing where you are. Look to local resources, 
skills, and knowledge for design
      solutions. Let the place and its inhabitants determine the whole 
context for design.
      Trace the footprint. Trace the ecological impacts of your actions.
      b>Design with nature. Look to the living world for design strategies. 
Actively incorporate living systems in
      designs.
      Participatory Design. Listen to every voice in the design process. As 
we engage the living world in community
      with others, we are rewoven in life's web.
      Make flows visible. Live with your design, find out how it works, and 
learn from it. The challenge is to make
      long-hidden natural processes both visible and viable.

(Ecological Design, with Stuart Cowan. Island Press, 1996.)

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Copyright © 1996 by Fellowship for Intentional Community. All rights 
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