Issue #1 January 2020
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addressing important issues
Your Community and the Law presenting the documentary
Crystal Waters – 30 Years On introducing Steve Cran’s
Centre of Advanced Permaculture
documentary preview
Bob Sample Visions & Lessons
other feature articles
The Circular Economy & Plastic Wild Community – An Ecovillage Fund Intentional Community Living Arrangements
www.ecovillagevoice.com
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ISSN 2652-4279
Issue #1 G January 2020
Eco Village Voice – Issue #1 – January 2020
ecovillages G regeneration G community
Why Ecovillages are Important for our Future by Claire Ogden
I’ve just celebrated my 31st birthday. I have a vested interest in the future because I will be living in it… at least for another fifty years and quite possibly more considering my genetic track-record. But there are some major changes occurring which make it hard to imagine what the world will be like in my old age. Big changes are happening already that could well cause global financial instability, food scarcity, water shortages and conflict to name a just a few of the symptoms. Possibly these words would have been considered doomsday conspiracy theory talk a few years ago, yet even the most conservative people can agree that we live in uncertain times. The changes will come in many forms. We know the extinction crisis is already happening which is sad beyond words and there are many other concerning trends like rising sea levels, more extreme weather and mass migration. But maybe, just maybe, some of the changes ahead will be regenerative. This is not a popular train of thought at the moment. Apocalypse scenarios are capturing the attention in popular culture. “Cli-fi” is a new genre of science fiction that is painting a future world completely altered by climate change. We don’t see movies about how the people learn to overcome their differences and work together for a regenerative future. Maybe this future is more scary to people than the cli-fi scenarios. After all, we have been sold a lie that when we work together, bad things will happen. It’s hardly surprising, because our culture of consumption, individualism and hoarding has completely disabled our connection to self, others, nature and spirit. We are traumatised and are acting in the way that traumatised people act. Fear, mistrust, anger and ill-health are widespread. Our ability to heal is vital. When we talk about sustainability, we rarely think about relationships, and yet there is no sustainability if we cannot work together. There is no sustainability if we cannot first look at ourselves. Because as a good friend often says to me “the problems of the world are right here in this room”. The cliche ‘change starts with us’ points to this but is often interpreted through the lens of neo-liberal capitalism which tells us that climate change is an individual problem. If we’d only purchase more eco products, change our lightbulbs and buy an electric car, we could turn the ship around. Clearly this is not enough. Structural change is the only real way to address climate change and many other injustices too. And we can’t do it alone. “Darn!” I hear you say. “It would be so much easier if we could just do it alone. It would be so much quicker and less complicated,” you say. And yes, I know exactly what you mean. I too have sat in committee meetings with frustration building almost to the point of tears. But this is exactly what I mean when I say that there is no sustainability if we cannot work together. And it’s the hardest thing we will learn to do. So let us start now. There’s no time like the present to learn the skills we need and ‘unlearn’ the things that have made our group experiences so traumatic that the idea of becoming a hermit seems like the only reasonable solution. What does structural change look like, anyway? Well, for a start, it means we have to look at where the power is, where the leverage points are and how we are propping us a system that is choking our planet. It’s not easy to look deeply. There’s some stuff that we don’t want to see. We don’t want to believe that our choices are supporting this choking of the planet.
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Eco Village Voice – Issue #1 – January 2020
Claire Ogden – Eco Villages Australia It’s easier to change the light-bulb instead. But it is true that in our world there are winners and losers. There are people who have benefited from the system, such as those who bought and sold properties at the right time, and there are others who have been exploited, such as animals, nature, poor people, etc. Which are you? If you have read this far, you probably are used to reading longform journalism. You’re probably well-educated. Maybe you went to university as I did. Maybe you’ve had real choice in your career as I have. Maybe you’ve received some money through inheritance as I have.
Well, great news. People who have access to resources, with good professional skills and an understanding of the system, can start making the structural changes we need for a safe future. Everyone has some capacity to be the change they wish to see. Although, I’m sure you understand, some people have more capacity to do this due to life’s lottery. And what a beautiful opportunity we have. All we need is the will. The will to put energy towards solutions.
The concept of the Global Ecovillage Network is that eco-citizens, eco-projects, eco-townships, eco-regions, etc. can scale the solutions up from the grassroots. Connect and learn more at: genaustralia.org.au and ecovillage.org/about/about-gen/ and also facebook.com/GlobalEcovillageNetworkAustralia Eco Villages Australia is a sponsor of www.ecovillagefilmfestival.com.au
“These solutions are cultural, social, ecological and economic. They are regenerative!” Solutions are everywhere if we start to look. There are not enough minutes in the day for me to list all the solutions available to us. The world of ecovillages offers many. These solutions are cultural, social, ecological and economic. They are regenerative. We no longer have to hate ourselves and others for choking the planet but we can actually give back. We can unchoke the planet. And un-choke the planet, we must. There is much work to be done, creating new systems of governance, building more appropriate housing, transforming the transport industry, creating alternative economic systems that distribute wealth. This is an exciting, creative time for those who have been thinking deeply about how the system fails us. We can re-build, regenerate and learn to work together. The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) is an international organisation that is highlighting the solutions for regeneration. We can all play a part. Whether your area is mindfulness, health, working with waste as a valuable resource, celebration through art, honouring traditional wisdom, growing food and soils – there’s a whole ecosystem of solutions that can come via ecovillages. The concept of GEN is that eco-citizens, eco-projects, eco-townships, eco-regions, etc. can scale the solutions up from the grassroots. ‘Ecovillage’ is a concept as much as any physical place. It’s an idea that’s time has come. It’s about honouring traditional wisdom while integrating positive innovations. We don’t have to live a life of hardship or sacrifice. The myth of scarcity has been fed to us and yet, just imagine how many fruit trees we could grow and how much food we could save from waste and how much solar energy we could collect with improving technology.
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The abundance is mind-blowing. The real test is how we manage our resources. Water must be managed well in Australia. We know this and yet we still defecate into clean, drinking-water and use more clean water to push it away. We must become more clever. The solutions are everywhere. The people who want to make change are everywhere. Working together is our only chance and that is why ecovillages are important for our future. Let’s experiment with what is possible and show people the results. This is pre-figurative politics. The regenerated world we want doesn’t yet exist so let’s make some examples of what it could look like. Maybe they don’t succeed, but what is the alternative? The future isn’t here yet – our choices and actions are creating it every single day. Let’s use curiosity and courage to experiment. I urge you to join me in the regeneration so that in 2068, when I have just celebrated my 80th birthday, I can enjoy life surrounded by community, in a safe world where justice, abundance and purpose are not only possible but normal.
Claire Ogden is passionate about the environment, social justice, performing arts and community activism. Claire is a co-founder of Eco Villages Australia and the fledgling Maleny Eco Village. She is also an active volunteer with the Global Ecovillage Network and event organiser for Emergence Convergence 2019.
www.ecovillages.com.au www.facebook.com/ecovillagesaustralia
Eco Village Voice – Issue #1 – January 2020
Intentional Community Living Arrangements by Jason Hilder
Intentional communities come in all shapes and sizes and are found in different locations throughout Australia. I have been interested in communal living arrangements for over 18 years when I first visited Findhorn in Scotland. This passion became my work for the last 5 years where I undertook Doctoral studies to gain an understanding of what is effective in communal settings. During this research I focussed in part upon the extent and location of communities throughout Australia. I had the good fortune to work with three colleagues and we felt there was a need to clearly distinguish a community living arrangement from other forms of living arrangements in Australian society. To do this it was necessary to create a distinct name and definition. We introduced the term ‘Intentional Community Living Arrangements’ (ICLAs) with the following definition: ICLAs are a type of collaborative housing where a group of five or more unrelated people choose to combine their skills, resources and efforts to collectively build or rent homes and community structures, offering care for each other, and use a system of inclusive governance. (Hilder, CharlesEdwards, Sigler, & Metcalf, 2018, p. 21)
ICLAs encompass ecovillages, cohousing communities and communes. The next step was to search through sources such as Global Ecovillage Network, the Foundation for Intentional Community, Cohousing Australia and personal databases from over 20 years history to capture information about Australian ICLAs. This seemed easy at first but when we delved deeper, we found the information was often not consistent, and varied between sources. Despite this challenge we were able to pull together the location and the size of Australian communities that were known about – important questions when investigating communities. The last time something similar had been undertaken was in (1985) by Bill Metcalf and Frank Vanclay. They estimated that the approximate population of what they termed ‘Alternative Lifestyle Participants’ as being 60,000 people across Australian communities.
Figure 1. ICLAs per postcode
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Eco Village Voice – Issue #1 – January 2020
From our recent studies we estimated 25,000 people across 1,700 communities, less than half of that 34 years ago. Initially, we could not see any reason that this was the case until we plotted the number and location per postcode of each community on the map of Australia (see map). It gave us the insight that clusters of ICLAs were in the coastal hinterland areas near major cities of each state – especially Northern New South Wales and South East Queensland. These were the same areas that previous researchers found communities signalling that it was likely that communities from 1980’s still existed today yet their population had decreased. Why the population decrease? From other research and interviews with community members we noted that, just like other sectors of society, there was an aging of the population of community members and a decrease in number of new members over the 34 years.
Added to this has been the tightening of local council and State planning legislation making it difficult to build new communities or expand existing ones. There is a refreshing change however. In social and mainstream media there is an upsurge of positive attention in Tiny House communities, Ecovillages (such as Currumbin and our own Crystal Waters) and urban cohousing (such as Christie Walk in Adelaide and Murundaka in Melbourne). Additionally, there is a range of research that is highlighting the social, economic and ecological benefits of communal living that is generating interest in among planners. With this attention and supporting eco-sustainable initiatives it is likely that we will see a growth in ICLAs throughout Australia.
Further Reading
Jason Hilder
Hilder, J. D., Charles-Edwards, E., Sigler, T., & Metcalf, B. (2018). Housemates, inmates and living mates : Communal living in Australia. Australian Planner, 55(1), 12-27. doi:10.1080/07293682.2018.1494612
is a Crystal Waters resident. He is undertaking a Doctoral Thesis investigating Intentional Community Living Arrangements in Australia and Europe at the University of Queensland which is intended for completion in December 2019.
Metcalf, B., & Vanclay, F. (1985). Social characteristics of alternative lifestyle participants in Australia. Nathan, Qld.: Nathan, Qld. : Institute of Applied Social Research.
Dr William Metcalf
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The Royal Historical Society of Queensland and the Professional Historians Association (Qld) Inc awarded to Dr William Metcalf the John Douglas Kerr Medal of Distinction in 2018. Dr Metcalf has produced a prodigious body of work across a research career spanning over four decades. He has advanced the study of Queensland and Australian history most notably through his investigation of utopian communalism in Australia, a project which he commenced in 1990. His publishing in this field includes two books, The Gayndah Communes, published in 1998, and Herrnhut: Australia’s First Utopian Commune, coauthored with Elizabeth Huf and published in 2002. In addition to these volumes, Metcalf has authored an extensive bibliography of journal articles and essays on this topic, and continues to explore this subject in his ongoing project, The Encyclopedia of Australian Utopian Communalism. Throughout his career, Bill has supported and enhanced academic rigour in professional historical work. He has served as President of the International Communal Studies Association and locally on the management committee of the Brisbane History Group; he has acted as a peer reviewer for The Queensland History Journal; and has performed as Assessor and Advisor for the Brisbane City Council History and Heritage Grants program.
Eco Village Voice – Issue #1 – January 2020
Eco Village Voice Get Involved
Eco Village Voice is an online community featuring a quarterly magazine, with an integrated video channel, podcasts and webinars relevant to anyone interested in intentional communities, permaculture and sustainability. Announced first at Crystal Waters Permaculture Village markets on Saturday 2 November 2019, then previewed at the Ecovillage Film Festival premiere event the next day in Maleny QLD Australia, and public access commenced in February 2020 with the release of the first magazine. Eco Village Voice intends to provide education on many aspects of ecovillage living, as well as foster alliances and encourage communication between other ecovillages – to help each other and for the sake of our planet’s wellbeing. We aim to celebrate regenerative and permaculture principles – care for land, care for people and fair share. Eco Village Voice promotes various activities of people and groups from ecovillages and intentional communities, specifically focusing on permaculture, climate change adaptation, sustainable industries, also arts and culture, etc with the aim to provide education on appropriate technologies to replace harmful, unsustainable practices. Eco Village Voice supports initiatives of the Global Ecovillage Network including GEN Australia and GENOA (Oceania & Asia) and seek collaboration with other like-minded groups such as International Communal Studies Association and also Foundation for Intentional Community. Eco Village Voice supports events with photo/video journalism and promotions for conferences, educational activities, workshops, markets, etc. and welcomes enquiries and articles from field reporters. For updates please subscribe by email to our free monthly newsletter: editor@ecovillagevoice.com and we welcome you to become a member of the online community – https://ecovillagevoice.com
Would you like to get involved? We’d love you to be involved... but please DO NOT email files directly. It is always best to first contact the editor with an outline of your submission and we can discuss further. Email: editor@ecovillagevoice.com You may send single photos, or a folder of files, via https://www.wetransfer.com – or send a USB stick by mail. If you’d like it to be returned you MUST include a stamped self addressed envelope. >>> Mail to: Eco Village Voice – PO Box 956, Maleny, 4552, Qld, Australia NOTE: Eco Village Voice accepts no responsibility for unsolicited materials.
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Eco Village Voice – Issue #1 – January 2020
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