ECOVILLAGE CASE STUDIES

Inspired by the need to strengthen resilience on many levels – community, bioregional, global – Atlan Center is actively exploring strategies and potentials of collective effort for these times of transition. They plan to continue to develop a Resilience Hub as a circular economy hub and sanctuary for peace and the rights of nature. Developing more local resilience for food production, repair skills, and the whole 3 horizon board will help to map out some of the practical steps for the community learning and wellness centre as part of this network of information and resource exchange. They will also participate in cross regional collaboration with Huehue Ecovillage, Mexico, and hopefully other ecovillages.

Recognising the immense potential created when working with groups that are often marginalised such as women and children, Gudza Ramuka will continue to work together with the intentional focus of integrating the whole community. They will maintain their regular meetings to plan and develop strategies together, actively ensuring all voices are heard. The community acknowledges that women and children may not have had the much share of the power but they have been much more dependable and persistent in their efforts. Bringing the strength of diversity also to the ecological elements, they will continue to diversify their production systems: seeds, crops, trees, and animals. They are more aware of what each element brings into the system. Additionally, by localising their food system, they will be able to rely more on what is under their control.

Recognising the benefits of being based in a moderate climate, Ecodorp Boekel is aware that they are one of the privileged who’s exposure to the effects of climate change has been limited so far. Additionally, the well-organized energy, water, transportation, and communication infrastructure of their country enables the ecovillage to be well-insured to cover setbacks and repairs. However, possibly as a result of this, the community notices the lack of a sense of urgency to build greater preparedness along with the broad and practical skill set to implement this. Even still, as a fairly young ecovillage, they began their design with climate change in mind by prioritising aspects such as insulation, energy storage, extreme weather preparedness which they see as a great advantage. Apart from developing a food forest and an edible landscape, and winding up affairs with the contractor, they understand that building a trusting community and a tribal culture will be preconditional to all other challenges. The resilience assessment process helped create an x-ray of the current status quo and a partially drawn map of the terrain and road ahead.

Recognising how critical strong ties and relationships are to their resilience, Earthsong plans to energise this not only within the community, but with the surrounding neighbourhood. As a small, relatively dense suburban site, much of their long-term, extreme scenario resilience depends on those relationships. Earthsong has much to offer in relation to social and environmental resilience, but only with stronger connections with neighbours will this be recognised and taken up. As climate breakdown becomes more extreme, Earthsong may become a target for those who are desperate and see them as having attractive resources. Strengthening their value and presence in the wider community will help to mitigate any threats from that. At the same time, their ability to share experiences depends on their own wellbeing. In order to be of service to the wider community, they need to protect their internal integrity so as not to become overwhelmed or flooded in desperate times.

After noticing the persistence of the topic of social bonds coming up for the community, it will be a primary focus for next steps to strengthen these among community members. Even when they attempted to shift discussions to ecological topics, it inevitably came back to the relationships within the community that present a real existential threat to the ecovillage. To some extent, this could also impact regional resiliency, through political and network development of relationships and participatory processes. They are revisiting all lifestyle and infrastructure systems, processes, and policies in order to look at a more resilient short and mid term environment. In that, they carry the awareness that the term scenario is very uncertain.

While mangroves have been the main source of fuelwood, the community now understands that destroying this resource is a major threat to resilience and will seek out alternative sources. Extending this theme of shifting from depleting natural resources, they will also explore alternative livelihood options through local economic skills and enterprise development for women and youth. Blending social and ecological capacity improvements, they will help community members to use the resilience assessment tools to rethink their future through participatory planning, organization of local resources, and initiating locally led community based initiatives.

During their resilience exploration, the Damanhur Community felt impressed with their results, attributing a lot of this to their late founder and the many protocols and social nets already in place. With that, they noticed that even though there are individuals within the community who are aware of what climate change will bring, as a whole community, that shared awareness is missing. They will bring this active awareness to community discussions as they take a serious look at water storage, soil regeneration, even more diversified energy systems, and reforestation.

As they celebrated the reasonably high ecological resilience, members of the Hundredfold Farm recognised the need to focus on social and economic aspects of climate change. This inspired the community to launch long-range strategic planning with the drive to move from the mentality of *fail-safe* experiments to *safe-fail.* If a “fail-safe” system fails, it remains at least as safe as it was before the failure. On the other hand, safe-fail is a strategy that strives to assure that the system can recover from failure. The community discovered their best potential emerged when fusing critical thinking and creative activities, especially storytelling as a way to promote learning in response to crisis. They will apply this as they develop community-wide processes for handling systems-level emergencies.

Motivated by the need to recover, regenerate, and revitalise, Centro Ubuntu values the ability to dream and plan, particularly as part of a Global Community. They place great emphasis on education and the arts during their reflective process, believing that fostering creativity is essential for achieving meaningful outcomes. While the community regularly discusses the challenges they face — such as the changing climate, dwindling fish populations, rising sea levels, and more frequent hurricanes — this broader perspective has allowed them to connect these experiences to the concept of polycrisis and their resilience. Through this understanding, they have come to appreciate the role of their community’s history in shaping their identity. They celebrate their fight for ethnic rights and recognize how overcoming this struggle has empowered them as well as other communities. They hope the next generation will embrace this legacy and incorporate it into their lives as part of the resilience of the Afro-Colombian community. Furthermore, Centro Ubuntu plans to continue refining their conflict management systems and integrating intergenerational perspectives into their planning. At a fundamental level, they aim to explore the best ways to share their knowledge, skills, and inspiration. By generating materials and resources, they seek to strengthen their resilience and support the resilience of other communities in their bioregion.

Recognizing the significant impact of both flooding and droughts on the region surrounding Govardhan Ecovillage, the community examined the thresholds and consequences of these events. Surrounded by mountains, water logging during floods has severely affected their infrastructure and trees. With growing concern, they have observed increasing evidence that the system is nearing a critical threshold as dangerous floods become more frequent. To enhance their resilience, they identified early warning signs to help them better prepare, starting with mapping the areas most vulnerable to water logging. They established a weather station to closely monitor the monsoon season and are exploring the possibility of relocating properties and resources as a precautionary measure. However, they recognize the need for a more scientific approach to effectively manage these risks.

When the Findhorn community noticed the absence of younger people engaging in its inner workings, they decided to investigate the issue by examining its symptoms and root causes to allow a solution to emerge. This challenge, common in many established communities, sparked concerns about succession in key areas. As they delved deeper, they confronted the realities of higher living costs and limited employment and learning opportunities, issues that had been exacerbated by Brexit. They also uncovered old structures that stifled the energy and initiative of young people and the lack of space for co-creation. With this newfound clarity, they recognized the importance of empowering young people by developing these spaces and opportunities. Although Findhorn is seen as an exciting and vibrant place, this particular age group was notably absent. The community then found inspiration to put more efforts into understanding why this is often a phenomenon in larger and older ecovillages. They plan to put energy into exploring ways to come together, cross-pollinate ideas, and redefine solutions to this issue.

The local climate in Ando Kpomey features sub-equatorial patterns with distinct rainy and dry seasons. Once surrounded by shrub savannah, the village faced devastating bush fires, destroying housing, local infrastructure, crops, and food storage. This led the elders to perform traditional rituals to appease the earth gods. In addition, cultural and spiritual values offered social and emotional support to community members in times of crisis or disaster. Traditional rituals and practices provided a framework for expressing solidarity, compassion and hope in the face of adversity.
The community proposed creating a “green belt” to act as a fire buffer. With collective effort, they planted a firebreak, starting with a 14-metre stretch and now extending to a community forest up to 850 meters deep. It has become a source of great pride for the people of Ando Kpomey, a sacred place inhabited by spirits and divinities, particularly the “Nukuvizihouin” deity, the community’s protector and the cornerstone of all its cultural ceremonies. People rely on spiritual and traditional leaders to study, interpret and understand ecological relationships and environmental change. The spiritual connection to the forest fosters respect for nature and motivates its protection.
These traditional stories were passed down from generation to generation through teachings on the relationship between man and the forest during popular gatherings under the large trees in the village. These stories reinforced the values of responsibility towards forest ecosystems, encouraging their preservation.
Ando Kpomey has verbal governance rules established by family representatives and the village chief to protect the forest, enforced by a youth committee. This participatory and inclusive approach strengthens community ties, resilience, and cultural identity. All aspects of decision-making and practices, shaping the attitudes and behaviours of community members, are participatory and inclusive. This collaboration between community members strengthens community solidarity, fostering social resilience and cultural identity.

Having identified about twenty themes of resilience building has generated interest among many of the community members at The Farm. Focusing on a 5-10 year plan, they intend to list the key activities needed to start to address each topic as interest and participation continue to grow, with full awareness that it will always need an engaged team. So far they are focusing primarily on growing more of their own food, regenerative agriculture, improving water security and systems on the Farm, a biochar paving project, disaster preparedness and prevention, restoring the health of our fields and pastures, and maintaining forest ecosystems. They are also aware of the need for more financial resources in order to move significantly and rapidly towards climate resilience.

Recognizing the social bonds that unite them as their greatest source of resilience, La Tierrita is now expanding their efforts to include ecological resilience. As they gain a deeper understanding of global climate tipping points, their focus is shifting towards enhancing infrastructure for extreme climatic events and developing robust emergency plans. Specifically, they plan to improve their water systems and prepare for potential fires. While they take comfort in the strong community response during emergencies, they have observed a decline in this vigilance once the immediate threat has passed. To address this, they aim to maintain ongoing awareness and preparedness. With continued hope, they are confident that they already possess the seeds for the future they envision. This is evident in the growth of the agroecology network and declarations of pesticide and GMO-free areas, reflecting their belief that human health is intrinsically linked to the health of the planet.

By deeply listening to the wisdom within their community systems, members of Narara Ecovillage identified areas requiring more care and focus as they plan for the future. By examining the layers of self, community, and region, they uncovered hidden pain points and brought them to light. This process provided clarity on the need to modify their systems, especially in terms of timely decision-making, as they prepare to double in size over the next few years. While there is a general awareness of climate change impacts and the need for preparedness within the community, there is also a palpable tension due to the perceived lack of urgency. The members strive to balance completing necessary tasks with protecting themselves from burnout. They found inspiration in remembering the passion, good will, positive intention, courage, vision, willingness to learn, determination, recognition of the need for ‘community’, commitment, optimism and excitement that the community was built upon.

As the community mapped their strengths and challenges regarding overall resilience, they realised their vulnerability was more significant than they had previously understood. They noticed a tension in the level of participation and decision-making concerning short- and long-term effects. They gained clarity as they identified the major tipping points they were vulnerable to, which helped them prioritise. For them, this included water, food, transport, and social engagement. However, they still face the challenge of addressing immediate issues like pollution, roads, and energy while designing a systematic and holistic plan for the future. For example, how do they allocate land for construction and development to provide immediate housing while also making it available for food production, wildlife habitat, and other benefits? They celebrated their high capacity to deal with crises and will now work to enhance their ability to implement long-term solutions.

Upon examining the system model and current governance practices at Sieben Linden, the need emerged to monitor both individual and collective economic situations and how they relate to decision-making. While existing methods provide participatory opportunities, there is room for improvement to ensure all voices are fairly heard and considered. This is paralleled with the broader context of a continuing international economic crisis, which could lead to decreased demand for Sieben Linden’s services and income as a seminar venue. In response, they are exploring a Plan B, which includes redirecting funds from building new living quarters to possibly repurposing the existing guesthouse for this use. Ecologically, they are aware of their vulnerabilities to drought, heatwaves, and other environmental impacts, though significant efforts have been made to mitigate these risks. Additionally, they have faced challenges with community turnover and loss of skills and are planning to adapt membership criteria to improve accessibility.

Remembering that resilience is a continuous journey, the representatives of the People’s Coast Ecovillage Network felt proud to be on the right path toward building resilience against the impacts of climate change, despite leadership and governance challenges. Through workshops and community discussions, they highlighted how many individuals and organisations have already started implementing measures to mitigate and adapt, such as investing in renewable energy, enforcing forest protection policies, and creating green infrastructure. However, they remain aware of significant threats: sand mining, rising temperatures harming agricultural productivity, more frequent and intense storms, and sea-level rise continue to pose high risks. It is clear that more action is needed to strengthen their resilience to these challenges. This includes improving infrastructure while enhancing community preparedness and response plans. They are empowered by a strong shared commitment and willingness to address these issues and look forward to establishing an Ecovillage Learning Centre to support this work.

Despite the region’s susceptibility to natural disasters, the Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) has implemented initiatives that integrate ecosystem health and human well-being. The Sundarbans coastal region faces annual cyclones that devastate crops and livelihoods, impacting people already living below the poverty line. This focus on short-term benefits over long-term planning creates barriers to active participation. However, when they launched the Ecovillage project in 2015, BEDS focused on green housing, business, and education, they felt the positive shift. The community gained access to safe drinking water, solar home systems, and improved cooking stoves. Green business initiatives and social entrepreneurship included integrated organic farming with native seeds, improving livelihoods. Green education increased environmental awareness and responsibility towards the mangrove forest. Two years later, they were declared the first solar union in Bangladesh. And three years after that, BEDS further improved livelihoods by teaching the community to maximise resources, producing items like mangrove pickle, honey, and molasses. There is significant effort to support the local farmers to maintain native seeds as one of their greatest sources of resilience. BEDS plans to maintain the connection between healthy agricultural systems, education, and livelihood enhancement, recognizing their interdependence in sustaining a resilient community.

Aware of their privilege of not being at the forefront of the climate crisis, the community often views it as an issue affecting distant places. As a result, much of their focus is on social issues, strengthening cohesion, and integrating traditional methods. The community practises many sustainable techniques that attract visitors and serve as a model for other farms and small communities. This could be a strategy to strengthen ties with neighbours in the region, helping build connections and system redundancy. They are still figuring out how to manage an influx of new people wanting to join the community, including refugees, knowing that integration takes time, the Finnish language is difficult to learn, and maintaining culture is important. At the same time, more people are needed to do the work, and new skills are welcome.