Section 2:

PLACING THE ECOVILLAGE IN CONTEXT: (This section is contributed by Tony Hodgson , a member of the International Futures Forum and Director of Decision Integrity Limited)

“The challenge in growing the number and role of ecovillages as part of an initiative for restoring viability to the earth is that there are many levels which are all interconnected and dependent on each other. In the past there was some room to manoeuvre in setting up situations in relative isolation as a way of controlling what was and was not present in the given living arrangements. However, the situation is pretty close to vanishing through the multiple forces of population growth, trade expansion, globalisation of media and communications and the spread of technology everywhere. 

A holistic perspective requires us to consider whatever our situation is as part of a holarchy. This is neither a hierarchy nor a network but a structure of nature that transcends both whilst incorporating features of both. In a holarchy we need to take into account what Arthur Koestler called the Janus effect. Any part in a whole has two faces, one is autonomous and acts freely, the other is integral and acts as subservient to a greater whole. This is one way of characterising a fundamental dilemma of any effort to create an alternative life-style, which is the tension between independence and interdependence.

From a holistic perspective we, as individuals, are nested in six further layers a shown in the diagram, below.

We can place the ecovillage at the locality/community layers. However, the viability of an ecovillage is dependent on a core group that share values a, aspirations and skills sufficient to maintain the alternative standards. This, in turn, is dependent on specific individuals who can live and practice the key values. Looking in the wider direction, the locality is also dependent for its health on the kind of governance and social state which contains and surrounds that locality. It is also embedded in a regional culture which will include ethnic, religious and other cultural patterns. Finally, it will be a contributor of some range and scale of the total human footprint and the balance of degenerative and restorative conditions on the planet.

The challenge is that all levels have to be taken into account whatever their condition. If countries are at war, then the locality may be overrun. If unsustainable technology is imposed by market and political forces, then it has to be dealt with, even reformed into a more sustainable form. Placing the village in a cocoon will not  work. 

The next diagram shows a more specific way of thinking about these issues. It is simply a framework to help discussion and identify where both problems and solutions might lie to enabling viability.

At the planet end of the scale we have the biosphere and the web of life which ultimately determines whether humanity is viable. At the individual end is “the power of one” which is where human creativity and caring can transform situations. The sum of individuals and their activities determine the human footprint. 

Working up the holarchy:

1.  without individual responsibility all the other levels will be weak and the human project will  fall prey to hypocrisy and exploitation.without affiliation of human groups as families or bonded affiliations, the generational power will be weak, both in terms of ideas and education of children

2. without community there will be insufficient diversity to cover all the aspects of sustainable living and local self-governance

3. without a sufficient scale of viable footprint of land, crops and productive areas a community will have a balance of liability rather than restoration

4. without a framework for law, justice and provision of wider infrastructure and so on the communities will be unable to mutually support each other through trade, travel, knowledge, art and cultural diversity

5. without a regional viability in terms of resources (especially water) , climate and biodiversity, the countries and communities will not be able to flourish

6. if the sum total of service demand from nature exceed its capacity then the emergence of catastrophic conditions is, at some point, inevitable, however locally viable some communities might be. 

The study and understanding of these levels and how they interact both positively and negatively is an aspect facilitating the development of ecovillages as a component of planetary sustainability.”

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