The Global Ecovillage Network defines an ecovillage as an intentional or traditional community using local participatory processes to holistically integrate ecological, economic, social, and cultural dimensions of sustainability in order to regenerate social and natural environments. Because any group can call itself an ecovillage, the term has been adopted by entities ranging from student coops to suburban housing developments. In order to have an authentic experience of ecovillage life,  and more and more established communities are continually adding themselves to the Global Ecovillage, There are hundreds of them all ove r the globe, and all very different from one another, ranging in diversity of their infrastructure, setup, daily activities and so forth, I am including several of them in this blog, so that you can look into them. Promote them within your own circle of friends, so that this ideology flourishes and gets even stronger than what it has become to date.  To experience the full range of ecovillage culture: rural, urban and suburban; rich and poor; secular and spiritual, one can start by reading or studying the ones he or she wishes to explore, then planning a visit to several within the time period allotted to accomplish that taks.. One of the people whom has written about his experience about the "Eco-Village Living" started his journey at "Earthhaven" on the east coast of the US, and worked his way around the world via Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, concluding my journey in Los Angeles nine months later..........................

So here are a few of the picks for you to explore................

Crystal Waters

In 1984, when Crystal Waters Permaculture Village was founded in northeastern Australia, it was the world’s first permaculture village. Some 200 residents now live on 85 private one-acre lots, with another 500-some acres held in common as a wildlife sanctuary. As a consequence, kangaroos and wallabies are a common sight along the road.

In a region plagued by extreme drought, Crystal Waters stands out as a sparkling oasis whose intricate network of dams channels rainwater into thriving streams and lakes.

By rural Australian standards, the community is high-density; most homes deploy solar energy and rainwater catchment. Yet the nearest town is a 30-minute drive and the community itself is spread across five steep ridges, making Crystal Waters very much part of the dominant car culture.

Residents enjoy their own bakery, a community center, and a monthly country market.

Official website: http://crystalwaters.org.au/

Colufifa

Colufifa, a French acronym for the Committee to End Hunger (Comité de lutte pour la Fin de la Faim), is not really an ecovillage. Rather, it is a Senegal-based network of 350 West African villages seeking to become self-sufficient through the following efforts:

• organic farming
• microfinance
• adult literacy
• malaria prevention

Colufifa’s work, as in much of the developing world, is not to build new villages but to make the existing ones sustainable.

While Colufifa was founded in 1964 and predates the ecovillage movement by decades, it joined the Global Ecovillage Network because it shares GEN’s commitment to village self-sufficiency.

Yet while Colufifa’s impoverished villagers have minuscule ecological footprints—by far the smallest I encountered—the term ecovillage meant nothing to most of them: their austerity is involuntary. I visited several of Colufifa’s member villages. In all of them, the vast majority of young men had left in search of jobs in African or European cities, making a significant rupture in the social fabric. Women’s empowerment is therefore a big part of Colufifa’s work.

Official website (in English): http://aajac-colufifa.org/information-in-english/

 

Auroville

Auroville is first and foremost an international township with a spiritual objective—to embody the ideal of human unity—and its ecological work comes as a consequence. Auroville’s overarching vision is grounded in the Integral Yoga of Sri Aurobindo, which understands biophysical reality as an evolutionary unfoldment of Spirit.

Founded in 1968 upon a severely eroded plateau in south India, the first order of business for the pioneers was to revitalize the land. Three million trees later, Auroville is home to over 2,000 people from 43 different countries and is one of the few places on Earth where biodiversity is actually increasing.

The community is also a world leader in compressed-earth building techniques, rainwater harvesting, plant-based sewage treatment, solar and wind energy, and Effective Microorganisms.

Auroville’s tremendous dynamism is partly due to its proximity to 40,000 traditional Tamil villagers, many of whom work in Auroville’s guesthouses and cottage industries. While most Aurovilians live very simply by American standards, their lifestyles are far more comfortable than those of the surrounding villagers.

The inevitable social and economic tensions suffuse every aspect of Auroville’s existence—from housing policies, to the division of labor, to race and gender relations. In this way, Auroville is a microcosm of the world. To the extent that it succeeds in exemplifying the ideal of human unity, Auroville’s discoveries for every facet of E2C2 will therefore have global significance.

Official website: http://auroville.org/

Cal Toha is an old peasant farmhouse with thick limestone walls. It was renovated in a simple style using traditional building techniques and materials. With the addition of new ecological technologies it has been turned into a beautiful but simple house. It is ideal for retreats or courses for groups of between 8 and 16 people.

The space: The dining area will seat up to 16 people comfortably. There is a well equipped kitchen with a gas cooker, a lounge area, and two dormitory style bedrooms. An additional sleeping space is available in a nearby yurt. A large bender provides an ideal meditation and workshop space.

Other facilities include: Solar water heater for washing and shower facilities, compost toilets, solar powered lighting and sockets to support laptops using auto/air 12v adaptors, an inverter to supply 220/240v is available if necessary.

                                                                          >>> DANCING RABBIT>>>

At Dancing Rabbit we are a community of people dedicated to demonstrating a certain kind of lifestyle. Call it “eco”, “eco-groovy”, “green”, “sustainable”, “mindful”, “small footprint”, or any of a number of other buzz words, the effect on our lives is the same: We each make it a point to live in a way that doesn’t use more than our share of resources or produce more byproduct than the systems of our environment (made by us or provided by nature) can process.

The manifestation of Dancing Rabbit’s vision, covenants, and sustainability guidelines happens both in DR policy decisions and choices we make in our daily lives. It can be seen in our diets, food preparation, building design, construction, electricity production, energy use, water use and treatment, transportation, space heating, and more.

http://www.dancingrabbit.org/about-dancing-rabbit-ecovillage/eco-living/

The above are just a few examples and picked at random to illustrate the scope, variety and availability of these types of 'villages' throughout the globe. It's very exciting and a wonderful way of getting out of the 'Corporate Living Mentality". Allowing oneself to get closer to nature, becoming more introspective and more bound towards internal journey. Towards self-discovery, getting closer to other people, making more connection to one's spiritual self and others. Meditation and soul-nurturing activities..................and much much more. Here is a link to the list of 'Eco-Villages' around the globe. Hope you will read and share this blog with other........peace, love and light to you all:)))))

http://www.ic.org/directory/