People
Community

Environment
Ecology

Swadeshi A simpler, more spiritual, communal life... is rooted in the village.

Swadeshi is that spirit in us which requires us to serve our immediate neighbours before others, and to use things produced in our community in preference to those more remote. So doing, we serve humanity to the best of our capacity.     -M.K.Ghandi

EcoVillage discusses Rural Sustainable Community

Rural communities were within living memory inherently sustainable. Villages have an abundance of expertise and resources which can quickly be turned to the green agenda and in so doing their local economies and social functioning can again become truly sustainable.

The environmental/ecological agenda, in terms of relocalisation of economics, non-intensive agriculture, local energy and other resources, is pragmatic and proven in communities around the world. Please join our online forum

EcoVillage is not a campaign organisation. However, we are convinced of the following perspective: Globalised consumerism and the social and economic systems that support it are a part of the systemic malaise facing humanity. The scale of the problem is vast.

While the world sleepwalks towards ecological and human catastrophe we are proactively implementing the proven solution: localise economically and socially and revitalise sustainable rural communities for future generations to inhabit. See ISEC for more on this.

Discussion Forum

 

I believe that the days of centralised power are numbered, and that a re-tribalisation of society is an inevitable, if sometimes painful, process. The applied theories of politics, economics and industry have made a sick society; it is time for new approaches. We live in the post-industrial world, and have an immense amount of sophisticated information and technology which enables us to exchange information while living in a village situation.
-Bill Mollison,  Introduction to Permaculture (1991)

The Fundamental Problem
Urbanism imports resources based on violence. Derrick Jensen on civilisation:
 

We are not the EcoVillage Network UK which is the information resource for sustainable intentional communities.

NEWS (UK)

Sustainable Communities Act. The Act is now law. This is an historic opportunity for rural communities. It will, through improvements to local democracy, make sustainability a core factor in our economic and social lives. The Act is a reversal in the traditional power structure between central and local government that will enable policy to be driven by the people and not by Whitehall. However, much remains to be done. Unlock Democracy are producing a detailed guide as to how the Act will work and how you can use it for the benefit of your community.

Planning and Energy Bill. Following fast behind the Sustainable Communities Act is the Planning and Energy Bill, being promoted by Michael Fallon MP (Sevenoaks) who came first in the recent Private Members’ Ballot. This bill will augment the Sustainability Communities Act, by enabling councils after consulting local communities, to set high energy efficiency standards for new developments and require them to source energy locally (e.g. through renewables). Michael Fallon says he adopted this Bill because it enables local decision-making.