1. Building community and
relationship in the ecovillage
Robert HallRobert Hall
President
Global Ecovillage Network of Europe
11 Dec 2015 at Green School in Kyiv

2. Sustainability Wheel

3. Worldview
Module 1: Holistic Worldview
Module 2: Reconnecting with Nature
Module 3: Transformation of
Consciousness
Module 4: Personal Health and Planetary
Health
Module 5: Socially Engaged Spirituality

4. Worldview
Module 1: Holistic Worldview
 a new vocabulary to describe a holistic worldview
 habits of meditation, reflection, and awareness of the self and
the environment.
 ‘new science’ that point to a definite spiritual basis underlying
nature and reality
 heal the divisions between spirituality and science, and
simultaneously between modern and traditional cultural
paradigms
 personal awareness of the interconnectedness of life and human
responsibility

5. Worldview
Module 2: Reconnecting with Nature
 sensitivity to Nature required to do the work of competent and
inspired ecovillage and sustainability designs
 attending to the health of Nature is fundamental to any
discussion about sustainability
 listening to and seeing Nature as a teacher and a guide
 active steps now to honour and restore Nature, beginning with
our own bodies
 connecting with Nature through our mind, body, and spirit

6. Worldview
Module 3: Transformation of
Consciousness
 awareness that connect our planetary life to the cosmos
 our deeper mission and purpose in life
 strengthening practices that can lead to spiritual
awareness and transformation of consciousness
 reflecting on our place in the spiritual journey

7. Worldview
Module 4: Personal Health and Planetary
Health
 human being as a holistic being - a union of mind, body, and spirit
 healing the Earth is a prerequisite to our own health, and acting on it
 attention towards the unmet needs of the entire person, including
those on an inner level, in order to heal ourselves
 wisdom of traditional healing methods and balancing these with
modern Eastern and Western medical knowledge
 every human being is unique, and for each one the path to wellness is
specific and personal
 prevention as the best method of maintaining and restoring health

8. Worldview
Module 5: Socially Engaged Spirituality
 linking paths of “inner” spiritual transformation to “outer”
social change
 empowerment of socially engaged spirituality with potent
examples
 spiritual awakening and transformation of consciousness
on the social change agenda, and social change activism on
the spiritual agenda
 creative collaboration between spiritual groups and social
change groups, synergistically goals of both

9. Social
Module 1: Building Community & Embracing
Diversity
Module 2: Communication Skills: Conflict,
Facilitation, and Decision making
Module 3: Leadership and Empowerment
Module 4: Art, Ritual and Social
Transformation
Module 5: Education, Personal Networks and
Activism

10. Social
Module 1: Building Community &
Embracing Diversity
 Tapping into the immense power for
social change that lies in the building of
community
 Acquiring social interpersonal skills on
how to start a community including:
organising a core group, forging a
common vision, creating community

11. Social
Module 2: Communication Skills: Conflict,
Facilitation, and Decision making
 Expand the range of definitions of “decision rules” that can serve as
alternatives to “unanimous consensus” decisions
 Experiencing directly the process of facilitated decisions
 Play the role of the facilitator in participatory processes and understanding
how it differs from traditional, autocratic leadership
 Practicing the basics of compassionate nonviolent communication and how
to deal with con-flicts
 Activating cycles of planning, deciding, feedback, reflection and evaluation in
community life

12. Social
Module 3: Leadership and
Empowerment
 Understanding the differences
between repressive power and
creative power
 Developing the concept of self-
empowerment and the
empowerment of others

13. Social
Module 4: Art, Ritual and Social
Transformation
 art as medium for personal and group growth, healing, and
transformation for people at all skill levels
 creativity as our true nature, as a flow from a universal source
 stimulating environments for inspiration, intuition and creativity and
flow
 community celebrations as an expression of Group Art, a culture of
celebration
 creativity, both individually and in community, connecting life and art

14. Social
Module 5: Education, Personal Networks
and Activism
 respect for the community of past, current and future
generations
 friendly relationships with our neighbours and visitors: concept
of “us,” and “them”
 designing for human ecology, by balancing public and private
spaces
 catalysing change towards sustainability in our bioregion
 scope around networking, exchange, education, support and
solidarity on a global level

15. Economic
Module 1: Shifting the Global Economy to
Sustainability
Module 2: Right Livelihood
Module 3: Local Economies
Module 4: Community Banks and
Currencies
Module 5: Legal and Financial Issues

16. Economic
Module 1: Shifting the Global
Economy to Sustainability
 the global economy current function.
 the consequences of the global economy
for people, society, and ecosystems.
 why the global economy has developed
as is?
 how the global economy could be more
just, resilient and sustainable.
 changes we can make to shift towards

17. Economic
Module 2: Right Livelihood
 Align our values with our economic and lifestyle choices
 Develop a greater connection with our life purpose
 Promote livelihood choices that contribute to, rather than
detract from, planetary health and well-being

18. Economic
Module 3: Local
Economies
 the concept and the experience of social
enterprises
 explore social enterprise activities to be
involved in launching or supporting
 ideas on businesses best suited to the
scale and characteristics of ecovillages
and local neighbourhoods
 types of social enterprise activities that
flourish in ecovillages

19. Economic
Module 4: Community Banks and
Currencies
 what money is and how it works
 insights on how different ecovillages and other communities
(intentional and conventional) develop flourishing local economies
 how to set-up and manage community banks and currency systems

20. Economic
Module 5: Legal and Financial
Issues
 various legal and financial options
available for ecovillages and social
enterprises, suited to specific contexts
 create own ecovillage projects, and
social enterprises
 feasibility studies and business plans

21. Ecological
Module 1: Green Building & Retrofitting
Module 2: Local Food; Nutrient Cycles
Module 3: Water, Energy and Infrastructure
Module 4: Restoring Nature, Urban
Regeneration and Rebuilding after Disasters
Module 5: Whole Systems Approach to Design

22. Ecological
Module 1: Green Building &
Retrofitting
 the problems inherent in ‘modern’ building
and construction techniques
 ‘green,’ sometimes called ‘alternative,’
building techniques whose designs provide
healthier, more energy efficient and less
environmentally damaging structures
 the choice of building materials and

23. Ecological
Module 2: Local Food;
Nutrient Cycles
 the benefits of growing, distributing, and
consuming local food
 the connections between personal and
planetary health and well being
 local food production scheme design for a
village or a neighbourhood
 methods and techniques for organic food

24. Ecological
Module 3: Water, Energy and
Infrastructure
 water cycles of an ecosystem
 energy issues for human settlements and
individual households
 the elements of local renewable energy
systems
 the principles of mobility, roads, and

25. Ecological
Module 4: Restoring
Nature, Urban
Regeneration and
Rebuilding after
Disasters
 techniques for restoring
Nature and accelerating
natural earth-healing
processes
 reparation for such

26. Ecological
Module 5: Whole Systems
Approach to Design
 comprehensive “Whole Systems Design” –
demonstrating a synergy of spiritual, social,
economic, and ecological parameters in the
design process
 team design and learning how to be a
“midwife” for future community residents and
users of village services

27. Thank you for listening!
Contact: robert@gen-europe.org
●
Suderbyn.se
●
Gen-europe.org
●
Ecovillage.org
●
Gaiaeducation.org