What we know about Resilience

Discover the main patterns, strengths and learning edges of ecovillages navigating the challenges of the times we’re in.

From 2022 to 2024, GEN and 20 of its members engaged in a collaborative inquiry into the resilience of ecovillages to a +2.5 degree climate change scenario. With expert researchers and facilitators in the field of social-ecological, personal and interpersonal resilience, ecovillage design and social transformation, 20 ecovillages from 18 countries gathered to explore what ecovillages can nurture today to be more resilient tomorrow.

Together, we did resilience assessments of ecovillages and explored key ecovillage practices to a +2.5 degree scenario. With guidance from the Resilience Alliance, we then synthesised the results to explore patterns in the strengths and vulnerabilities and where more work is needed.

These are the key findings.

1. Resilience and the impact of climate change is uneven across the Global Ecovillage Network, and there are great opportunities to learn from each other.

Many of the global south communities in particular, are already dealing directly with the effects of climate change and out of necessity, finding ways of coping, developing adaptations, and responding to rapid and sometimes unexpected change. From Bomigo, Ghana we heard how “the extreme drought destroys our infrastructure and crops which are direct links to livelihoods. And then this causes climate refugees.” Other communities, particularly those with sufficient resources and situated in regions with relatively stronger economies, are more buffered from climate impacts and have more options available. In Boekel, Netherlands community members report “when we experience drought, we see a lower yield which means more expensive groceries”. While these different realities and experiences of climate change can be confronting, they also help surface compassion and deepen our collective understanding of the changes underway in ways that might stimulate action and planning while also strengthening a sense of global connection and responsibility.

This sentiment was expressed in different ways over many community-of-practice calls and is nicely framed in a report from Hundredfold Farm: “I have been wildly, dramatically impacted by having the community of practice calls to join. They inform how I show up in this community. They also humble me and provide spaces to bear witness to the really disparate impacts of climate change around the world. They keep me sensitive and alert, and also provide some fortitude”.

2. Understanding the worsening and unpredictable impacts of climate change is not easy – but to continue being centres of hope and experimentation, it is vital for ecovillages to integrate climate risks in their planning.

Climate risks based on regional projections and the implications of global tipping points, are somewhat understood but not always addressed by community plans or strategic priorities. In some cases these risks are out of sight, out of mind.

This is emphasised in a reflection from Aldea Feliz: “When we started reflecting together, we realised that we never thought about if something could go wrong. We live the happy life and we must also prepare to face potential challenges. It was very touching for many people here to think what if we don’t have backup systems.”

3. Many ecovillage practices for sustainability and regeneration also contribute to resilience – but there is more to do for communities to be resilient to the climate crisis.

An opportunity exists with the resilience tracker tool and its 31 resilience indicators that were co-developed with the community of practice, to identify specific aspects of resilience that need strengthening and to target actions as part of a broader adaptation strategy.

Members of d’Ando Kpomey capture this with the call for higher level strategy: “When we consider the qualities of a desirable future system for our community, we wish to see strengthened governance through improved local institutions and decision-making. There should be sufficient opportunity for leaders and the wider community to reconsider the situation and decide on the best paths forward.”

4. The resilience of each community is linked to the resilience of it’s region and the world – and we are all interconnected and need to work together at many levels of scale.

Many ecovillage members recognize that to become more climate resilient they need to actively nurture relationships with surrounding communities and become more connected and invested in regional resilience. Some communities are already pursuing bioregional alliances and exchange of resources.

This was aparent for residents of Earthsong Eco-Neighbourhood, as they shared: “One of the main lessons from the Resilience Project for us was how connected and dependent we are on our whole neighbourhood, our whole suburb, being healthy and flourishing. It was important that we recognized and valued that and actually put more effort into integrating with our wider neighbourhood.”

And echoed by Huehuecoyotl: “Unfortunately we have a very weak governance and severe lack of public Fire Fighters. It’s mainly up to the people to self-organize to protect our forests and homes. By supporting Civilian Fire Brigades, community organization, and communication platforms, we unite with the neighboring towns so we can act quickly and support each other in prevention and firefighting logistics.”

5. Ecovillages are great at nurturing experimentation and creativity. This is a great resource for generating innovative solutions for global climate challenges.

Creativity can also be applied to exploring options and decisions under different climate change scenarios in ways that can be linked to local planning.

This was reflected in d’Ando Kpomey’s perspective: “Young people in particular are often interested in the possibility of using new technologies or using their creativity to contribute to community events. Monitoring and evaluation also can help understand the effectiveness of efforts and adapt to a better strategy within the community as well as through collaboration with external actors. For this it is necessary to develop innovative actions requiring substantial changes as well as new capacities for community leaders.”

6. High trust, strong community bonds, and knowing each other’s skills and capacities is a strength that also strengthen crisis and response in communities. This can be enhanced by having better early warning systems and emergency protocols.

“If the heavy rains continue to cause floods and erode the water reservoir dike, it would not only flood nearby crops but the village would become completely isolated as the only access road would be cut. We would lose access to the market to sell our products as well as source basic necessities and medical services. This would be a serious crisis. To avoid this, we monitor the coastline of the dike. We could use materials to strengthen the dike and push back the coastline as well as continue reforestation to stabilize the sides of the dike. – d’Ando Kpomey Community

“We noticed a number of warning signs including crop loss from insects and heat waves; seed supply changes; as well as labor shortages from high temperatures. Different sorts of monitoring were proposed ranging from keeping detailed records of our planting/harvest to establishing a weather station. Beginning to collect data like this will help in determining which plants to prioritize based on adaptability to climate conditions.” – Hundredfold Farm

7. Food security is a problem in many communities (and the societies they are part of). Ecovillages can play a leading role in increasing local food production, creating regional seed banks, and supporting local supply chains.

8. Reciprocity, mutual care, stewarding the commons and sharing resources and skills are all ecovillage strengths. This can be built on to expand knowledge and resource sharing, both with nearby communities and within the Global Ecovillage Network.

9. Ecovillages are abundant with ideas and activity but not always good at strategic planning. In a volatile world, it is important to build more capacity for planning that is rooted in evidence and dialogue and manages risk across multiple future scenarios.

“There is already so much that is being done here; there is so much that is happening; and so many efforts being made to improve and add to the community in one way or another. So we both need to figure out how to follow up more effectively with existing and on-going projects and we need to keep this in mind as we plan for and begin to initiate new projects.” – The Farm