Despite of significant role of collective decision making in strategic community development towards sustainability, this area is seen to be generally underestimated by community planners and ecovillage members, comparing with, for example, legal, financial and technological aspects of community life. This study aims to understand how Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) perspective can contribute to decision making procedures in ecovillages in Sweden. The research examines how decision making procedures work in ecovillages today and to which extent strategic component, viewed through SSD perspective, is currently incorporated. Secondly research explores how SSD perspective could possibly be incorporated into decision making procedures in ecovillages, in order to foster their development towards sustainability. To address this purpose decision making model was created, based on literature review; three ecovillage studies were conducted; and recommendations were offered, based on findings from literature and findings from current experience of selected ecovillages in Sweden.

This work is part of a wider personal and eco-cultural wondering about how to restore and conserve the pleasure of living aligned with the ecology of life. There is a growing concern that one of the biggest challenges we have is to generate sustainable communities. Based on this, the research particularly deals with the following two questions: What is ecological design? And, how does Ecological Design both emerge from, and contribute to, the constitution and conservation of human sustainable communities in our Western-European culture? The research proposes that the only way to understand the practice of ecological design is by dealing with the broader dynamics of human ecology—or, ultimately with what it means to be a human being. Based on a systemic, interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach, the research first explores the phenomenological and bio-cognitive dynamics that generate an ongoing, embodied–ecological epistemology of the human-Nature relationship, thereby overcoming the modern dualism of mind-body and man-nature. It suggests that design ineluctably takes place in this embodied-ecological domain—particularly, in an ongoing eco-cultural network of interactions. Then it explores the emotional basis of human intentionality and behaviour and, based on the work of the biologist Humberto Maturana, proposes that human beings exist in a dynamic interweaving of languaging and emotioning in an eco-cultural medium. This is synthesized through the notion of conversation. The research claims that to design is to converse. Based on this, the research then explores biological and philosophical accounts of the emotion of loving. By exploring basic elements of a synthesis of the ecology of loving, the research suggests that this emotion is the only one that allows the emergence and cultivation of intimate socio-ecological relationships. Accordingly, it also argues that loving is the foundation of environmental ethics and ultimately, the practice of ecological design. The research also explores the conscious sense and practice of homing (or home-making). It argues that homing and loving are interdependent; they form a circular causality—homing-in-love. The research suggests that homing-in-love is what we do when we design ecologically. Finally, the research explores a general framework that may contribute to the process of recovering the vital dynamics of homing-in-love in a global age. In a four-month ethnographic investigation of three Western-European ecovillages, the research explores particular designed platforms of conversation as examples of the practice of ecological design from which more sustainable manner of homing are emerging and being cultivated.

Darbo tikslas - ištirti, kokiais būdais konstruojama “sava erdvė” Lietuvos ekogyvenvietėse (atvejo analizė). Tikslo keliami probleminiai klausimai: Kaip vyksta ekogyvenvietėje gyvenančių žmonių „savos erdvės“ konstravimas? Kokie veiksniai lemia naujos erdvės konstravimą? Kokios reikšmės sukuriamos konstruojant „savą erdvę“? Tyrimo objektas - „savos erdvės“ konstravimo ypatumai tyrinėjamoje ekogyvenvietėje. Baigiamojo darbo teorinis pagrindas paremtas antropologijos teorijos aspektu. Baigiamojo darbo metodologinį pagrindą sudaro antropologinio tyrimo metodai: neformalūs pokalbiai, pusiau struktūruoti interviu, dalyvaujantis stebėjimas ir stebėjimas, dienoraščio pildymas. Pagal oficialius Lietuvos ekologinių gyvenviečių tinklaraščio duomenis, šiuo metu Lietuvoje yra apie penkiolika ekogyvenviečių. Tokias vietas gyvenimui žmonės renkasi labai atidžiai, nes tokios vietos virsta erdve, kurią patys gyventojai gali užpildyti įvairiausiomis kultūrinėmis reikšmėmis – sukurti ją sau, sukonstruoti “savą erdvę”. „Savoje erdvėje“ ekogyvenvietės gyventojai siekia sukurti utopišką gyvenimo modelį pagal savo įsivaizduojamas taisykles ir patirtis. Priežastys, kurios skatina rinktis tokį gyvenimo būdą yra įtakojamos daugybės veiksnių. Nors stengiamasi atitolti nuo civilizacijos ir visuomenės, tačiau konstruojant “savą erdvę” savotiškai atkartojamas tas pats socialinis modelis. Antroje darbo dalyje, apibrėžiant „savos erdvės“ sąvoką, aptariami du svarbūs aspektai: pirmiausiai tai, kad... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Purpose of the project: to research what are methods of construction of own space in the Lithuanian ecovillages (case study). The issues which have been raised referring to the purpose: What is the process of construction of own space of the people residing in ecovillages? What factors causes contruction of new space? What values are developed during construction of own space? Subject of the research: peculiarities of construction of own space in the ecovillages under research. Theoretical ground of the final project is an aspect of anthropology theory. The methodological basis of the final project consists of the anthropological research methods: participant observation, unstructured interviews, informal conversations, fieldnotes. Data from the official website of the Lithuanian ecological settlements reveal that Lithuania currently has approximately fifteen ecovillages. Such places are selected by people very carefully because the places become the spaces to be filled with different cultural values by the residents, i.e. the residents develop and form their own space. Residents of the settlement strive to develop in their own space the utopian residence model in compliance with the imagined rules and experiences. Reasons to choose such lifestyle are influenced by many factors. Though the people strive to make distance from civilization and society, but construction of own space oddly repeat the same social model. Two important aspects are described in the second part... [to full text]

The challenge of facilitating a shift towards sustainable housing, food and mobility has been taken up by diverse community-based initiatives ranging from "top-down" approaches in low-carbon municipalities to "bottom-up" approaches in intentional communities. This paper compares intervention measures in four case study areas belonging to these two types, focusing on their potential of re-configuring daily housing, food, and mobility practices. Taking up critics on dominant intervention framings of diffusing low-carbon technical innovations and changing individual behavior, we draw on social practice theory for the empirical analysis of four case studies. Framing interventions in relation to re-configuring daily practices, the paper reveals differences and weaknesses of current low-carbon measures of community-based initiatives in Germany and Austria. Low-carbon municipalities mainly focus on introducing technologies and offering additional infrastructure and information to promote low-carbon practices. They avoid interfering into residents¿ daily lives and do not restrict carbon-intensive practices. In contrast, intentional communities base their interventions on the collective creation of shared visions, decisions, and rules and thus provide social and material structures, which foster everyday low-carbon practices and discourage carbon-intensive ones. The paper discusses the relevance of organizational and governance structures for implementing different types of low-carbon measures and points to opportunities for broadening current policy strategies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:00:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissRCB.pdf: 16213295 bytes, checksum: 1999dac95a5942bb478b44637887f2f6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-01-30 / Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos / This work has as objective to present a previous evaluation of techniques and guidelines of the Urban Drawing of a Ecovillage in way that, they serve as subsidy for elaboration of technician-scientific referential for the development of projects in areas of special ambient interest or areas of protection of superficial sources that suffer with the pressure for the urbanization and need prevention to its impacts. As study object it was opted to the previous evaluation of the Ecovillage Clareando in Piracaia-SP. that it possesses two factors that belong to the estimated one of this work. The first factor is its localization in Area of Ambient Protection of the Cantareira System of the SABESP, what it demanded an urban design that respects the cycle of the water and, the second, is the requirement in if occupying the place using itself of techniques that minimize the impacts of the urbanization and promote the ambient sustainability of the place praised by Agenda 21. The methodology used in the analysis was divided in three parts: historical bibliographical research and techniques on the relation between urban drawing and environment, data-collecting on the Ecovillage Clareando using some informative resources (as visits, photos and maps of the place) e, finally, the organization of the data in clarifying boxes, presentation of a methodology of urban design and consideration on the study object. As results, techniques of urban design are presented, the adequacy of the project to the urban site, the typology of reticule, the configuration of the lots, the tracing of the ways, the choice of the pavement, the treatment of liquid residues, the treatment of the landscape, the code of workmanships and the obstacles to the occupation of the place. / Este trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar uma avaliação prévia de técnicas e diretrizes do Desenho Urbano de uma Ecovila de modo que, eles sirvam como subsídio para elaboração de referencial técnico-científico para o desenvolvimento de projetos em áreas de especial interesse ambiental ou áreas de proteção de mananciais superficiais que sofrem com a pressão pela urbanização e necessitem de prevenção aos seus impactos. Como objeto de estudo optou-se pela avaliação prévia da Ecovila Clareando em Piracaia-SP que possui dois fatores que pertencem ao pressuposto deste trabalho. O primeiro fator é a sua localização em Área de Proteção Ambiental do Sistema Cantareira da SABESP, o que exigiu um desenho urbano que respeite o ciclo da água e, o segundo, é a exigência em se ocupar o local utilizando-se de técnicas que minimizem os impactos da urbanização e promovam a sustentabilidade ambiental do local preconizados pela Agenda 21. A metodologia utilizada na análise foi dividida em três partes: pesquisas bibliográficas históricas e técnicas sobre a relação entre desenho urbano e meio ambiente, levantamento de dados sobre a Ecovila Clareando utilizando vários recursos informativos (como visitas, fotos e mapas do local) e, por fim, a organização dos dados em quadros explicativos, apresentação de uma metodologia de desenho urbano e consideração sobre o objeto de estudo. Como resultados, são apresentadas técnicas de desenhos urbanos, a adequação do projeto ao sítio urbano, a tipologia da retícula, a configuração dos lotes, o traçado das vias, a escolha da pavimentação, o tratamento de resíduos líquidos, o tratamento da paisagem, o código de obras e os obstáculos à ocupação do local.

This thesis draws upon the young theory of eco-masculinities and the aspiring movement of economic degrowth. We find the concept of eco-masculinities to be an underrepresented complement to the movement of ecofeminism. Studies show that masculine people are less involved in sustainability-related issues in conventional society. We identified this phenomenon as the ‘eco gender characteristics gap’. In the following pages, we elaborate what eco-masculinities can look like at an ecovillage and where we can see possible connections between eco-masculinities and a degrowth mindset. We do so by analysing qualitative data derived from observations of, interviews with and a questionnaire filled out by people living in ecovillages. At an ecovillage, it seems that awareness about feelings and emotions as well as communicating them are highly valued. Our analysis shows that these factors form crucial parts of precepts for eco-masculinities to develop. Connected to degrowth, we can see that eco-masculinities have to be actively implemented and are not automatically attained by living in an alternative setting. We hope that our gained insights contribute to gender characteristics research and to the understanding and acceptance of diverse eco-masculinities in society. / <p>Due to COVID-19, the presentation was held online in a Zoom meeting.</p>

No description available.

Utopian thinking can be understood as an exploration of desires beyond current realities. Seeing ecovillages as spaces for utopian practices, the aim is to investigate what space exists for gender equality and how the utopianism can be used to challenge unwanted patterns. Grounded theory is used to build knowledge from women’s experiences gathered through qualitative interviews. By mapping desires in relation to utopia, it is found that while visions of the sustainable life are seen as attainable, attaining gender equality through equal division of household work is hindered by lack of visions, examples and spaces for discussion of alternatives.

In recent years, there has been a shift in interest in travel, toward an increasing interest in sustainable travel and alternative forms of travel. As a result, there is also an interest in research studying these alternative travel concepts. Therefore, this qualitative study looks at experiences in ecovillages, focusing on volunteer workers. It examines the effects of the ecovillages that influence these volunteers to become environmental stewards. For this purpose, the concept of place attachment, as the connection to the place and the people within the ecovillage, is used. As well as the concept of transformative learning, i.e., the change of views and orientations of the participants of the learning program. To get a better overview of the context of the case study, the literature on voluntourism and voluntourism in the global north (due to the location of the case study), as well as on communities and eco-communities will be examined. The case study is an ecovillage in Ireland, located in Cloughjordan, the middle of Ireland. There, 11 in-depth interviews and observations were conducted, and the volunteers were interviewed about their experiences and their time in the ecovillage. The results of this study suggest three ways in which volunteers are influenced by their ecovillage experiences to become environmental stewards. On the one hand, this is the case due to the recognition of the importance of the developed soft skills. As this is learning for oneself and improving communication with other people. Furthermore, by learning with and from each other, the volunteers are led to take stewardship actions. Finally, it is also the community itself that manages to implement stewardship among the volunteers through the way of life and togetherness and the high value of environmental actions through place attachment.

A infraestrutura verde surge como ferramenta capaz de transformar o espaço urbano e reconectar o homem com os espaços verdes da cidade. Coloca os elementos naturais como provedores de benefícios fundamentais à vida e os processos ecológicos como estruturadores de um novo pensamento que usa os sistemas fluviais e os fragmentos verdes como espinha dorsal e conectores da malha urbana. Trabalhando em rede, prevê espalhar esses benefícios a pequenas e grandes escalas, melhorando a qualidade ambiental e a vida nas cidades. A dissertação explora a possibilidade de usar a infraestrutura verde como ferramenta para criação de comunidades ecológicas e através de estudos de casos de bairros ecológicos e ecovilas nos Estados Unidos e Europa busca as boas práticas já implantadas nas mesmas. A pesquisa foca na região norte de São Paulo, na bacia hidrográfica do córrego do Índio e na Vila Amélia, agrupamento residencial inserido em meio à área do Parque Estadual Alberto Lofgren, o Horto Florestal. A área foi escolhida por apresentar contexto único e grande potencial de transformação através da aplicação de princípios ecológicos. Para finalizar, o estudo propõe algumas diretrizes que podem contribuir para a criação de uma ecocomunidade que respeite suas características e processos naturais, a capacidade de suporte de seus ecossistemas e que contribua para a construção de uma cidade mais equilibrada, sustentável e resiliente. / The green infrastructure emerges as a tool capable of transforming the urban space and reconnecting man with cities green spaces. It places natural elements as providers of fundamental benefits to life and ecological processes as builders of a new thinking that uses river systems and green fragments as the backbone and connectors of the urban fabric. Working in a network, it plans to spread these benefits to small and large scales, improving environmental quality and city life. The dissertation explores the possibility of using green infrastructure as a tool to create ecological communities and through case studies of econeighborhoods and ecovillages in the United States and Europe seeks their good practices. The research focuses on the northern region of São Paulo, the stream basin of Indio stream and Vila Amélia, a residential group placed in the middle of the area of the Alberto Lofgren State Park, the Horto Florestal. The area was chosen because it presents an unique context and great transformation potential through the application of ecological principles. To conclude, the study proposes some guidelines that can contribute to the creation of an ecocommunity that respects its natural characteristics and processes, the support capacity of its ecosystems and that contributes to the construction of a more balanced, sustainable and resilient city.