What is an ecovillage?
An ecovillage is a place where people consciously come together to live in community, usually with a shared vision or goal, while caring for one another and the natural environment.
You can usually find a thriving social, cultural and spiritual life in an ecovillage – whether that’s shared meals, daily meditation, or regular voluntary work. Food growing and ethical consumption are often central aspects of community life, as are things like childcare and education. Responsible use of resources is important, with shared appliances, eco-building techniques, and clean energy technologies all common features – ecovillages have been shown to have far smaller carbon footprints than regular communities, showing that it’s possible to live a good life without overstretching the earth’s resources.
What are ecovillages like?
Ecovillages are for everyone: for young and old, individuals and families, farmers and IT programmers… They also come in all shapes and sizes, from small settlements to large federations; from low-tech traditional agricultural communities to communities experimenting with the latest innovations in eco-technology. But despite their differences, they do have some important things in common:
Participatory Processes
Ecovillages use different participatory governance and decision-making methods such as consensus or Sociocracy. They value the voice of each member of the community and aim to make decision-making fair, transparent, inclusive and accountable.
A holistic approach to sustainability
Ecovillages are sustainable settlements taking into account a holistic approach to sustainability: the social, economic, cultural and ecological aspects. Ecovillages usually engage in regenerative practices (practices that not only sustain systems, but improve them) in some or all of these areas.
Map of Regeneration
Ecovillages , however, they all embrace a holistic idea of sustainability, based on the Map of Regeneration.
Social stuff
Culture stuff
Economy stuff
Ecology stuff
integral design stuff
What are ecovillages like?
Our goal is a world without war, governed by cooperation and trust among all beings. To get there, we share our vision of Terra Nova and the Healing Biotopes Plan with people worldwide, through our blog and Publishing House – Verlag Meiga. We build a planetary community of change makers, do peacework in crisis areas and create a regional and national network. Our ethical values are truth, trust and mutual participation.
Tamera Healing Biotope, Portugal
