Ecovillages: Social Innovations towards a Regenerative Culture

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Ecovillages: Social Innovations towards a Regenerative Culture FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO CENTER OF PHILOSOPHY AND HUMAN SCIENCES

1 Ecovillages: Social Innovations towards a Regenerative Culture FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF RIO DE JANEIRO CENTER OF PHILOSOPHY AND HUMAN SCIENCES EICOS PROGRAM: INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES OF COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL ECOLOGY Ecovillages: Social Innovations towards a Regenerative Culture Taisa Mattos

2 General Contextualization Global Civilizational Crises - our current lifestyle in consumer society is unsustainable. Need to transition to other ways of living/thinking Ecovillages: Good examples of sustainable living models Low environmental impact, low consumption and high quality of life Seeds of a regenerative culture

3 Crises as an opportunity for transition If current human systems are unsustainable, it is prudent to look to those who are pioneering sustainable living practices. To ignore communities that are actually reducing their ecological footprints dramatically, that are creating models of sustainability from the ground up, would be intellectually negligent and pragmatically unwise. (LITFIN, 2009, p. 124 e125)

4 Argument based on research findings The greatest challenge of sustainability is sociocultural, not environmental or economic/financial. Ecovillages, as social innovations, have been experimenting with sustainable social models, practicing participatory governance systems, honoring cultural diversity, creating community and adopting a holistic worldview, pointing to possibilities for a regenerative culture.

5 Ecovillage Movement Propositional Social Movement Offers examples and solutions x Critiques Covers all arenas of life x specific cause Focus on community and sustainability Method: Experimentation living laboratories: create and test tools, methods and technologies for integral local development Education / Trainings to raise awareness, empower and disseminate sustainable practices and worldview Local Global (Global Ecovillage Network)

7 ECOVILLAGE DEFINITION An ecovillage is 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. (Global Ecovillage Network, 2015)

8 Culture - The 4th Pilar of Sustainability socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and economic efficient includes subjective aspects of sustainability (cultural)

9 Going Beyond Sustainability (FLEMING, 2013)

10 Regenerative Development Regenerative development acknowledges humans, as well as their developments, social structures and cultural concerns, as an inherent and indivisible part of ecosystems. It sees human development as a means to create optimum health in ecosystems. Understanding the unique and diverse human and non-human elements of each place is a crucial part of regenerative development (JENKIN; ZARI, 2009 p. 5)

12 Rockström and Sukhdev key note speech at the Stockholm EAT Food Forum in Credit of the image : Azote Images for Stockholm Resilience Centre.

13 Low impact, high quality lifestyles Ecovillage at Ithaca, USA

14 Low Creating impact, Community high quality in urban lifestyles areas Ecovillage LA Ecovillage, at Ithaca, USA USA 14

15 Replenishing sources of water Tamera Ecovillage, Portugal

16 Biological wastewater treatment - Living Machine Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland

17 Ecological sanitation - Compost Toilet Tamera Ecovillage, Portugal

18 Regenerate Soils biochar CO2 sequestering at The Farm, Tennessee, USA

19 Organic Food Production Tamera Ecovillage, Portugal

20 Grow food and soils Organic Agriculture Otepic Ecovillage, Kenya

21 Organic Food Prodution Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland

22 Grow food and soils Organic Agriculture Vila Yamaguishi SP, Brazil

23 Renewable energy Ecovillage 7Linden, Germany

24 Renewable energy Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland

25 Renewable energy Solar Village, Tamera - Portugal

26 Green Building/ Waste Recycling Bafut Ecovillage, Cameroon

27 Green Building Terra Una Ecovillage MG - Brazil

28 Traditional AND innovative solutions Eco-campus, Kibbutz Lotan, Israel

29 Reforestation / Green Building Ecocentro IPEC GO - Brazil

30 Regenerate Ecosystems Over 2,000,000 trees planted - Auroville, India

31 Social Entrepreneurship Sekem, Egypt

32 Fair trade and ethical systems of exchange Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland

33 Empower local economies - Social Currency Damanhur, Italy

34 Using inclusive decision-making Schloss Tempelhof Ecovillage - Germany

35 Participatory decision-making processes Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland

36 Health and well being Visão Futuro SP, Brazil

37 nnovative and inclusive education nkiri Piracanga BA, Brazil

38 Education for Sustainability 7 Linden - Germany

39 Honour local cultural traditions Cartoong Ecovillage The Gambia

40 Colaborating cross-sector to scale up Ecovillages Ecovillage Transition Asia - Thailand

41 Transitioning traditional villages ANEV Nacional Agency of Ecovillages - Senegal

42 "To live more ethically with others and the planet does not mean returning to the past, but to develop new and creative technologies and forms of social organization." (CAPRA, 2006)

43 Ecovillage Moviment Contributions Laboratories creating and testing tools and methodologies for local sustainable development. Dissemination of new values and ways of living. Low consumption, low environmental impact and high quality of life. Training: new skills, new technologies, sense of community, empowerment for collective action Examples / Models that can be adapted and recreated in other contexts.

44 Ecovillage Moviment Challenges Broad definition - gives directions, but no clear criteria. Lack of detailed mapping of the Ecovillages worldwide. Little systematization of knowledge / experience. Academic Research: few scientific studies aim to contextualize the phenomenon within a philosophical approach and/or human, social and political sciences. Challenges in the implementation and maintenance of the Ecovillages.

45 Taisa Mattos EICOS PROGRAM: Interdisciplinary Studies of Communities and Social Ecology Federal University of Rio de Janeiro pos.eicos.psicologia.ufrj.br GEN Global Ecovillage Network

What is an Ecovillage?

What is an Ecovillage? Creating Local Ecovillages and Neighborhoods The ecovillage model is a conscious response to the complex problem of how to transform our human settlements, whether they be villages, towns or cities, into