Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you. ~ George Whitefield
"Going Main Stream ~ Ecovillages have to date been
developed and built by groups of people rather than traditional
developers. This human aspect is an important part of creating community
and “glue” in a settlement as opposed to just building a new suburb
with buildings but no “soul”. The mainstream adaptation of the
ecovillage concept will require a reorganisation of the traditional
thinking of the building industry. We need smaller firms — with more
flexible, more ecological methods — which accept the idea of
co-designing settlements with their future inhabitants. The role of
architects and public authorities must also change to support
participatory processes and to accommodate such things as compost
toilets, more flexible zoning laws, local renewable energy and local
biological wastewater treatment. These shifts need a change in mentality
but pose no great difficulties. The technologies are all well known in
ecovillage circles, but seldom in traditional consulting engineering
firms." Ross Jackson - The Ecovillage Movement
It has been 4 years since this page was created and in that time our efforts to import the protocol and criteria established by the Lammas EcoVillage in Wales into the United States have been slowly but surely progressing forward.
Our team left N. California in 2013 to establish our base in Colorado for several strategic reasons relating to the demographics, geography, political environment, and economics. Although establishing the agency in code and zone tough California would have had its advantages the disadvantages of our efforts being marginalized nationally as just another weird 'California thing' weighed in heavy on our final decision.
Colorado has always been a place nationally respected and to make low impact sustainable development a reality in this country we adhered to the commonly known business adage of "location, location, location". We are based on the Western Slope where agriculture and rural community reigns supreme and geographically we are positioned in a climate and elevation that has good 'challenges' that can put permaculture design principles to the test.
Colorado has a healthy community of conservative yet open minded realists that are not afraid to question and have enough common sense to test the answers before accepting them as fact. Economically it is depressed enough to see the need for new solutions to our current economic issues yet the depression is being met a resourceful and tenacious spirit that is common to mountain folks.
We have our sights set on a 'place' that can serve as an education center and headquarters for establishing the agency and we are in the first stages of fundraising for the project. With good timing and community support our next posts on this blog will hopefully reflect the good news of moving forward.
Onward and upward!
