Right now I'm getting ready to present our governance proposal to the other people in our ecovillage development group. A few other folks -- Flo, Mischa and Amy -- have been working with me to put a good first proposal together, and now we're ready to go. Hopefully, by the end of our presentation, everyone will think that we've offered a good first step. If not, though, we'll at least be able to capture the concerns of the group and provide a version for the next meeting. I'm eager to move forward. People have been emailing us about possible collaboration -- one fellow in County Clare Ireland wrote to us about developing a village on his farm; a green developer with offices near Essex, England wants to be the one to manage the building process. All these opportunities, but no way to make decisions! If I weren't so patient (and busy with school and other projects) I'm sure I'd be tapping my foot.
Well, that's enough for now! More after the next meeting -- Sunday the 13th, so not long from now...
Saturday 12 January 2008
Wednesday 28 November 2007
More Meetings!
Okay, folks, this might be the one (group we work with).
On Sunday the 25th of November I attended a meeting with about a dozen other potential ecovillagers. I was afraid they might be flighty, unwilling to adopt decision-making structures or best-practices funding solutions -- but in fact, they are a grounded bunch, wanting to move quickly and adopt the forms that work in order to achieve their visions. I am very happy to be involved with them. Charlie and I will attend another meeting on December 9th. In the meantime, Matthew (one of their/our number) has agreed to set up a wiki for the group's process. I'll post the link when I get it.
On Monday the 26th, our 2nd marriage anniversary, we went to a cooperative housing meeting that described a remarkable development program that builds nearly zero-carbon houses at governmentally certified affordable housing prices for people who lease (and eventually may own) them through housing cooperatives. Brilliant! For more information on the project, Google Redditch Cooperative Homes or click there.
On Sunday the 25th of November I attended a meeting with about a dozen other potential ecovillagers. I was afraid they might be flighty, unwilling to adopt decision-making structures or best-practices funding solutions -- but in fact, they are a grounded bunch, wanting to move quickly and adopt the forms that work in order to achieve their visions. I am very happy to be involved with them. Charlie and I will attend another meeting on December 9th. In the meantime, Matthew (one of their/our number) has agreed to set up a wiki for the group's process. I'll post the link when I get it.
On Monday the 26th, our 2nd marriage anniversary, we went to a cooperative housing meeting that described a remarkable development program that builds nearly zero-carbon houses at governmentally certified affordable housing prices for people who lease (and eventually may own) them through housing cooperatives. Brilliant! For more information on the project, Google Redditch Cooperative Homes or click there.
Thursday 22 November 2007
Meetings
I have enjoyed meeting several interesting people lately; these folks include the Brighton Co-Housing folks, who've been going for about a year now, Anne Wirstad and Richard Nelson of SolaRoof (spent more time talking with Anne, who intends to move into an ecovillage in Norway, but first is coordinating SolaRoof development in the UK and trying to set up another Hub. I also made the acquaintance of Jon Bootland of the Good Homes Alliance, who are a charitable organization bringing together green builders, architects, planners, and various resources. I'll be tapping Jon to help me find the other professionals we need to do our ecovillage!
Anyway, the process goes on... I'll post more when the survey is complete in two weeks.
Anyway, the process goes on... I'll post more when the survey is complete in two weeks.
Friday 16 November 2007
I've created a survey
If you're interested in ecovillage, please take this survey!
You will aid me in research I am doing at the moment for university, and I will give you a report on your "ideal village" preferences and the range of preferences of other potential ecovillagers (if you want to get such a report).
More posts soon on interesting meetings...
You will aid me in research I am doing at the moment for university, and I will give you a report on your "ideal village" preferences and the range of preferences of other potential ecovillagers (if you want to get such a report).
More posts soon on interesting meetings...
Friday 12 October 2007
Meeting, At Last! (and for the first time...)
Wow, we're busy. Taking down the yurt, starting school, working, doing bits of cabin upkeep...
But most of all, PREPARING FOR OUR FIRST VISIONING MEETING! Charlie and I are inviting people who want to develop the sort of village we are talking about to meet with us at some point during the week of November 4th -- exact time and place not yet decided.
We will be doing visioning exercises, to clarify people's dreams and priorities (so we know whether we should be working together in one group, or in different groups). Once we have the vision we can organize around, and a group of committed people, we can select a decision-making process for our group (and choice of decision-making process will probably one of the elements of vision that determines whether we should work together!).
If you haven't contacted us yet, and want to, email ntwhite {at} igc.org to get in on this first meeting.
Wishing us all well...
But most of all, PREPARING FOR OUR FIRST VISIONING MEETING! Charlie and I are inviting people who want to develop the sort of village we are talking about to meet with us at some point during the week of November 4th -- exact time and place not yet decided.
We will be doing visioning exercises, to clarify people's dreams and priorities (so we know whether we should be working together in one group, or in different groups). Once we have the vision we can organize around, and a group of committed people, we can select a decision-making process for our group (and choice of decision-making process will probably one of the elements of vision that determines whether we should work together!).
If you haven't contacted us yet, and want to, email ntwhite {at} igc.org to get in on this first meeting.
Wishing us all well...
Tuesday 28 August 2007
Goldurn Gordon!
Well, he got us.
A man named Gordon, wanting to get revenge on our landlord, host and friend Martin, complained to the Council about our yurt. Gordon hoped to get Martin in trouble. Instead, this has accelerated Martin's timetable for getting all the buildings on the property fully legalized. We've been caught in the crossfire, and now have to take down our yurt; we can put it up again in December on a different part of the property.
The legal issue is: right now, the yurt is in a "grazing field"; it needs to be in a "garden". Okay, we'll move it the hundred meters we must in order to comply....
In the meantime, we are moving into the cabin ("the Moulton Residence") that is our official dwelling. This takes some renovation work, and we've been feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about it all. After about a month of uncertainty, now we are finally feeling that it's okay, we can live in this place without any extra (sweet and yurty!) space.
This has been an update about our journey...
A man named Gordon, wanting to get revenge on our landlord, host and friend Martin, complained to the Council about our yurt. Gordon hoped to get Martin in trouble. Instead, this has accelerated Martin's timetable for getting all the buildings on the property fully legalized. We've been caught in the crossfire, and now have to take down our yurt; we can put it up again in December on a different part of the property.
The legal issue is: right now, the yurt is in a "grazing field"; it needs to be in a "garden". Okay, we'll move it the hundred meters we must in order to comply....
In the meantime, we are moving into the cabin ("the Moulton Residence") that is our official dwelling. This takes some renovation work, and we've been feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about it all. After about a month of uncertainty, now we are finally feeling that it's okay, we can live in this place without any extra (sweet and yurty!) space.
This has been an update about our journey...
Wednesday 1 August 2007
our vision so far for ecovillage
These ideas are our current vision for creating our future ecovillage. We expect these ideas to morph as our circumstances change, and as other people come on board with their needs and desires. But for now, we want to put this vision out there in case you or someone you know feels drawn by these ideas to join us.
I've numbered these points for clarity but none is more or less important than another.
1. We want to live in community. What that means to us or anyone else is fluid. We imagine ultimately living in a community of about 100 adults, although that is ambitious and long-term and we accept that the number may be considerably smaller to begin with. In fact it is our clear intention that we begin this process with a committed core group of, say, 12 adults. The initial core group will of course have the most say in the shaping of the village. We are very excited about kids and families living in the village.
2. Location. We intend to live in a rural or semi-rural location. Ideally close to a rail link, and within 1 hour's travel of a reasonably large connurbation, for the sake of earning our keep. Southern England or northern France, most likely. We imagine the site will be one with existing buildings and out-buildings, ie a farm, etc. We would like to be able to build new buildings on the site of a sustainable and carbon-neutral nature. We intend for the site to be a compact village-centre development alongside working farm land and wilderness areas.
3. Economy. Nate works as a life-coach and Charlie as an acupuncturist. Both these professions require a stable and large-ish pool of clients, hence the need for a town of some size nearby. We intend to create a secure community subsistence economy, ie and eg growing food, managing woodland, maintaining our tools and machinery, producing energy, dealing with waste... This doesnt mean we all have to be farmers, but it would mean each community member putting in an agreed number of hours each week, and learning skills that could end up maintaining the community in apocalypse or hard times. (2 - 8 hours per week? ) Then we would also need a (booming) market economy. The skills and desires of community members would shape this, but we're thinking along the lines of, for example, eco-tourism like yurt b&b, internet business, retreat centre, eco-skills workshops, consulting which may involve travel, manufacture, etc etc. The subsistence economy exists to support the whole community; the market economy is more individualistic and each community member will ultimately be responsible for creating their own wealth of this type. However, both are needed for the long-term health of the village. There is also an investment aspect for the initial group who will be putting money down to buy the site: we intend that over time this group gets its money back and may make profit as new homes are built and sold to new community members.
4. Governance. We would like to use consensus decision-making structures, perhaps with a board or council that delegates authority to groups and individuals. This allows everyone to have their say, but also gets things done quickly without getting bogged down in having the whole group discuss every aspect of every decision, eg what colour to paint the barn. Privately run businesses operating on site may have to make agreements with the community, eg rent, available space, etc, but they would not be run by the community.
5. Legal structure. We imagine a company such as an LLP (limited liability partnership), with one voting share owned by each adult community member, would own the freehold common land and buildings. In addition to this voting share in the LLP, members may purchase leasehold properties from the LLP. This means that members can own or rent their private dwellings, and that these dwellings can be bought and sold on the open market as long as leasehold requirements are met. There will be some sort of filtering process for people wishing to become village members.
6. Culture/society. Community rules will of course be decided upon by consensus as the village grows. For example, it might be cool for people to agree to nudity in some areas; childcare in community; eating together regularly; regular community-building get-togethers, etc. Personally, Charlie and Nate want to live a life where they can have private space but lots of chances to hang out on the porch with neighbours and kids; where kids are nurtured and safe, old people active and respected, everyone in it together, no hierarchy by sex, integration of generations. We are interested in, but not committed to, home-schooling of the community's kids. We intend to have a 'barn-raising' culture, whereby the community comes together in a spirit of fun if a big project needs to be achieved or if someone needs help, eg building a new dwelling.
7. Spirituality. We welcome village members of any creed, so long as they subscribe to an inclusive 'many paths, one mountain' ethos, respecting other people's spiritual processes. We would like members to be willing to commit to telling the truth to other villagers and to commit to learning from their interactions with each other. We are looking for villagers to be more committed to learning and creating positive outcomes for themselves and the whole community, than to being right or making others wrong (particularly when shadow stuff comes up and it's crunch time).
8. Ecology. Basically we would like the creation of our village to benefit the local and global environment overall. We are interested in leaning about and using new and established ways to, for example, maiximise bio-diversity, minimise CO2 production, minimise wastage, etc.
This is a work in process. Please let us know what you think of these ideas. We are looking for people to join us now in forming the initial core group. Putting our thoughts and vision out there in this way represents a major part of our personal manifestation process - now we await input from you, if this vision speaks to you, whether we know you already or not. Hooray.
Charlie and Nate.
I've numbered these points for clarity but none is more or less important than another.
1. We want to live in community. What that means to us or anyone else is fluid. We imagine ultimately living in a community of about 100 adults, although that is ambitious and long-term and we accept that the number may be considerably smaller to begin with. In fact it is our clear intention that we begin this process with a committed core group of, say, 12 adults. The initial core group will of course have the most say in the shaping of the village. We are very excited about kids and families living in the village.
2. Location. We intend to live in a rural or semi-rural location. Ideally close to a rail link, and within 1 hour's travel of a reasonably large connurbation, for the sake of earning our keep. Southern England or northern France, most likely. We imagine the site will be one with existing buildings and out-buildings, ie a farm, etc. We would like to be able to build new buildings on the site of a sustainable and carbon-neutral nature. We intend for the site to be a compact village-centre development alongside working farm land and wilderness areas.
3. Economy. Nate works as a life-coach and Charlie as an acupuncturist. Both these professions require a stable and large-ish pool of clients, hence the need for a town of some size nearby. We intend to create a secure community subsistence economy, ie and eg growing food, managing woodland, maintaining our tools and machinery, producing energy, dealing with waste... This doesnt mean we all have to be farmers, but it would mean each community member putting in an agreed number of hours each week, and learning skills that could end up maintaining the community in apocalypse or hard times. (2 - 8 hours per week? ) Then we would also need a (booming) market economy. The skills and desires of community members would shape this, but we're thinking along the lines of, for example, eco-tourism like yurt b&b, internet business, retreat centre, eco-skills workshops, consulting which may involve travel, manufacture, etc etc. The subsistence economy exists to support the whole community; the market economy is more individualistic and each community member will ultimately be responsible for creating their own wealth of this type. However, both are needed for the long-term health of the village. There is also an investment aspect for the initial group who will be putting money down to buy the site: we intend that over time this group gets its money back and may make profit as new homes are built and sold to new community members.
4. Governance. We would like to use consensus decision-making structures, perhaps with a board or council that delegates authority to groups and individuals. This allows everyone to have their say, but also gets things done quickly without getting bogged down in having the whole group discuss every aspect of every decision, eg what colour to paint the barn. Privately run businesses operating on site may have to make agreements with the community, eg rent, available space, etc, but they would not be run by the community.
5. Legal structure. We imagine a company such as an LLP (limited liability partnership), with one voting share owned by each adult community member, would own the freehold common land and buildings. In addition to this voting share in the LLP, members may purchase leasehold properties from the LLP. This means that members can own or rent their private dwellings, and that these dwellings can be bought and sold on the open market as long as leasehold requirements are met. There will be some sort of filtering process for people wishing to become village members.
6. Culture/society. Community rules will of course be decided upon by consensus as the village grows. For example, it might be cool for people to agree to nudity in some areas; childcare in community; eating together regularly; regular community-building get-togethers, etc. Personally, Charlie and Nate want to live a life where they can have private space but lots of chances to hang out on the porch with neighbours and kids; where kids are nurtured and safe, old people active and respected, everyone in it together, no hierarchy by sex, integration of generations. We are interested in, but not committed to, home-schooling of the community's kids. We intend to have a 'barn-raising' culture, whereby the community comes together in a spirit of fun if a big project needs to be achieved or if someone needs help, eg building a new dwelling.
7. Spirituality. We welcome village members of any creed, so long as they subscribe to an inclusive 'many paths, one mountain' ethos, respecting other people's spiritual processes. We would like members to be willing to commit to telling the truth to other villagers and to commit to learning from their interactions with each other. We are looking for villagers to be more committed to learning and creating positive outcomes for themselves and the whole community, than to being right or making others wrong (particularly when shadow stuff comes up and it's crunch time).
8. Ecology. Basically we would like the creation of our village to benefit the local and global environment overall. We are interested in leaning about and using new and established ways to, for example, maiximise bio-diversity, minimise CO2 production, minimise wastage, etc.
This is a work in process. Please let us know what you think of these ideas. We are looking for people to join us now in forming the initial core group. Putting our thoughts and vision out there in this way represents a major part of our personal manifestation process - now we await input from you, if this vision speaks to you, whether we know you already or not. Hooray.
Charlie and Nate.
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