EARTHKEEPING NEWS A NEWSLETTER OF THE NORTH AMERICAN COALITION FOR CHRISTIANITY AND ECOLOGY Volume Three, Number Five May/June 1994 THE ECO-VILLAGE PROCESS An eco-village is a holistic approach to community development effectively integrating physical, social and economic systems for long term sustainability. An eco-village is analogous to an eco-system. There is always lots of activity going on and everything is related to everything else. The greater the diversity, the greater the health of the eco-village. Eco-villages are not models. Their systems can be adapted but they cannot be replicated. They are a set of dynamic interactive processes. They are never finished. The process gets started when a committed core group of people understand how the problems of their bioregion, as related to their political jurisdictions, can begin to be solved at the neighborhood level. Generally, the group is trying to provide solutions for restoring and maintaining healthy air, water and soil; a decent standard of living; a high quality of life and a strong community. They live in the community and engage their neighbors, through participatory planning and consensus building, in identifying priorities, solving common problems and working together to build the foundations for an eco-village. Excerpts from Los Angeles Eco-Village Demonstration Report, April 1994, CRSP, 3551 White House Place, Los Angeles, CA 90004, (213)738-1254. Home     Table of Contents