Mannawood is a sustainable community that subscribes to the Earth Charter and adheres to the principles and standards set up by The Global Foundation of Sustainable Communities.
It is located 90min outside of Melbourne’s CBD north between the Goulbourn and the Yarra Valley, where the community is curently acquiring a large and beautiful piece of farm land. 50% of the land is dedicated to nature and 40% to build Victorias largest permaculture/organic farm. The remaining 10% are dedicated to the village and its employment & leisure infrastructure.
The community is created with the intention of balancing all 4 pillars of sustainability – environmental, social, economic and spiritual – equally. It values indigenous wisdom, heritage, tradition, cultural & religious diversity and invites people from all walks of life to participate.
The goverance model is of sociocratic nature & is value-based to foster respect and tolerance.
All assets of the community, its land, farm and business cooperatives are held by the community through a Community Land Trust, which ensures affordable living (incl. housing, food, water, power and education) for ever.
The village is created, designed and developed in cooperation with the wider community, building strong links between both.
The community is resource-independent by providing its own energy, water, food & workforce. In addition, its community features, healthy environment, organic farm, arts, crafts & innovation precinct, local enterprise & business cooperatives will provide each family with employment.
Various regular farm market days, community events, celebrations & exhibitions will also attract the wider community and others to visit regularly.
Other features:
 Zero Emmission Community
 Carbon negative
 locally sourced, recyclable, renewable, natural building materials
 resource efficiency (passive solar)
 construction & material simplicity
 waste-free community, choosing indefinite resources-cycles/loops
 avoids energy, soil, air, noise and light pollution
 Green Globe 21 Certification for all aspects
 own IT & Telecom service supplier
 walkable, car-free village
 host of community features eg community kitchen, laundry, theatre, etc
 community services for all ages
We inspire and connect people globally to live in sustainable harmony with nature and each other
The community is currently developed as a pilot project by The Global Foundation for Sustainable Communities and the Global Standards described by GIDIFA (specialised UN agency). We soon will send out invitations to become a founding-member. Please send email to in**@***************es.org in order to register your interest.
The community is generally open for visitors, but because we are just forming you cannot visit the site itself. Please send a message to in**@***************es.org and we will inform you once we are open.
The whole membership decides collectively.
Decisions proceed unless someone has a reasoned objection.
Organized in circles or domains with distributed authority.
We have community entities managed by elected community members, leadership comes natural through passion, skills and commitment.
We have a core group that lead us through the forming stage, but they will pass on all responsibilities to the community once we reach planning and implementation stage, while staying on board as ordenairy community members.
The suggested governance model is based on sociocracy, but this may change depending on what kind of constitution the founding members wish to adopt.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Join fee: Yes
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
While each family is independent, the community assets are held in a non-profit Community Land Trust which will pay common outgoings/expenses.
Once formed, the community decides about any joining fee (which might be contributed in money or labour).
Any additional labour contribution is welcomed, but voluntarily.
Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Outdoor Kitchen, Large Scale Kitchen, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Stage or Auditorium, Swingsets & play areas, Recreational vehicles, Gym or sports area, Internet
A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).
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