What is an Eco-Village and How Can it Combat Climate Change?
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What is an Eco-Village and How Can it Combat Climate Change?
There are millions of ways in which one can work to combat climate change. From choosing to compost at home to working in the environmental field, the options ranging from individual to collective action are endless. My daily lifestyle is the first thing to consider when I think about my sustainable habits. Eco-villages take individual day-to-day sustainable living and scale it to sustainable communities. The term “eco-village” was introduced by Robert and Diane Gilman in 1991 within an essay titled “Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities.” They defined these communities as “human settlements that integrate various activities, [that] do not damage the environment, are based on the holistic and spiritual development of man, and can carry on indefinitely.” Though each community has core principles, no two are the same because the project is defined by the people inhabiting them. One aspect of eco-villages is a design that is either traditional or intentional. As defined by the Global Eco-village Network, traditional designs take existing rural villages and communities and “combine life-sustaining traditional wisdom and positive innovation” to plan for the future, while intentional designs bring people together “with a shared purpose or vision.” Eco-villages have spread to a global scale with similar initiatives across the globe. Each eco-village is connected through a shared network. These initiatives emphasize local action within communities while simultaneously creating global connections.
In the Global Ecovillage Network alone, there are 10,000 communities on all continents. This doesn’t include the multitude of other communities that are not registered in the network. The communities are consciously and collectively designed with social, cultural, ecological, and economic considerations in order to regenerate both social and natural environments. For these communities, the social aspect is central to maintaining the eco-village. Eco-villages are collectively designed and maintained, while emphasizing social cohesion. These villages exist as a form of collective action against climate change. Nothing involved in the eco-village is an individual process. The sustainable lifestyle choices are based on cultural and local knowledge contributed by those within the community. The design process begins with an incubation period where a new village is created. Afterwards, there is the development and transformation of existing settlements into regenerative communities. These communities do not just exist within nature; they become a part of nature and work to conserve and regenerate the natural space they inhabit. The principles turn to a deep ecological perspective, or the idea that humans and nature are inherently interconnected. Once created, the community continues to establish social aspects, including green schools, emergency resilience infrastructure, and urban eco-neighborhoods.
Eco-villages take an alternative approach to economics as they are based on self-sufficiency. The communities generate income through activities, for example, environmental education or permaculture workshops. These activities not only provide income but also contribute to the community. Therefore, eco-villages operate within a circular economy. The communities maintain a subsistence economy that “provides local work for a few community members, and possibly finances part of the community’s running costs” (Amar 2023). This can be done by relying on local production, bioconstruction, voluntary simplicity, shared governance, or a degrowth economy. A consistent struggle many eco-villages face is financial constraints. Investments in infrastructure, technology, sustainable initiatives, and general development are all expensive aspects in developing and maintaining eco-villages. The economic aspect is at the core of eco-villages because, to sustain their work, there must be economic success. By utilizing circular economy principles, all products and materials are continuously circulating through the economy, which can minimize the cost. This relates to the usage of degrowth as well by decreasing production and consumption. By decreasing the total production and consumption within their economy, then reusing the remaining resources in a cycle, not only does this decrease waste, but decreases cost as well.
Potentially, the most prominent aspect of eco-villages is sustainability and sustainable living. This includes promoting environmental stewardship, regenerative culture, restoration, conservation, sustainable design, and a systems approach to sustainability. The focus of these communities is to minimize their carbon footprint while also promoting sustainability. This can be completed in many different ways and therefore depends on the unique eco-village. Utilizing permaculture farming, renewable energy sources, community resource sharing, and planting/conserving native species are all examples of choices in eco-villages that increase the sustainable nature of the community. Sustainable infrastructure and architecture are prevalent in every community design. The design principle consists of total architecture implemented with an emphasis on ecological design. “Ecovillages embody a ‘total architecture’ that becomes a strength for individual and collective commitments” (Amar 2023). This consists of collaborative spaces, climate-responsive infrastructure, communal living spaces, visible nature within spaces, low-impact construction, and disaster-resilient infrastructure. Each eco-village and individual within the community will make different choices of how to lower their impact and boost sustainability, but the core principle is about respecting, conserving, and regenerating the natural spaces.
It is clear that eco-villages have positive intentions towards increasing sustainability and lowering their carbon footprint, but how else does an eco-village help combat climate change? Through a sustainable approach to daily life, small-scale daily changes can lead to long-term sustainable impacts on the environment. The specific ways in which eco-villages combat climate change are extensive, again depending on the specific eco-village. It can be as simple as reconnecting with nature by living, interacting, and regenerating parts of the environment, or utilizing small-scale sustainable construction to combat the main construction industry sector, which contributes 30% of total GHG emissions (Amar 2023). For a more specific example, turning vulnerable communities into eco-villages can positively impact them, as well as increase sustainability and climate resilience. A University of Dar es Salaam study in 2022 revealed that eco-villages “reduced vulnerability to climate change in the Usambara Mountains, which experienced 20% less crop loss during droughts than neighbouring villages. Also, eco-village residents demonstrate higher food security, water availability, and disaster preparedness levels than their non-eco-village counterparts.” This specific study demonstrated that by introducing eco-village tools (sustainable agriculture, water management, renewable energy, and reforestation) to vulnerable communities, there was a significant benefit. Acting sustainably and combating climate change can take a lot of different forms. Eco-villages have complications and faults, similar to every “solution” to climate change, but they also provide a lot of benefits. The biggest benefit of eco-villages is the connections built within the community and across other eco-villages and collective action towards a more sustainable future.
Resources
Amar, Sylvia. “Eco-Building for Eco-Living, an Essential Step to Face Climate Change.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 20 Oct. 2023, www.nature.com/articles/s44168-023-00065-2.
Bertera, Arianna. How an Ecovillage Works, between Utopia and Reality, 21 Dec. 2020, www.visualeyed.com/en/d-stories/article/how-an-ecovillage-works-between-utopia-and-reality/.
“Concepts.” Global Ecovillage Network, 24 Dec. 2024, ecovillage.org/about/about-gen/concepts/.
Defendorf, Richard. “Developers Plan A New Ecovillage in Pennsylvania.” GreenBuildingAdvisor, 10 Aug. 2018, www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/article/developers-plan-a-new-ecovillage-in-pennsylvania.
Evarister, Salvius. “How Eco-Villages in Tanzania Battling Climate Change through Sustainable Solutions.” Tanzania Digest, 18 Jan. 2024, www.digest.tz/eco-villages-battling-climate-change-through-sustainable-solutions/.
“What Is an Ecovillage – Discover Innovative Eco Communities.” Global Ecovillage Network, 1 Oct. 2024, ecovillage.org/ecovillages/what-is-an-ecovillage/.
