The Meaning and Relevance of Ecovillages for the Construction of Sustainable Societal Alternatives

Abstract

Despite today’s widespread reference to sustainability, initiatives are still quite incipient. Ecovillages are communities that carry out an array of sustainable practices and aim to influence society as models for alternative lifestyles. The goal of this paper is to analyze the meanings associated with these communities in the academic literature and their relevance to sustainability debates. Regardless of the conceptual imprecision of the term ‘ecovillage’ and important challenges and limitations regarding their social role in society, ecovillage initiatives (many that are educational) have propagated by diffusing alternative ideas and practices throughout society. They are increasingly linked with other movements and social institutions, functioning as key nodes in sustainability-oriented networks. As they promote concrete actions in the construction of societal alternatives, ecovillages significantly contribute to efforts of rethinking sustainability.

A Systemic Approach to Sustainability - The Interconnection of Its Dimensions in Ecovillage Practices

“…Many of them share ownership of the land and buildings but that is not always possible and some ecovillages have a structure based on landlord and tenant relations (LITFIN, 2014) and so they may eventually reproduce certain classist arrangements that are typical of capitalism. As we have discussed in detail in a previous paper (DIAS et. al., 2017), the question of ownership constitutes an important socioeconomic obstacle making social inclusion in ecovillages more difficult (although there are certain practices that seek to minimize the problem up to a point).…”

“…That posture has important psycho-social consequences, generating a consonance between identity and behavior (KIRBY, 2003) and it seems to be related to the ecovillagers' quest for social outreach (KASPER, 2008). As reported in a previous article (DIAS et al, 2017), they usually endeavor to influence society by demonstrating their own model of more sustainable ways of living (ERGAS, 2010;MEIJERING, 2012;BOYER, 2015;BOSSY, 2014;LITFIN, 2014;LOCKYER, 2010a, b).…”

Acción colectiva e imaginarios en contextos de interés medioambiental. Una etnografía a los Asentamientos pro Sustentabilidad en Chile

“…La conformación de redes por parte de los ApS es un hecho empírico no solo observado como práctica en esta investigación, sino que también, por otros estudios (Dias et al, 2017;Pereira & Bernete, 2017). Estas, operan en escalas vecinales, locales, nacionales, continentales y mundiales; poseen boletines informativos, páginas web, editan libros y difunden cooperativamente sus actividades.…”

“…Estas, operan en escalas vecinales, locales, nacionales, continentales y mundiales; poseen boletines informativos, páginas web, editan libros y difunden cooperativamente sus actividades. Cada ApS, en sí mismo, parece constituir un nodo de esta red (Dias, et al, 2017), en el que se intersectan una serie de colectivos, activistas e individuos mediados por las temáticas ambientales. Una suerte de rizoma en el sentido de Deleuze & Guattari (2004), a través del cual, los territorios son irrigados con significaciones que se oponen, superponen e hibridan con otras de carácter hegemónico.…”

Pedagogical Laboratories: A Case Study of Transformative Sustainability Education in an Ecovillage Context

“…According to the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), an ecovillage is defined as an "intentional, traditional or urban community that is consciously designed through locally owned participatory processes in all four dimensions of sustainability (social, culture, ecology and economy) to regenerate social and natural environments" [20]. While they are often conflated with utopian alternatives to mainstream Western society, ecovillages are more appropriately regarded as learning laboratories for social innovation [20,21].…”