8/9/2019 Global Eco Village Network News, Issue 39

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GLOBAL ECOVILLAGE NETWORK  NEWSRADIO SHOW ABOUT COMMUNITIES WINS AWARD

A series of radio programmesand an associated websiteon the subject of intentionalcommunities in Australia haverecently been awarded theSouthern Cross University’sVice Chancellor’s award forexcellence in research andscholarship.

The series was aired byRadio National, a subsidiary ofthe national broadcaster ABC(the Australian Broadcasting

Corporation), which broadcaststhroughout Australia and intoSE Asia. The series included anumber of interviews withcommunity residents (includingGENOA folk, Max Lindeggerand Val Oliver). It also createda fascinating educational web

resource, where visitors couldget involved in various forumsdiscussing the thorny problemsencountered by a hypotheticalcommunity, ‘Paradiso Falls’.

Just under half of theAUS$10,000 prize money willgo towards helping to set upthe ‘Rainbow Archives’, anattempt to collect, study andcatalogue materials relating topost-Aquarian social movementsin the Northern Rivers region

of Australia. The rest will bespent on further researchprojects, books, conferencefees, etc for the team memberswho pulled this together.

For more information, checkout http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ utopias/ 

Ecovillage bridges are beingbuilt between western andeastern Europe. In the rst legof an exchange programme,part-funded by GEN-Europe,six people who are activelyengaged in ecovillage projectsin Croatia and Bosnia havevisited the Ecovillage TorriSuperiore in Ventimiglia, Italy.

In Torri, the groupreceived training invarious dimensions

of ecovillage life,including ecologicalplanning and design,ecovillage economics,conflict resolution,permaculture andmore. It is hopedthat these skills willbe of great use tothe participants, and

October 2003 saw a hugegathering of ecovillagers andPermaculturists from acrossthe Americas and beyond,under the banner ‘The Call ofthe Condor’. Over 500 peopleset up a temporary camp atthe foot of Mount Veronica inthe Sacred Valley ofthe Incas to share aweek of workshops,music, meditationand dance. The gath-ering, organised by‘mobile ecovillage’,La Caravanna, wasone in a series ofVision Councils, thenext of which willbe held in Mexico inApril 2004.

In addition to the richeducational, networking andcultural experience at theCondor, the gathering providedan opportunity for visitors tosee some of the many exciting

developments in Peru. Amongthese is the work of VeronicaVinas’ ‘Grupo de Apoyo alSector Rural’ initiative, whichmakes use of permaculture

European Ecovillage Bridge-Building

ECOVILLAGE ANDPERMACULTURE CLANS 

GATHER UNDER CONDOR ’S WING

principles to support thesustainable production of foodon smallholdings nationwide.The farm where Veronicaworks, at the Pontic CatholicUniversity of Peru, is a lab-oratory for Permaculture andsustainable development, as

will help them to rebuild aculture of peace and well-beingon their return home.

The second part of theexchange, when Torri residentshave the opportunity to travelto the former Yugoslavia, isdue to take place in autumn2004 and will involve furthertraining courses.

Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood,Auckland, New Zealand, hasreceived a major boost withthe announcement by its localcouncil of a NZ$300,000 loanto help build their new“Earthsong Centre”. As well asbeing a meeting place forEarthsong residents, the Centrewill provide a unique venue forsmall specialised conferencesand seminars on a range ofsustainability issues, and forart shows, literature and musicperformances. The loan willallow construction to comm-ence in 2004, two years earlierthan otherwise planned.

Earthsong is a sustainableco-housing neighbourhood of32 rammed earth and timberterrace houses, apartments andcommon facilities, set amidstthree acres of organic orchards.

As well as the EarthsongCentre, construction will also

shortly be underway on thenext stage of the community’shousing. For more information,see www.ecohousing.pl.net oremail earthsong@xtra.co.nz

EcoVillage at Ithaca (EVI) hasrecently passed a threshold asdramatic as a child suddenlylearning to walk: it has becomea village. After over two yearsof building, all thirty homesin the second neighbourhood,‘SONG’, are nearly completeand members are beginningto forge a common identity. Inaddition, EVI is on the point ofpaying off its entire mortgagethat, as recently as January2003, stood at US$242,700.

There are smaller, yet equallysignicant signs of communitydevelopment: a group led byresident builder Rob Championhas almost completed abeautiful sauna, and farmersJen and John Bokaer-Smith arebuilding a greenhouse tocomplete the farm. Anotherside of EVI is also thriving as

courses on all aspects of the“Science of Sustainability” drawin students, eager to learn bothpractical and theoretical skillsfrom the EVI “faculty”.

EARTHSONG RISING

well as renewable energy,appropriate technology andnatural building. It also servesas the Peruvian ofce for ENA(the Ecovillage Network of theAmericas). For further details,

please contact Giovanni Ciarloat giovanni@ecovillage.orgFor more on La Caravanna

mobile ecovillage, please visitwww.lacaravana.org/condor

ECOVILLAGE AT ITHACA 

‘LEARNS HOW TO WALK’

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38 Permaculture Magazine    No. 39 www.permaculture.co.uk

GLOBAL ECOVILLAGE NETWORK   NEWS

NEWS IN BRIEF

ECOVILLAGE TOURISM TO

SUPPORT THAI MINORITIES

Chiangmai Green AlternativeTours, in northern Thailand,run cultural and agricultural

tours to Karen and otherminority villages. This isan opportunity to observetraditional ‘ecovillages’ inaction, taking only photos,and leaving only footprints.www.chiangmaigreen.com

TAJIKISTAN VILLAGE VISION

Swedish NGO, CANHELP,has initiated discussionsabout the creation of an eco-village in Tajikistan using

traditional architecture alongwith new technology. GENrepresentatives have beeninvited as speakers to aconference in Tajikistan todiscuss the possibilities.Contact Ingemar Warnstrom,ingemar.wrnstrm@telia.com

CHINA

The EcoEarth Alliancehave been active in China,discussing a range ofproposals including an

official curriculum entitled‘Education for SustainableDevelopment’, an Eco-Expo and Green Forum in2005 and the constructionof a prototype ecovillage.Contact Rob Wheeler at robineagle@worldcitiz.en.org

ECOVILLAGE, BANGLADESH

The Bangladesh Associationfor Sustainable Development(BASD) has launched a

programme to form anecovillage in Gazipur District,Bangladesh. The aim is totrain and assist the villagersin the use of environmentallyfriendly agricultural practices.Email: basd@pradeshta.net

FIREFLIES TAKE OFF

Fireies, an Ashram outsideBangalore, India, is expanding.The Learning Centre recentlyacquired eight acres of landand plans to become a fully

edged ecovillage. ContactJohn, Email c/o Siddhartha:sidd@vsnl.com

In its tenth anniversary year,permaculture training centreDjanbung Gardens (NSW,Australia) is launching a newBioregional Campus. This is apurpose designed permacultureeducation centre with a 2 hectare(5 acre) ‘living classroom’ of

working permaculture systems,run by permaculture designerRobyn Francis. Over the pastfew years, Robyn has beenpart of a national referencegroup that has been workingwith the national educationalauthorities to have perma-culture training formally accre-dited. The new AccreditedPermaculture Training (APT)that has emerged from thisprocess offers five levels ofqualications in permaculture,

Certicates 1-4 and Diploma,all of which will be taught at thenew centre. For details contactrobyn@permaculture.com.au

After 24 years of existence theSpanish ecovillage, Lakabe, isfacing a difcult moment in itshistory as the Government ofthe Province of Navarra hasdecided to go ahead withbuilding a dam, despite thefact that this contravenes threenational laws and one EUregulation. Already, eightvillages neighbouring Lakabehave been totally demolishedto make way for the dam andLakabe itself has lost propertydue to inundation and theconstruction of a road and atunnel next to the village.

Founded in 1980, Lakabehas been participating in thedam’s planning process since1983, and has contributedmuch to raising environmentalawareness among inhabitantsof the valley. Fighting the damhas cost the community dearlyand it is asking for donationsto help members to write thehistory of the community,describing 20 years of struggle,resistance and community life.For more details, please contact

Mabel Cañada, +34 948 392002 (in Spanish or French).

“What is needed, along withfresh water, is fresh thinking...We need to learn how to valuewater.” Ko Annan

As a contribution to the UN’s

Year of Freshwater in 2003,the Earth Values Caucus offereda day of events, attended byaround 300 people, at the UNHeadquarters in New York Cityin October. Prominent amongthe organisers of the event,named “ ‘Water of Life: FreshPerspectives on theWorld’s Water Crisis’,were John Clausenand Frances Edwards,ambassadors for GENand fellows of the

Findhorn Foundation.Both Findhorn andGEN were amongthe co-sponsors ofthe event. The aimwas to emphasizethe intrinsic value ofwater as part of the inter-dependent web of life and togive inspiring examples of newapproaches and solutions tothe global water managementcrisis. In addition to formalpresentations and debates, theday also included art, musicand ceremony.

Among the highlights, JohnTodd, co-founder of Ocean

Jarlanbah, the ‘eco-hamlet’ insub-tropical NSW, Australia,designed along permacultureprinciples, celebrated its 10thanniversary in February ’04.

Jarlanbah (meaning ‘place ofthe rainbow’ in the localBundjalung language) is acompact rural residential settle-ment on 22 hectares (55 acres)of former grazing, subdividedinto 43 small allotments and 13hectares (33 acres) of communalland which includes rainforest,waterfall, woodlots, agriculturereserves and community centre.

The community has beenhelped by by-laws that act-ively promote energy efcient

housing, permaculture design,sustainable waste treatmentand land management practices.

Jarlanabah has played a

key role in revolutionising NSWstate planning guidelines forrural settlement and strategicplanning. The community’sdesigner, Robyn Francis, with

permaculture colleague andplanner, Peter Cuming, wereengaged by the State PlanningDepartment to develop thesenew guidelines which receivedstate and national planningawards for excellence andbest practice ESD (EcologicallySustainable Development).

Many of the physical andsocial design aspects ofJarlanbah have inspired localgovernment initiatives both inAustralia and New Zealand,

in terms of planning policyand energy efcient housingguidelines. For more detailsvisit www.earthwise.org.au

JARLANBAH CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY

Arks International, gave apresentation of his approachto freshwater management,giving beautiful examples ofusing plants and sh to clean

sewage and polluted water,including some ecovillage casestudies. Findhorn’s May Eastalso spoke about the relevanceof the ecovillage model toproper water management.

The UN General Assemblyhas just proclaimed the period

ECOVILLAGES AT UN WATER DAY

Bioregional Campus

BASQUE ECOVILLAGE

THREATENED BY DAM

from 2005 to 2015 as theInternational Decade for Action,christened ‘Water for Life’,commencing on World WaterDay, 22 March 2005. Thisproject has the target ofhalving by the year 2015 the

proportion of people unable toreach or to afford safe drinkingwater and those who have noaccess to basic sanitation.