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Ecovillages are ecologically sustainable villages of 50 to 150 people. This size is considered to be the maximum social network according to findings from sociology and anthropology. Larger towns of up to 2000 people are sometimes described as ecovillages, but technically, these transcend any reasonable definition of a single village and more properly describe clusters of same, each perhaps focusing on a different aspect of economy.
An ecovillage is a small community united by shared ecological, social or spiritual values (see Intentional community). It is often composed of people who have chosen an alternative to mainstream power networks. Many see the breakdown of traditional forms of community, wasteful consumerist lifestyles, the destruction of natural habitat, urban sprawl, factory farming, and over-reliance on fossil fuels, as trends that must be changed to avert ecological disaster. They see small-scale communities with minimal ecological impact as an alternative. However, they often cooperate with peer villages in a power network of their own (see Global Ecovillage Network for such an example). This model of collective action is similar to that of Ten Thousand Villages, which supports the fair trade of goods worldwide.
The principles on which ecovillages rely can be applied to urban (see cohousing) and to rural settings, as well as to developing and developed countries. Advocates seek infrastructural independence and a sustainable lifestyle (for example, of voluntary simplicity) for inhabitants with a minimum of trade outside the local area, or ecoregionEcoregions are defined by the World Wildlife Fund as "relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major l. Rural ecovillages are usually based on organic farmingOrganic farming is a way of farming that avoids the use of synthetic chemicals and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and, according to its proponents, follows the principles of sustainable agriculture. Its theoretical basis puts an emphasis on soil h, permaculturePermaculture is the practice of designing sustainable human habitats by following nature's patterns. Origins In the mid 1970s, two Australian ecologists, Dr. Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, started to develop ideas that they hoped could be used to creat and other approaches which promote ecosystemIn ecology, an ecosystem is a community of organisms (plant, animal and other living organisms also referred as biocenose) together with their environment (or biotope), functioning as a unit. The term ecosystem first appeared in a 1935 publication by the function and biodiversityBiodiversity or biological diversity is a neologism and a portmanteau word, from bio and diversity. It is the diversity of and in living nature. Diversity, at its heart, implies the number of different kinds of objects, such as species. However, defining.
An ecovillage usually relies on:
- " GreenGreen economics loosely defines a theory of economics by which an economy is considered to be component of the ecosystem in which it resides. A holistic approach to the subject is typical, such that economic ideas are commingled with any number of other s" infrastructural capitalInfrastructural capital refers to any physical means of production or means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature, i. beyond natural capital and that which is not considered as " fluid capital". It may include tools,;
- autonomous buildingAn autonomous building is a building designed to have very little to no networked services. Most modern buildings use electric power, telephone, water, sewerage, storm drain and road services. Functionally, autonomous buildings use native resources to rep or clustered housing, to minimize ecological footprint;
- renewable energy;
- permaculture;
- cohousing or other forms of supportive community.
Its organization also usually depends upon some instructional capital or moral codes - a minimal civics sometimes characterized as eco-anarchism:
The term ecovillage should not be confused with micronation, a strictly legal, not infrastructural, concept.
