INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES

JIŘÍ NOSEK, SYLWIA ZUKOWSKA, IPEK KOSOVA, MAI LAN CHI

BASIC INFORMATIONS

planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities

the members hold a common social, political or spiritual vision

they also share responsibilities and resources

Intentional communities include cohousing communities, residential land trusts, ecovillages, communes, kibbutzim, ashrams and housing cooperatives

survey in the 1995 reported that 54% of the communities were rural, 28% were urban, 10% had both rural and urban sites, and 8% didn't specify

TYPE OF GOVERNANCE

democratic (64%), with decisions made by some form of consensus decision-making or voting

9% have a hierarchical or authoritarian structure

11% are a combination of democratic and hierarchical structure

16% don't specify

Many communities which were led by individual or small group have changed to a

more democratic form of governance.

TYPES OF INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES

1)COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

villages held property in the community interest European and North American land banks invest in land to help

build family farms or to encourage economic development Reverse increasing poverty

MAIN IDEAS Reach control over local land and increase ownership Provide affordable housing for lower income people in the

community Keep housing affordable for future residents Capture the value of public investment for long-term community

benefit Build a strong base for community action

2)COMMUNE

community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, work and income

For communes is important communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures, ecological living, core principles

Some communes formed around spiritual leaders some from political ideologies

For others, the "glue" is the desire for a more shared, sociable lifestyle. Moreover, some people find it is more economical to live communally.

Three main characteristics: 1. egalitarianism (equality) 2. human scale - members of communes saw the scale of society as

it was then organised as being too large 3. communes were consciously anti-bureaucratic

DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNESDr. Bill Metcalf, defined communes as: the importance of the group, a "common purse„ collective household group decision making in general and intimate affairs Sharing everyday life and facilities commune is an idealised form of family commune members have emotional bonds to the whole group

Elisabeth Vob (Germany): live and work together communal economy, common finances and common property (land, buildings,

means of production), have communal decision making - usually consensus decision making try to reduce hierarchy and hierarchical structures have communalisation of housework, childcare and other communal tasks have equality between women and men have low ecological footprints through sharing and saving resources

3)KIBBUTZ

kibbutz = "gathering, clustering” collective community in Israel based on agriculture Communal living that combines socialism and Zionism Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economic

branches, including industrial plants and high-tech enterprises firma.

There are three types of kibbutzim: Kibbutz Shitufi: preserves a cooperative system. Kibbutz Mitchadesh: number of cooperative systems in its

intentions Urban kibbutz: exist within an existing settlement (city). Since the

1970s around 100 urban kibbutzim have been founded within existing Israeli cities. They have no enterprises of their own and all of their members work in the non-kibbutz sector.

4)ASHRAM

The word ashram is derived from the term āśraya, which means "protection"

intentional community formed primarily for spiritual upliftment of its members, often headed by a religious leader or mystic

located far from human habitation, in forests or mountainous regions, conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation

residents performed spiritual and physical exercises, such as Yoga, sacrifices and penances

Ashrams also have residential schools for children

5)HOUSING COOPERATIVE

usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings.

Each householder is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes it is a lease

fee-paying members obtain the right to occupy a bedroom, share the communal resources of a house that is owned by a cooperative organization

student cooperatives in some college neighborhoods in the United States

6)COHOUSING

composed of private homes with full kitchens, supplemented by extensive common facilities

is planned, owned and managed by the residents, groups of people who want more interaction with their neighbours

common large kitchen and dining room where residents can take turns cooking for the community

other facilities may include a laundry, pool, child care facilities, offices, internet access, game room, TV room, tool room or a gym

thanks spatial design and shared activities, community enable intergenerational interaction among neighbours

also economic and environmental benefits to sharing resources, space and items

7)ECOVILLAGE

intended to be socially, economically and ecologically sustainable intentional community

aim for a population of 50-150 individuals members are united by shared ecological, social-economic and

cultural-spiritual values is composed of people who have chosen an alternative to

centralized electrical, water, and sewage systems

Definition by Robert Gilman : human-scale full-featured settlement plan human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world supporting healthy human development can be successfully continued into the indefinite future

CHARACTERISTIC OF ECOVILLAGE principles can be applied to urban and rural settings, as well as to

developing and developed countries followers seek a sustainable lifestyle for inhabitants minimum of trade outside the local area independence from existing infrastructures / more urban settings

- integration with existing infrastructure rural ecovillages are based on organic farming, permaculture and

other approaches promoting ecosystem function

USUALLY RELIES ON: autonomous building or clustered housing, to minimize ecological

footprint; renewable energy Permaculture

North AmericaBerea College Ecovillage, Kentucky Cobb Hill, Vermont Dancing Rabbit, Missouri Dreamtime Village, Wisconsin Earthaven Ecovillage, North Carolina EcoReality, British Columbia EcoVillage at Ithaca, New York EcoVillage of Loudoun County, Virginia Enright Ridge Urban Eco-Village Cincinnati, Ohio Ecovillage Training Center at The Farm, Tennessee Kakwa Ecovillage Cooperative, British Columbia Huehuecoyotl, Mexico Los Angeles Eco-Village, California Lightwork Ecovillage, Gambier Island, BC, British Columbia Maitreya Ecovillage, Eugene, OR Manitou Arbor, Michigan The Nonmune, Vancouver, BC Mont Radar, Quebec, Canada Orange Twin Conservation Community, Georgia O.U.R. Ecovillage, British Columbia PAZ Ecovillage, Texas Plan B Ecovillage, Missouri Prairie's Edge Eco-Village, Manitoba Twin Oaks Community, Virginia Vegan Ecovillage, Hawaii White Hawk Ecovillage, New York Yarrow Ecovillage, British Columbia

LIST OF ECOVILLAGESAsia and Oceana

Aldinga Arts EcoVillage,

Australia

Kookaburra Park Eco-Village,

Australia

Currumbin Ecovillage,

Australia

Crystal Waters Village,

Australia

Homeland Community,

Australia

Somerville Ecovillage,

Australia

Cape Paterson Eco Village,

Australia

model village, Congo

republic.

Auroville, India

Europe

AiH in English, AiH in Danish, Denmark

BedZED, England

Brithdir Mawr, Wales

Ecoforest, Spain

Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland

Freetown Christiania, Denmark

Munksøgård, Denmark

Hermes Projekt, Turkey

Zonneterp-project, the Netherlands

Stamm der Likatier, Germany

ZEGG, Germany

Tamera, Portugal

Torri Superiore, Italy

Zajezka, Slovakia

Sólheimar, Iceland

South AmericaAldeaFeliz, Colombia Ecopueblo Pualafquén, Chile Ecovila Cunha, Brazil Gaviotas, Colombia Lothlorien, Brazil São Paulo Ecovila, Brazil Gaia Ecovilla, Argentina  

7a)ECOVILLAGE IN DENMARK Membership fee:   300 DKK/ year

Members:   About 130 adults. Most of them are living or plan to live at the Co-house groups of AiH.

Residents:  85 families: about 220 adults and children.

Contact Address: Gammel Kirkevej 82, 8530 Hjortshoj, Denmark.

Location:  North of Aarhus, 15 km from the main central train station.

Transport:  Local train or bus No. 58 (both from Aarhus main train station).

Established:  1986. Area size: 22 hectares

ECOVILLAGE IN DENMARK

Co-house Groups: There are 5 Co-House Groups. 2 more are planned presently.

Co-house Group 1: 10 families in twin houses

Co-house Group 2: 20 families in row houses

Co-house Group 3: 11 families in single houses and one twin house

Co-house Group 4: 26 families in row houses

Co-house Group 5: 18 families in row houses

Common Buildings: There are 4 Common Buildings and an Exhibition & Office Building

LIFESTYLE

AiH aims to be an example of living with sustainability as a keywordThis approach is visible in many ways in their daily life, examples are: Houses are built to be environmentally sustainable (e.g., rammed clay, earth

blocks, wood, paper insulation, solar collectors, ovens, paint from linen oil etc) Using compost or separation toilets rainwater is used in the common washing machines urine is to be irrigated to plants after 9 months of storage farming, with animals like chicken, cows, and goats car-sharing Association (two cars) common dinner three days a week  less number people have cars and more people use bicycles and bicycle trailers,

against highways Energy Association providing hot water from a wood-pillet and a wood chip

burning boiler Common social events and arrangements (New Year, harvest celebration, art

workshops etc.) Cultural evenings and days with music, dance, story telling both for adults and

children  Michels's Eco-green, which is a commercial organic vegetable farming  and

organic ice cream production. Open two times a week. Biodiversity care: Re-establishment of a lake in August 2001. Gymnastic for different age groups, dancing for children, yoga

RESIDENT DEMOCRACY

reach goals through the principles of democracy and of co-operational organization

chairperson and monthly meetings, where the decisions are made

principles of a "resident democracy". The members are linked to a co-housing group, and to the associations e.g. car sharing, energy, vegetable farming and other activity

these associations also have separate chairpersons

7b)ECOVILLAGE BedZED

environmentally-friendly-housing development near Wallington, England

99 homes, and 1,405 square metres of work space were built in 2000–2002

Because of BedZED's low-energy-emission concept, cars are discouraged; the project encourages public transport, cycling, and walking, and has limited parking space (BedZED is serviced by the 127 bus)

DESIGN PRINCIPLES of BedZED Zero energy—using only energy from renewable sources generated

on site; 777 m² of solar panels; tree waste fuels the development's cogeneration plant to provide district heating and elektricity

Energy efficient—The houses face south to take advantage of solar

gain, are triple glazed, and have high thermal insulation  Water efficient—rain water is collected and rezed

Low-impact materials—Building materials were selected from renewable or recycled sources within 35 miles of the site, to minimize the energy required for transportation

  Waste recycling—Refuse-collection facilities are designed to support

recycling. Transport—car-sharing system, electric and liquefied-petroleum-gas

cars have priority over cars that burn petrol and diesel, electricity is provided in parking spaces for charging electric cars.