The concept of Ecovillage appeared in the Rio Conference in 1992 as a sustainable alternative to the prevalent model of the megapolis draining the countryside. Since 1996, the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) has been widely promoting the idea as well as the execution of this new habitat model all over the world. Pre-existing and new sites as also thousands of projects are being worked on to offer holistic approaches for developing space and human relations with due consideration to socio-cultural and economic dimensions, the environment, the spiritual and sacred aspects. Thousands of citizens of the world meet here to follow a lifestyle which respects the individual, nature and future generations.

The NGO Forum of the Earth Summit at Rio in 1992 raised the issue of durability of the consumerist model of society and underlined the need to explore the possibilities for sustainable lifestyles. The first meeting of several Ecovillages took place in 1994 at Fjordvang, Denmark, then at Lebersgarten Steyerberg (Germany) the following year. About 480 people from 40 countries gathered at the meeting in Findhorn (Scotland). Together, they drew the outlines for the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) which was officially inaugurated at the UN Conference Habitat II held at Istanbul in the same year. Ever since, an increasing number of sites, both in the North and the South, are being drawn into the dynamics of the Ecovillage network.

A Surfeit of experiences

According to Article 3 of the statutes of the GEN Association in Europe, an Ecovillage is "a habitat with a human dimension, which integrates human activities without causing any adverse effect to the natural environment, which supports a healthy human development, and which can be extended infinitely". In practice, this concept is more an objective to be achieved than a common reality. It covers extremely varied experiences according to climates, territories, origin, history and the intentions of those who execute their projects. The oldest example, Auroville in India, which was started in 1968 (see box) is a project of an ideal city of 50 000 inhabitants which has a strong spiritual connotation.

The Danish Gaia Trust, which provided the logistics for launching GEN, identifies several hundreds of sites, ranging from pure Ecovillages to suburban plots where the local dynamics help in setting up ecological initiatives. Typically, they are all experimental sites - laboratories of the human unit across its diversity - where intensive research is conducted to find concrete solutions to the problem faced by our planet.

Crystal Waters (Australia) was constituted 20 years ago on the principles of Permaculture¹. Its theoretical and technical framework has enabled a rural development which is sustainable and productive. Dancing Rabbit (USA), Munkesogar (Denmark), le Village Convivial de la Paix-Dieu (Belgium) and many others claim to be sites where the individual can live and even demonstrate that it is possible for a human society to exist in harmony with its environment. The emphasis in this villages is to lead and spread. Most of them offer housing possibilities.

Ecovillages at odds with consumerism

The behaviour of our society towards environment is comparable to that of an infant. He grabs anything that is close at hand and puts it in his mouth. He even "consumes" his mother who nurses him and he has no control over his excretion. In today’s world, this nursing mother is "weakened" and the infant is suffocating in his own refuse. It is time this paradigm changed, humankind grew and became the "lover" of the Earth in order to freely evolve towards a better future.

A consumers’ society inevitably leads to concentration phenomena at the expense of the environment: agriculture is standardised and intensified over a decreasing number of plots; industries look for communication nodes; services are set up very close to their clients; and populations gather where there is industry. The concept of Ecovillage is in opposition to these phenomena. Satisfaction is no longer sought in a consumerist way of life but through a closer link between people and nature.

Ecovillages represent a mosaic of experimental areas at the human level, for comprehensive and concrete research which is rooted in reality without losing sight of nature and solidarity.

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