Rekindling the social roots of the "village" in our lives today.

After many years of research, we are ready to take this project to the next level of reaching and teaching more people the skills and practices needed to be truly unified and socially sustainable in our families, our communities and our world. At this point, we are just a couple steps away from building our sustainable village and education center to support and solidify this project by giving it a home. We have found the perfect land, already set up with enough infrastructure for immediate housing, classrooms, and farming as well as the ideal location & qualities in Southern Oregon. We are seeking angel funding to purchase the land.

Please contact me for a copy of the project plan if you are eager and able to help give this project a home and move us into full action!

The Project

To build a socially, financially and ecologically sustainable eco-village and permaculture farm to serve as a model and educational center of practices for sustainable living. The emphasis of this model is social sustainability: to live and teach practices that create enduring, harmonious social connections, support, and cooperation. These essential core elements will be integrated into all of the educational programs. The center will actively involve its members in creating healthy, fulfilling relationships with each other, the earth, surrounding communities, and the global community.

The Need

Through decades of societal emphasis on individual image and material success, our culture has lost sight of one of the most basic human needs: real connection. Increasing with each generation, we have forgotten how to have fulfilling relationships with ourselves and each other. Marriages and families are suffering. Many people feel isolated even in the midst of other human beings.
As our world changes, and we move into a time where we are called to revive and sustain a socially cooperative network of family and community, we need to learn effective ways to work through interpersonal issues and conflicts. These ways will support us in renewing village-based security and comfort and meet our needs to feel connected, co-create together and share resources in an efficient and economical way.
At a time when peoples lives have become increasingly isolated, fragmented and disconnected from the rhythms of the earth, fulfilling relationships and supportive community, many are reconsidering and re-evaluating the choices we make as individuals and as a society. As the needs for sustainable choices, connection, cooperation and equanimity become ever more apparent, the working models and experiential training programs of the Sustainable Village and Education Center play an increasingly important role in reviving and sustaining the social fiber of our families and communities.

Goals:

*Build a small ecovillage as a living model of sustainability through:

A. Organic Farming
B. Permaculture
C. Eco Building
D. Green Energy and Waste Reduction/Elimination
E. Sustainable Business
F. Emphasizing conscious, life-enhancing connections with ourselves and each other
G. Youth Empowerment Programs, supporting our young visionaries in co-creating our world


* Educational development and outreach:

A. Sustainable Living Tours
B. Youth Empowerment Programs/Global University for a Thriving World
C. Community Building & Permaculture Certification Courses
D. Therapeutic Yoga & Retreats
E. Co-creative Solutions Facilitation & Training
F. Relationship Coaching/Workshops

Vision:

Co-creating a small, permaculture, eco-village, starting with 5-7 households/families with young children and becoming a sustainable village and education center. We can create a variety of ways to sustain ourselves within the context of the larger conscious community, bartering and generating the income we need to sustain our project. This will depend on the interests, passions and skills of the individuals within our village. Some ideas include: Specialty Produce (ie Blueberries and/or peaches), organic flowers, organic seed production, Added Value Products: herbal skin & body care products, goat products, beeswax candles..., Services: therapeutic yoga, pilates, spa services with herbal facials, massage, life coaching..., and Educational Programs. We envision offering seasonal Youth Empowerment Programs, Sustainable Living Tours, Permaculture Certification Courses, Yoga Retreats, Personal Growth and Relationship Workshops, Children's programs and/or Waldorf school,etc. - teaching the things that work to support our mission as described above. It also seems critical to find a balance between private community times and educational programs honoring the needs of our little eco-village. We will raise goats and chickens and maybe other animals that are appropriate in supporting a self-sustaining ecosystem...... maybe even some horses for transportation or draft horses for work. It will be important to have diverse sources of income rather than having all our eggs in just one basket. Choices abound!

Practices for Sustainable Living:

Yoga and meditation or other spiritual practices:
Shared daily practice; some form of being still and present with ourselves, together. We don't all have to have the same practice, we can simply co-create some way of coming together to simply listen with all our senses, honoring our innate, unspoken spiritual wisdom.

Being present & honest: enhancing communication, connection, & cooperation between people:
This includes a commitment to being present (drug free) and honest, a commitment to practices that we learn and integrate into our daily interactions, including listening to each other with all our senses and hearts open, sharing our truth, desires and obstacles, as well as learning relationship skills and conflict resolution skills. These practices of connecting with others grow from and are supported by our personal practice of connecting with our self and the Divine, however that manifests for each of us.

Honoring the sacred in everyday life:
These are practices of reverence and gratitude and intention, Feng Shui, tuning into and instilling love and beauty into our spaces, our tools and our daily tasks.

Celebrating the seasons and cycles of life:
This practice includes the rituals and things we do to recognize and remember our connection to the greater pulse of life, the Divine energy within us and surrounding us, honoring the beauty, blessings and support of nature.

Growing and wildcrafting our own food and medicine locally:
Practicing permaculture, organic gardening/farming and herbalism. We are currently seeking an experienced, successful farm manager who wants to take on a co-creative, management role in the garden/farm aspect of our village. Inquire if interested.

Generating our own energy locally
Practicing permaculture, using simple, pre-petroleum and cutting edge appropriate technologies.

Living simply & building consciously with local resources:
Practicing permaculture, using conscious, green and natural building techniques.

Creating little/no waste:
Reduce, reuse and recycle!!! Reduce consumption by making carefully thought-out, long-term choices as well as repairing and maintaining what we have. Asking, "Do I really need this?", "How long will it last?" and "Will it end up in landfill?" Also, clearing clutter to create clear, flowing, thriving energy in all spaces.

Playing, singing, chanting, dancing, working, creating, sharing personal experiences, expressing our hearts, doing rituals together with the people in our village and in our lives to bond and heal us deeply.

Choosing forms of transportation that reduce or eliminate the need for fossil fuel. Let's explore the possibilities and make further shifts in this area. Let's restore trains as a means for long distance travel.

Thank-you for your interest. Contact us for further information and to support this Social Sustainability Research and Education Project.