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Tags - kin-domain

PART 2 - Proposal for Intentional Community

January 21, 2010

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it falls back onto the individual who obviously did not think positive enough, or did not belief enough in what was at stake). Many of such cross-overs have come to infect our civilization and cause much of the dysfunctionality we see in our current society and confused humanity about what is life about, on what is the purpose of our existence.   The common value that motivates peoples throughout the world is the pursuit of being happy, but throughout the ages, this pursuit has been reformatted by countless ‘isms' for the benefit of the few. The latest such ‘ism' is consumerism, the propaganda that makes us believe that all the stuff we obtain and have and all the things we do can make us happy.   In line with the foregoing values of this community, our pursuit of happiness could be redefined as follows:   "We, the people of the New Age, we want to be Happy!"   Happiness that comes from living a meaningful and responsible life. Therefore we want Sovereignty based on: <ul> <li> freedom of thought and speech, </li> <li> freedom of expression and of press </li> <li> freedom of religion and association. </li> </ul>   Happiness that comes from living a life with purpose, a life with a sense of belonging. Therefore we want Justice based on: <ul> <li> equality for the law, </li> <li> equal rights to all, </li> <li> equal respect for all, regardless our differences. </li> </ul>   Happiness that comes from living a prosperous and dignified life. Therefore we need to share the wealth and resources of our community in a brotherly way, based on need and not on greed: <ul> <li> brotherly make life affordable by sharing whatever we have in common, </li> <li> brotherly maintain and share the common good, </li> <li> brotherly share the workload and compensation as the way to stamp out poverty. </li> </ul>   Happiness that comes from living a life with Hope and a positive outlook on the future. Therefore we need security based on sustainability: <ul> <li> sustainable economy, </li> <li> sustainable environment, </li> <li> sustainable lifestyle based on voluntary simplicity. </li> </ul>   Interests of the Community:   Although the interests of this community will largely depend on the interests of the members, we nevertheless would like to direct our focus to those aspects which will support our vision and mission.   <ul> <li> Coming together as a unified group in order to motivate and strengthen our commitment to our common vision. </li> <li> Permaculture, Bio-dynamics, Organic ways of food production. </li> <li> Recycling and Re-using wastes. </li> <li> Reducing our energy requirements and living with less. </li> <li> Balancing all aspects of living and time <ul> <li> Family time, work time, communal time, celebration time, educational time, maintenance time, planting and harvesting time, personal time, quiet time. </li> </ul> </li> <li> Celebrating life in meaningful ways expressed through music, art, theatre, and dance etc. </li> <li> Socializing with friends and neighbors. </li> <li> Wholistic Healing of ourselves and assisting others with theirs. </li> <li> Connecting and interacting intimately with Nature. </li> <li> Communicating compassionately, openly and freely with others. </li> <li> Giving and sharing our time, energy and resources with others inside and outside the community. </li> <li> Co-operatively building energy efficient homes from natural local materials i.e. 100 mile housing. </li> <li> Sharing communal work load with others in a joyful way. </li> <li> Inner reflection and contemplation through Meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, etc </li> </ul>   Goals and Objectives:   <ol> <li> To share this proposal with others interested in community. </li> <li> To gain commitment from other people who really want to contribute to this vision. </li> <li> To create a name for this community with the involvement of everyone who has committed at this point. </li> <li> To create a legal entity set up as a corporation named "XXXX" as a way to safe guard the material and financial interests of the members. </li> <li> To create a separate legal entity set up as a non-profit society as a way to safe guard our common vision. </li> <li> To find suitable land for the community. </li> <li> To solicit adequate funding in order to manifest the envisioned community, property and all. </li> <li> To acquire the land; possibly purchase the land under the corporation. </li> <li> To set-up temporary dwellings on the land. </li> <li> To begin preparation of the land and soil for planting trees, gardens etc and plan towards adequate infrastructures. </li> <li> Build a self-sustaining infrastructure to support our basic needs. </li> <li> To begin building our homes and some necessary common buildings. </li> <li> To secure funds (possibly apply for government grant money) for the development of a wholistic healing lodge and any related initiatives. </li> <li> Initiate communal cottage industries towards economic viability with minimal dependence on the current global market system. </li> <li> Create and nurture a space for our spiritual sanctuary. </li> <li> Empower the children of the community to design, decorate and build their own educational space with the assistance of the adults. </li> <li> Build the healing lodge and associated buildings. </li> <li> To establish the higher educational, leadership, internship, and other such programs that will enable us to be of service to others, communicate and share our experiences, and link with similar local and global efforts. </li> </ol>   Natural Law - A Guide for a Return to Harmony   Without a doubt, the state of our planet has lots to do with our state of mind, especially the way we live alienated from the balancing dynamics in nature. This alienation finds its roots in the Judeo/Christian religions, which is the undercurrent of our Western civilization. About five hundred years ago, Gallileo was able to make those in power come to realize that our planet Earth is not at the center of the Universe. All that time later, this paradigm shift has not shifted to the personal level as we are still very much in the mindset that we humans are the center of the Universe, the most important creature on earth and within the known universe. We seem to be convinced that all there is, is for our personal benefit and satisfaction, that our economy is above and beyond the ecology of the biosphere on our planet, etc. As this fallacy is becoming apparent, some of us do question our economic privileges and see the need to reconnect with nature and restore harmony with the balancing dynamics which gives nature the stability we come to recognize. One of the aims of this community is to seek that harmony and to adjust our way of life accordingly. Although most major religions the world over found their inspiration in nature and its eternal dynamics, those same religions have done an excellent job to obscure those natural laws and principles and reframe them in order to maximize economic benefit through human enslavement and exploitation. Needless to say, most religions do no longer live up to their mandate, the mandate to help people relate to the world beyond common comprehension, to help people find meaning, purpose and happiness within the limits of our Planet, to help people survive the adverse challenges they faced when out of touch with the natural dynamics, to give people guidance and direction for a sustainable future.   As a community, we find it essential to re-examine those fundamental principles and to make them part of our lifestyle. Without a doubt, we humans and all manifestations of life on our planet are mostly influenced by the cyclical interactions of our planet, the sun and the moon. Their cyclical movements in relation to each other determines day and night, the passing of the seasons, the tidal movements of the ocean waters, the life cycles of countless animals, insects and plants ... Pre-religious cultures, those we consider pagans, had no choice but to seek harmony with those re-occurring cycles in order to survive. For them, a direct relationship with nature was essential.   One of the natural cycles that has been tempered with the most is the solar calendar which combines the days, weeks and months into a solar year, known as the Gregorian Calendar. Early Patriarchal cultures found it more effective to control the masses by disconnecting the people from their inborn cosmic resonance, and what better way to disrupt the lunar synchronicity, especially from woman's experience, by disconnecting the man-made calendar from the true lunar cycle. Therefore, the solar calendar became divided in twelve arbitrary months, while the natural solar year of 365 days is naturally divided by thirteen moon-months of each 28 days in length, the same periodicity woman experience as their mooncycle. As a result, we live totally disconnected from the lunar seasons, each seven days in length, with the seventh day being the day of transition, the day of rest in nature.   Although the Judeo/Christian religions recognize the Sabbath or the Sunday as their day of rest, it is obvious that the true day of rest, the day during which the moon makes its transition through its solstices or through its equinoxes is very different than what the human made calendar proclaims, has no relationship, as they occur on very different days and vary from year to year. Therefore, adapting a more natural lifestyle could also include the adherence to such natural cycles by restoring the lunar calendar.   Similar efforts could be made to reclaim the true meaning and influence of special days throughout the year, days such as the solar solstices and equinoxes. Those days too have been Christianized and lost their true natural dimension. As a community, we will make space to celebrate those days in a meaningful way.   Another important natural law which we westerners have come to misunderstand are the dynamics of change. As a matter of fact, we have come to accept change as being the only constant, the gateway for a future with unforeseeable dimensions, called progress. Although change is being experienced as challenging and unpredictable, we nevertheless accept the ‘No pain - No gain' predicament as a necessity in order to change beyond the present situation.   To the contrary, in the world of nature, change is always a sign of instability, a sign of imbalance, the prelude for extinction. After all, the hallmark of Nature, of the whole Universe is balance, is the resistance against change. As a matter of fact, the most successful species which have been on the planet for the longest time, never changed, are still the true replicas of their fossilized ancestors which roamed the planet hundreds of millions of years ago.   Even the way we understand the seasonal changes (Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) needs re-examining. In our shortsightedness, we accept the seasonal succession as a perfect example of how nature is nothing but change, but the fossil record shows that the same seasonal succession has been very constant, very predictable for at least the past 65 million years, never changed. In other words, using the past 65,000,000 seasonal successions as evidence of changes in nature demonstrates our lack of understanding the bigger picture. As the evidence of climate change is upon is, now we have a perfect example of change! And although we have been socialized to believe that we should embrace change, we all know that we're in for very unpredictable and unpleasant surprises as the planet will surely find ways to rebalance our destructive activities which are causing global warming.   Equally important is it to come to understand that what we have come to accept as changes in nature, are in reality reactions against change! May the changing seasons be a clear example: As we know, the seasons have a direct relationship with the inclination of our planet in relation to the sun. In the summertime, the northern hemisphere is leaning towards the sun, making the days longer and hotter for the northern part of the world. In response, the northern biosphere on the surface of our planet tries to maintain stability, tries to resist the rising temperatures by stimulating expansion, by stimulating plant growth which in turn helps to evaporate water in the atmosphere as the most direct way to create a cooling trend, to stabilize the temperature. Therefore Spring and Summer are the seasons vegetation in the Northern hemisphere expands and buffers the warming trend during that time.   Oppositely, during the Fall and Winter, that hemisphere is leaning away from the sun, making the days shorter and colder. In order for the biosphere to survive those harsh times, the trend is to contract and insulate the biomass. As such, plants contract into their root-systems, their flowers transform into seeds, which eventually fall onto the ground, and become covered with the insulating leaves, animals and insects find shelter underground, and as winter approaches, water contracts into crystals while the landscape is covered with a blanket of white insulation, snow. Evidently, the seasonal ‘changes' are not changes, rather reactions against change, reactions to stabilize and minimize the effects of fluctuating solar energy reaching a certain region, reactions to protect the biosphere in order to restore and maintain balance.   Obviously, we westerners have it wrong when it comes to understand change. Nevertheless, the call for change is a constant on the political agendas of countless political campaigns and socio/economic movements. This perpetual call for change finds its origins in the early Judeo/Christian doctrine, the ‘make-belief' that we humans have dominion over the world around us, over the plants and animals. This paradigm not only gave us the entitlement of superiority over whatever we consider we have dominion over, but also gave us the heavenly stamp of approval to change things as we see fit. We no longer had to accept the world of nature as perfect and sacred, to the contrary, we see ourselves as called upon to improve whatever we do not like. Several millennia later, our disregard for the intricate natural balance, our arrogance to think that we know better together with our increasingly profound changes to the natural world, has pushed the rebalancing dynamics of the planet beyond the subtle re-adjustments. Instead, as we drive the bio-sphere further away from the natural balance, more extreme forces manifest in order to regain the natural balance. This is no longer a vicious circle, but a downward spiral which keeps humanity entangled in a race to the bottom, a race in which we think we can outsmart, outrun the balancing dynamics of nature. In order to stay ahead of the inevitable consequences of our arrogance, we try to work harder, smarter and faster, make things bigger, better and more efficient, constantly looking for changes as our only hope for that better future at the end of the tunnel. Despite the signs on the wall, most humans believe the propaganda of the political leaders who capitalize on our fear and offer the promise of ‘progress to nowhere', prosperity without limits, continued economic growth without end. Obviously, the change they envision is not the recipe for a happy ending, but the way of the Dodo for countless species, the way for ecological collapse, our own demise.   Of course, the reality is that we as a human collective cannot change! First of all, our democratic systems are designed to maintain the status quo. Not only are those who proclaim to be elected by those who unthinkingly accept the common propaganda owned by the big multi-nationals, those same multi-nationals also manufacture the propaganda which will guarantee most popular support. The "Big Monster' is not in the business of solving problems for the better, but to create needs and problems and sell us pseudo solutions and call it economic growth and progress.   Secondly, all manifestations in nature always move forward in time, never go backwards! Very much like the second Law of Thermodynamics, which postulates that energy moves forward, from the higher energy level towards the lower, but never in reverse. As such, once a new trend or manifestation is set free, it can only grow, never to return to its original start-off point, however wrong, disharmonious or out of balance the new manifestation might become. The same applies to the Big Monster. Even when we as humans would dedicate countless resources to change the course of our current out of control economic system, nothing can make it change midcourse. Instead, the balancing dynamics of nature will eventually decide when enough is enough, when the tipping point has been reached and disintegration makes room for the new.     Along that line, what we most likely see as change, is nothing more than hanging onto the current status quo, or maybe setting the clock back just a little bit to that time when we felt a greater sense of purpose and meaning within the system. It could be argued that even the status quo is not sustainable and already very dysfunctional, while every day we support and prolong the status quo, we add to the demise of numerous species, impoverish the biodiversity of our planet - a biodiversity which will be in demand the day after the collapse of the Monster we created.   Evidently, change can only come about by small groups of people, people who take their responsibility in their own hands, are dedicated and in agreement. Such a community of people has to decide where to put their energy towards: to maintain and prolong the status quo or to help the planet to give birth to the new, to restore paradise that could be. Therefore, the choice of this community is not to jump on the bandwagon of change for the sake of change, or devoting much efforts to various energy saving solutions, or devising ways to create more and cheaper energy, etc. Instead of ‘Greenwashing' our consciousness, it is time to bring our knowledge, energy and resources together to create ways for humans to live on this planet within the means of the planet. Therefore, the intention of this community is to prepare for a lifestyle which will be needed after the current system is no longer functional, without being tempted to repair or rebuild the current monster.     Land Size of the Community   Throughout our western culture, success is translated in more, bigger and faster. As a result, we westerners have become socialized to associate size with success. Intentional communities did not get spared from measuring their success by assessing their size and did not see anything wrong by expanding their membership. Slowly, we have come to realize that as an intentional community becomes bigger, it loses its common intentions, and eventually sinks back to the level of community we have come to accept in our western society, the kind of community in which we only have the highway in common. (In order to survive our commutes on the highway, we have to oblige to common laws, common agreements. Those agreements have been dictated from the top down, from a governing authority, without much say or input from those affected the most, from the bottom).   The community proposed is one in which there is a balance in communication between all members (horizontal communication) while at the same time maintaining open communication between the members and those in a leadership position of the community and vice versa: an open communication between those in leadership and all the members of the community (vertical communication). It is evident that when the membership is too large, members cannot maintain regular communication with their fellow members, while the communication with the leadership becomes delegated and channeled through committees. As it is evident in nature that any cluster of equal sized shapes (eg: spheres) can only keep in contact with their neighbours and at the same time be in contact with the central shape, when such cluster holds no more than thirteen spheres or shapes. (In pagan cultures, 13 is a holly number). As such, human interactions are no different, and time and again, it has been proven that a group of about a dozen people are the most efficient number to maintain an all encompassing communication without duplication and where all are able to contribute in a meaningful way to the whole. Along the same line, in order for a community to thrive without burnout of its members, and without duplication of its various functions required to keep the community functional, it could be argued that the optimum amount of people is about a dozen. Not enough members requires that certain members take on more than one function, while more than about one dozen members creates duplication and eventually competition between those competing members, which eventually leads to resentment and loss of purpose and commitment. In practical terms, it means that the size of an optimal community is around twelve to thirteen families. In case more members want to become part of the community, it is imperative to consider the creation of a new sister community, independent from the first.     Land Criteria   The criteria for choosing the ideal place is as follows; <ul> <li> Climate: warm sunny summers, with adequate growing season and enough moisture to keep vegetation growing. Also, moderately cold winters with some snow so that nature comes to a standstill. Hardiness Zone of 4 or better. </li> <li> Fertile soil for growing fruit and nut trees, herbs, vegetables etc. </li> <li> Good road access to the property but not along the highway. </li> <li> Availability of good pure water on the property. Ideally spring or glacier run-off water. River or lake close by for recreational activities like swimming, kayaking etc. </li> <li> Surrounded by mountains and hills. </li> <li> If possible with not too extreme neighbors around. </li> <li> Within close proximity of an old growth forest, and with lots of trees on the property and surrounding the property. </li> <li> No more than one hour from the nearest city or town. </li> <li> Hydro-power access is not really important as we intend to live with alternative energy sources. </li> <li> Telephone access good but not priority as cellphones and satellite internet could be utilized depending on the service for the area. </li> <li> Size of land; 80 + acres to give everyone enough space and to contain the healing lodge and leave lots of land untouched. </li> <li> Land must have good southern sun exposure to maximize the benefits of growing and utilize the sun energy for heating homes and buildings passively. </li> <li> Must have proper zoning in place or have no zoning established yet. </li> </ul>     Layout of the Land   <ol type="i"> <li> Kin Domains </li> </ol>   Generally the family or individual who have become provisional members will choose their own lot and home site of approximately 2.5 acres. The lot will be with no greater density of housing than one home per 2.5 acre plot. Each family or individual is encouraged to design and lay out their own plot of land which should include their own garden, orchard, pond, greenhouse, chicken coup, and pastures. It would be expected that the building and initial planting would be assisted by the community members, as a group effort! The finished design should resemble a food forest so as to always have a fresh supply of food available, straight from the source, example; plenty of fruit and nut trees, shrubs, perennials, herbs, and an annual vegetable garden. This type of design will eventually require very little maintenance once it is established. All members should make an effort to build their buildings out of sight of neighbors, by either blending into existing trees or plant new trees around the perimeter of the lot as a living fence, so as not to break with the existing natural harmony. Homes should be modest in size, sized only to service our needs not our egos. Preliminary buildings, sheds, shacks, buses, vans etc used as temporary shelter should be removed from the home site after the proper buildings have been erected to replace them. It will be the responsibility of members to maintain and repair their own homes and domains.   <ol type="i"> <li> Healing Lodge and Guest Cottages </li> </ol>   Adequate space will be set aside for the Healing Lodge, guest cottages and associated buildings. At this moment, we envision twelve small hut like buildings arranged in a circle with a larger round building centrally located containing a dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, showers, laundry and a second floor social lounge. Fruit and nut trees along with many other food bearing perennials to be located within the spaces between the hall and the small lodges. The small huts to contain two rooms each with shared fireplace, one bed, one table, and two chairs in each room. Small personalized gardens to surround each hut for the growing of the lodge food and the healing of the lodge guests. Lodge guests would seed, maintain and harvest the gardens.   The main lodge and all its facilities (showers, laundry, lounge, dining room and kitchen) would be open and common to everyone in the community. This is were people could come to informally socialize with others (members and guests), for a meal or for tea etc. More formal gathering could also be planned here, like weddings, celebrations, pot-lucks etc. The huts of the healing lodge would also serve a double purpose, where some of the huts could be available at times for new potential members, visitors (friends, family etc), people giving service in exchange for treatment and room and board. Members of the community would need to book the lodge or huts ahead of time to ensure the lodge is not full or utilized for another purpose. Only a certain number of lodge huts should be dedicated to lodge guest only, to ensure there is always room for our healing guests.     <ol type="i"> <li> Sanctuary - Space for Inner Contemplation </li> </ol>   We intend to create a space, another 2.5 acres or so dedicated to an indoor space for meditation, spiritual movement, spiritual meetings etc., an outdoor space for silence and inner contemplation like a labyrinth and healing/therapeutic gardens containing a variety of flowering plants, shrubs and trees, and ponds containing fountains. This space should be kept simple, efficient and sound, where all can find peace and love and the presence of Spirit, Creator...whatever our concepts might be or religion we individually have chosen to follow that gives deeper meaning to our lives.   <ol type="i"> <li> Educational Grounds and Buildings </li> </ol>   Education will pertain to all aspects of learning for the children members, adult members, visitors, Healing Lodge guests, and workshop/course participants. The educational space should be located in the center or heart of the community. To be relatively equidistant from each Kin Domain as well as the Healing Lodge and Sanctuary (this will largely depend on the lay of the land and size of the property). This space should also be approximately 2.5 acres in size.   The children's areas (inside and outside) are to be designed, built and decorated by the children with the assistance of their parents and other members. One or more buildings to contain the following sub-spaces: library, music room, theatre room, bathrooms, classrooms, craft/art room. Some rooms could serve a double purpose to keep the footprints of the buildings low. The outdoor space to include but not limited to: tree houses, play houses, garden, food forest, pond, and amphitheater. The garden and food forests will be designed, planted and maintained by the children as part of their education. The food will also serve them and feed them while they are learning in this space.   The outdoor amphitheater could be multipurpose; for outreach workshops, community meetings, festivals, etc.   <ol type="i"> <li> Workshops </li> </ol>   There should be one or two building available to serve as workshops for woodworking, metalworking, engine mechanics, etc. All the common tools and equipment would be stored in or near these workshops.   <ol type="i"> <li> Common Gardening Area, Fields and Greenhouse </li> </ol>   As all members will be encouraged to grow their own food on their kin domain, common land will be designated to grow crops such as cereal and seed crops etc. The planting and harvesting of the communal fields would be a communal effort. Where the rewards of the harvest from the communal fields would be shared with all community members according to their needs. Over the winter, the community could gather together to make certain products from the seeds and grains or from the stocks, example; hemp rope, hemp rugs, cold pressed oil, etc.   A greenhouse might be considered as a nursery for the use of propagating our own fruit and nut trees or for assisting individual members in extending their growing season, if they don't have a small greenhouse of their own.   <ol type="i"> <li> Roadways and all other undesignated areas </li> </ol>   As in some other communities, we could keep a 10 foot setback on each side of the roadways, which is designated for use by the community. No person could rightfully build or maintain any structure inside said setback without board approval.   All other areas not assigned a purpose would be available to everyone for common use. No permanent structures should be built unless agreed to by all members.     Personal Space   Gardens, greenhouses, orchards etc. within kin domains, will be considered private space of the person/family it belongs. Because of topological reasons and different soil quality, it may be necessary to have one's garden located somewhere more suitable than on the lot used for a home site. Although with proper permaculture practices, it is likely to improve the quality of the soil, and keep the garden within one's kin domain. Nevertheless, gardens, orchards etc. away from the home site are not considered as common ground to other members or animals.   Members rooms, their houses, workshops, yards, gardens, greenhouses, orchards etc will be treated as inviolable and will provide as much privacy for their occupants as is wanted at any time. We hope "personal space" of others will be treated with respect; personal space also being something which people will be able to carry around with them. This implies that no-one enters another's living space or uses personal belongings without the consent of that person, and no-one consciously invades the personal space that someone else may be in, regardless of their location. It is also important that the personal history of members, prior to entering the community is regarded as part of that persons "personal space" to be shared or not at the persons own discretion. We accept a person for what he or she is or will be, and not for what he or she has been in the past.   Shared Space   All land on the property, except the kin domains already assigned to members, will be common space to all member. Common space also includes water ways, roadways, and buildings used as common buildings, common workshops, common gardens, educational spaces, common equipment and vehicles, common tools, the forest and cleared areas not in use by any particular member.     Sustainability   Ever since the Brundtland report (1987) made the world aware that sustainability is the way of Our Common Future, it became equally clear that the proposed models of sustainable development were beyond the carrying capacity of our planet. Instead of sustainable development, the new focus is on sustainable living. This lifestyle promotes the reduction of the individual and society's use of the Earth's natural resources, <ol> <li> reducing our carbon footprint by altering modes of transportation and especially by reducing the need to transport and travel, </li> <li> reducing our energy consumption and our dependency on fossil fuel energy, </li> <li> changing our diets by using seasonal and local grown foods, organic grown food, grown on a small scale and as low as possible on the food chain - a vegetable based diet is therefore seen as less taxing the environment -, </li> <li> by conducting our lives in manners that are consistent with sustainability, in natural balance and respectful of humanity's symbiotic relationship with the Earth's natural <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology">ecology</a> and cycles, therefore called ecological living. </li> </ol>   Obviously, this level of sustainable lifestyle is beyond what is currently being promoted by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwatch_Institute">Worldwatch Institute</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Policy_Institute">Earth Policy Institute</a>, which describes sustainable living in the 21st century as "shifting to a renewable energy-based, reuse/recycle economy with a diversified transport system." Noticeably, this form of sustainable lifestyle is not only promoting the status quo, but is still disconnected from the ecology, from the limited productive and reproductive capacity of our only planet. In other words, it constitutes business as usual as if there is nothing wrong with our lifestyle, just redistribute our wealth, reduce harm to the planet and live happy ever after, all in our own little cocoon. The sustainable lifestyle the planet ‘demands' from us in order for humans to become part of the planet is far beyond that and forces us to look beyond our individualistic lifestyle, but by organizing ourselves into the next level of our evolution: communal living.   This community shall be as sustainable as possible and as rapidly as makes sense to us at the time. We shall be producing almost all of our own food organically, building our own buildings, carrying out our own maintenance and repairs, delivering our own babies, enabling our children and ourselves and others to learn, running our own medical assistance, entertaining ourselves, and no doubt burying ourselves in the course of time. What we cannot find within the community we will find outside as long as what we find outside is in line with our community vision. What we cannot provide for ourselves we will import, but we will only import what we can afford financially and morally, and only if we do not have any other choice or alternative. Construction   The community dwellings that the members reside in would be built with simple, natural materials found mostly on the property that we live upon. This will provide for a certain uniformity throughout the community whilst at the same time allowing us the freedom to express our individuality as an extended family through the design and layout of our dwellings. Our aim will be to surround ourselves with attractive accommodations, simply built from readily obtainable materials providing us with beautiful facilities and comfort compatible with our chosen lifestyle. We envisage creating an environment which will bring a source of delight for ourselves and others. We will use mostly wood, rock, sand, straw and clay for our needs and stay away as much as we can from artificial materials like plastics, vinyl, composites. Whatever we build should conform to the local building regulations, as well to the health and safety standards.   Appropriate Technology   One definition of alternative technology is "ways and means of doing things with minimal environmental and social adverse consequences." We plan to make the fullest appropriate use of alternative technology, attempting to run the community on ecologically sounds principles. For example, we shall be using wind, solar panels and possibly methane to generate our power and electricity. Using water as a source of energy maybe possible depending on the property we find. Solar (passive and active) and wood burning to heat water and room space and food etc. will most likely be the primary energy sources. We can reclaim almost all of our waste as compost and fertilizer. Where possible we could use low energy methods of transportation, like ethanol, bio-diesel or straight vegetable oil as fuel. It may be necessary to utilize a generator to power larger equipment and tools if no hydro-power is available on the property. To reduce operating costs and the acquisition of tools for communal use, it would be essential to share our tools, workshops, and co-ordinate our working hours. Furthermore, we should keep a noisy (polluting) generator away from the home sites in the industrial area where we plan to keep the different workshops. For lighting in the houses low energy use LED's, candles, kerosene and propane lights could be used. If hydro is not already present, it should be our priority to reduce our needs and be creative in our energy sources. As a reminder, this community is not intended to exist only to solve our ever increasing energy demands, rather we shall strive to bring back our energy needs to a more natural balance and to change our needs and dependencies by choosing voluntary simplicity.   By changing our food choices and the way we prepare them,and avoiding the use of a fridge, stove and freezer (meat locker in town), we can do without hydro power. The use of dried food or food stored in a root cellar over the winter is just as useful as all the rest.   Telephone service line may not be available but cellular phones and satellite internet maybe possible depending on the service coverage for our intended community location. Telephone can be a handy instrument to communicate with the outside world and an important energy and time saver.   Gardening   We would like to find a balance among permaculture, organic, bio-dynamic, and natural gardening. In any case, we are avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers, sprays, pesticides and artificial preservatives as well as products to disinfect the soil. We also want to stay away from hydroponics and other unnatural growing methods. It will be necessary to save our seeds and ensure we have a safe and secure seed bank to draw from, one that is positively free from all genetic modifications. We would like to utilize passive solar as much as possible for the greenhouses with the possibility of using the Sol Viva design (chicken greenhouse). We would like to use the greenhouses for extending the shoulders of the growing seasons rather than growing plants and food out of season or from other parts of the world (as further explain in the section covering our diet). Needless to say that growing our food will be a huge focus for this community, it will be in our gardens that we will spend most of our time connecting with Nature.     Transportation and Equipment   We could try and maintain the smallest amount and variety of motorcars, four wheel drive vehicles, trucks, minibuses, tractors and other vehicles as necessary. For reasons of expediency we may well use hired earth moving equipment during our first stages on the land, this to clear land, to prepare access roads, and to level building sites. We will almost certainly use tractors and machines initially in order to get our land rapidly under cultivation. There may not be time to do it any other way, but as early as possible we will be reducing to a minimum our reliance on machinery of any kind. We could try to maintain and use our vehicles on a communal basis, so that we do not end up with every family owning a tractor, a 4x4 truck.... we could ride horses and bicycles and are likely to use horses for drawing carts and sleighs. We shall be working a lot with horses and we may breed heavy horses for our own use as well as for use outside the community.   Pets and Working Animals   We will be riding horses, working with horses and probably talking with horses, also having a working relationship with cows, goats, chickens, ducks etc. We will co-operate with bees for part of their honey, and with sheep for part of their wool. To keep in harmony with the bees needs, only a small portion of their honey should be harvested. The manure from cows, goats, horses etc. serves as necessary composting material. We should have a limited number of dogs and cats living with us - far fewer than many of us would like to have around.   We, and including our children, want to cultivate an environment in which we have many opportunities for relating to wildlife and to the animals which share our lives. Our aviary will be the sky and the trees, and our aquarium will be the rivers and lakes and sea, but at the same time we will b

Tags: intentional community sustainability anastasia permaculture kin-domain eco-village

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