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“Communities of Intent”
What defines these small groups?
Most of these groups have a strong social cohesion, have developed a strong sense of community and unite behind a common purpose or cause. Some create land or urban based residential communities. Some are communities of learning or communities of practice or are civic groups rallying for community resilience and sustainability. They are all striving for a sustainable way of living on the earth.
Who are these communities?
They include ecovillages, intentional communities, community resilience groups, transition town initiatives, ecocity & integral city projects, First People’s groups, permaculture and regeneration projects, transformational learning communities, communities of practice, and even disaster relief projects.
Why are they significant?
We see these “villages” as “imaginal cells” – they are the pioneering crucibles – the on-the-ground laboratories for developing the solutions Humanity needs. They are researching and developing tools, technologies, processes and life styles that demonstrate balanced ways of living in harmonious relationship with each other and the Earth.
Their work holds immense value for us all – for the Commons. These villages and their gifts to the world represent one of the greatest repositories of wealth on the planet. They are on the ground – and they are building the future now.
How can we ensure they will succeed?
By empowering them – by connecting them with the other great wealth streams of the world – by providing access to wealth of all types – the funding, the resources, the tools and the expertise they need to do what they do best. We ensure they will succeed by engaging with them – and with you – to foster the wealth of the Commons. Collectively these groups represent a powerful distributed laboratory. A laboratory from the Commons – for the Commons.
To this laboratory we will provide and facilitate an ever evolving but highly systematic framework for research, development, and demonstration of leading edge practices in sustainable and regenerative human systems design. This framework will be co-generated by VillageLab and the participating communities themselves and designed to optimize the cross-pollination, harvest and integration of the best leading edge practices the movement has to offer.
Note: Some use the term “ecovillage” to refer to the full spectrum of communities listed here. See our “What is an Ecovillage” page for a fuller explanation.