Alternative Building + Energy
How to Stop Climate Change and Never Be Lonely Again
Posted on July 30, 2019 byEmpowered, sustainable communities are the antidote to isolation. And they are the pivotal technology that makes renewable energy, essential for reversing climate change, actually renewable.
Craft Weaves Together a Community
Posted on June 20, 2019 byA story by Thumbs Cassidy, a person with a mission (in his case the promotion and construction of yurts) who travels from community to community educating and demonstrating. Excerpt from an article originally published at https://paxus.wordpress.com/2019/05/19/craft-weaves-together/ Through the haze of old safety goggles I struggle to read the fractions of an inch I was told to… Read More
4 Building Blocks of Community
Posted on February 25, 2019 byStart a Village “If you don’t like the way things are, Start a Village!” This was the essential message that Stephen Brooks delivered at his enthusiastic TEDx talk at Black Rock City. What does a guy at Burning Man know about community? Stephen shares inspiration through his travels, studies of permaculture, and teaching, how he… Read More
Press Release – Pilot Episode and Campaign Released
Posted on July 18, 2018 byRenewable Energy World and over 130 other online news outlets picked up the press release, as follows: Pilot Episode and Campaign Released for ‘Planet Community’ – Web Series That Features Intentional Communities “Planet Community” is a new web series created to bring awareness to different types of intentional communities that exemplify values of cooperation, sustainability,… Read More
Two Northwest Cities Are Building Tiny Houses For The Homeless in Residential Backyards
Posted on April 27, 2017 by1 Comment
A new pilot program in Portland, OR, is exploring an unconventional way to reduce homelessness in the city. Relying on $350,000 in funding, the county will pay for the cost of building a tiny house in a homeowner’s backyard – under the condition that a homeless family can live there for five years. The program, called A Place… Read More
Is The Country of Bhutan The World’s Largest Intentional Community?
Posted on March 13, 2017 byThis post is an excerpt from Together Resilient: Building Community in the Age of Climate Disruption by Ma’ikwe Ludwig, published by The Foundation for Intentional Community. Visit our fundraising campaign to learn how you can support the publication of the book and get yourself a copy! **** A group of researchers studying variations in per capita carbon emissions notes that, “Much… Read More
These Communities Offer On-Site Permaculture Workshops & Immersion Programs
Posted on March 9, 2017 byCurious about how you can apply permaculture principles in your community or ecovillage? There’s no better way than to visit a community in person and learn from hands-on workshops and immersion programs. Here are two very different programs – one an affordable “spring break” at a community in Washington state, the other a permaculture design… Read More
Are Seasteading Communities the Next Wave of Sustainable Living?
Posted on February 13, 2017 byWayne Adams and Catherine King, two artists living in Tofino, Canada, couldn’t afford to buy a house of their own. Instead, they took their assets offshore — literally — and created a floating paradise off the coast of Vancouver Island called Freedom Cove. For over 20 years, they’ve been living off-grid on this brightly-colored collection of buildings and rafts.… Read More
French Documentary “Tomorrow” Explores Transition Projects All Over the World
Posted on February 9, 2017 byA new documentary made by a French filmmaking duo takes a look at transition projects in Europe and all over the world. Cyril Dion and Melanie Laurent set out to find practical solutions to the problems facing our planet. The result, called Tomorrow, tells the story of “pioneers who are re-inventing agriculture, energy, economy, democracy and education” in 10… Read More
Your Community Could Win Up to £25,000 For Regenerative Projects
Posted on January 26, 2017 byIs your community working on a project that supports “environmental and social regeneration”? The Lush natural cosmetics company is accepting applicants for its 2017 Lush Spring Prize, which will award up to £200,000 to eco-communities and permaculture projects around the world. According to its website, “For many years, environmental campaigners have focused on the idea of sustainability – that… Read More
ThePOOSH Connects Volunteers With Natural Building Projects
Posted on January 23, 2017 byLots of intentional communities are connected with the WWOOFing network (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). It’s a great way for volunteers to gain experience living and working on an organic farm in exchange for room and board. But have you heard of the POOSH network, which connects people interested in natural and sustainable building projects?… Read More
Taking the Systems View: climate change as a driver of SDG implementation
Posted on December 22, 2016 byThis is a guest post by Dr. Daniel Christian Wahl, Head of Innovation at Gaia Education, which is based out of Findhorn Ecovillage. Once the doors closed on yet another United Nations climate gathering – this time in Marrakech – Paula Caballero, director of the climate program at the World Resource Institute, summed up a growing insight… Read More
Orange Splot LLC Is Creating New Community Housing in Portland
Posted on December 8, 2016 byPortland, Oregon, is known for being ahead of the curve when it comes to alternative housing and co-operative living. From the Tiny House Hotel to the Columbia Ecovillage cohousing community, there are dozens of locations in the city where you can see these innovative projects in action. One housing developer, Orange Splot, LLC, is leading the charge, with… Read More
Help Kickstart This Composting Toilet Research Project!
Posted on November 28, 2016 byIntentional communities can be the perfect testing ground for new sustainability practices – whether it’s an innovative greywater system or an aquaponics garden. At my community in Portland, we use our own composting toilet system, specifically intended to be safe and smell-free in a busy urban environment. Instead of flushing clean water down the train dozens of times each day, we… Read More
The Damanhur Community In Italy Has Its Own Currency and Constitution
Posted on November 21, 2016 byThe community of Damanhur in northern Italy is known for the Temples of Humankind, a 5-story series of underground chambers built by residents of the community as a spiritual gathering place. Begun in 1978, they were discovered by authorities in the 1990s, and nearly shut down. Now, they’re open to the public and have become… Read More
Arcosanti Combines Architecture and Ecology in The Arizona Desert
Posted on November 17, 2016 byAbout 70 miles north of Phoenix, high in the Arizona desert, a blocky, concrete series of buildings rises out of the hillside. It looks like a cross between a futuristic museum and a desert village on Tatooine. But this isn’t your typical example of post-modernism. It’s an experiment in “arcology,” a style of design that… Read More
This Eco-Community in Peru is Known for Its Cone-Shaped Structures
Posted on September 12, 2016 byJust over an hour north of Lima, Peru, a circle of cone-shaped buildings rises beside a sandy beach. These structures are called “trulys,” and they’re part of a spiritual eco-village built by Hare Krishnas on the Peruvian coast. The village is a popular stopping place for travelers looking for a peaceful, meditative retreat in rural… Read More
A Free Documentary Series Shows You How To Live In A Tiny House Legally
Posted on September 8, 2016 byFor many tiny house enthusiasts, building the house itself isn’t the hard part. There are lots of resources out there for designing and constructing a tiny house, as well as companies that will build the whole thing for you. More and more people are coming to see tiny homes as a viable living option. These… Read More
“Ecotopia” Art Installation Brings Visions of Permaculture to the London Design Festival
Posted on September 1, 2016 byFrom Sept. 17-25, 2016, the London Design Festival will feature an art installation inspired by Ernest Callenbach’s 1975 book Ecotopia. In the book, a journalist visits a newly-formed country in the Pacific Northwest that’s built on sustainable permaculture principles. The installation will explore ways that “Utopian thinking” can help us find solutions to our modern-day… Read More
At This Hawaiian Eco-Community, You Can Stay In A Bamboo Hut In A Volcanic Crater
Posted on August 29, 2016 byA few weeks ago – as the prospect of spending another winter here in rainy Portland began to dawn on me – I started looking into some travel opportunities in warmer climates. One of my goals as a blogger is to get to visit some of the intentional communities that I write about – and… Read More
A Planned City In Australia Will Feature Tesla-Powered Homes
Posted on August 25, 2016 by1 Comment
Planned communities have had a long and somewhat mixed history. From the Familistere in Guise, France, designed to house factory workers, to the Disney-fied Main Street of Celebration, Florida, they differ from cohousing projects and intentional communities in a major way: they’re generally created from the top-down, by developers and business owners, rather than by… Read More
KCET Visits the LA Eco-Village for A Look At Sustainable Urban Living
Posted on August 22, 2016 byWhen you hear about life in Los Angeles, you probably think about traffic, smog, and sprawling suburbs. But LA has a thriving network of intentional communities, many of which exist just under the radar of activity in neighborhoods like Silverlake, Mar Vista, and Koreatown. I spent several years living in the city and got to… Read More
This Alaska Community Took Its Own Approach To Treating Mental Illness
Posted on August 15, 2016 by2 Comments
The philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti once said, “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” It’s a quote often repeated by alternative healers and counter-cultural thinkers. In the 1980s, four families from Boston – who suffered from depression, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses – put that philosophy to the… Read More
This TED Talk Shows How Ecovillages Can Bring About Global Change
Posted on August 4, 2016 byLast year, Kosha Joubert, President of the Global Ecovillage Network, delivered a powerful talk at TEDxGeneva on the impact of ecovillages around the globe. Joubert lived in South Africa as a child, spent time in Amsterdam as adult, and now lives at the Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland. After studying cultural anthropology, she says she felt… Read More
How This French Philosopher Inspired An Early Version of Cohousing
Posted on July 23, 2016 by1 Comment
Although not as famous as some of his contemporaries, the French thinker Charles Fourier was one of the early visionaries of the intentional community movement. A utopian socialist, he proposed that society should be organized into Phalansteres, or “grand hotels,” each housing several hundred to several thousand people. At the peak of his popularity, he… Read More
The First YIMBY Conference Says Yes In My Backyard
Posted on July 21, 2016 byMany U.S. cities are in the middle of a housing crisis. Some, like San Francisco, have been struggling with it for years, while others, like Portland and Seattle, hope to avoid following the same trajectory. There are many factors at play, including high rates of migration to urban areas, and the impact of peer-to-peer homesharing… Read More
A New Movement Is Rethinking Our Relationship With The Earth
Posted on July 18, 2016 byLast month, I had the chance to visit the Windward Education and Research Center, an intentional community in rural Washington, for an event called the EcoSex Convergence. Over 5 days, 150 participants explored topics related to environmentalism, spirituality, sexuality, and more. The event’s guests of honor were Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, who combine academic… Read More
The Placemaking Movement is Turning Cities into Communities
Posted on July 8, 2016 byOver 15 years ago, a group of natural builders organized the first Village Building Convergence in Portland, OR. It’s partly the reason why the city is now dotted with colorful intersections, cob benches, and unconventional living spaces. According to the organizers, “We recognized that modern life and the structure of our cities often don’t create… Read More
Power Shift Hosts 4 Regional Events for Young Climate Activists
Posted on June 30, 2016 byThe Energy Action Coalition, the “Hub of the Youth Climate Movement,” has hosted four Power Shift convergences for young climate activists since 2007. This year, the event is expanding into four regional convergences taking place in Philadelphia, Detroit, Orlando, and the West Coast: “Power Shift brings young climate leaders together as a movement—building the organizing… Read More
NuMundo Hosts Southeast Bioregional Convergence in Asheville, July 9-10
Posted on June 27, 2016 byNuMundo wants to make it easier for travelers to connect with ecovillages and intentional communities around the world. Their site has dozens of listings in the U.S., Europe, South America, and more, many of which offer permaculture classes, natural building courses, and other hands-on, land-based experiences. NuMundo calls these locations “impact centers“: “An impact center… Read More
