Ecomony at Kimberton Hills

Since Kimberton Hills is a community, it does not receive any government funding. For this reason, Kimberton Hills relies on charities, donations, and income generated by their bakery, cafe, and craft products. Although it is encouraged for residents with developmental disabilities to pay an annual fee, this is decided upon on a case by case basis. Some residents receive social security and medicare but other governmental funding does not exist for Kimberton Hills. The gardens, farm, orchards, and dairy provide food for the villagers and relieves some economic stress. Despite the though economic situation for Kimberton Hills, the village was is very well maintained and community enjoys a high quality of life. They are currently working on their website so that the crafts made by the villagers can be purchased online. The JEM group also suggested etsy.com as an outlet for selling their crafts. The cafe is open Tuesday- Saturday, 11-2pm, serving soups, sandwiches (mostly vegetarian) and desserts. They also serve their raw milk at the cafe, and believe us when we say its the best milk we've ever tasted! If you're looking for a fun outing, go check them out, support their cafe and enjoy strolling around through their beautiful land.

Kimberton Hills-- Mission and Residential Life

On April 20, 2009, the JEM group visited Camphill Village Kimberton Hills located in Kimberton, Pennsylvania. It is the closest ecovillage to Philadelphia, only 30 miles away! Camphill Village Kimberton Hills was founded in 1972 when it was donated to the Camphill movement by an aging couple. A brochure that was given to us clearly describes the message of this Camphill Village. "Camphill Village Kimberton Hills is a vibrant famring and handcrafting community that includes adults with developmental diabilities. Kimberton Hills residents, living and working side by side, create a dynamic and caring community for people of all ages and varied abilities. Located on 432 acres of farm, gardens, and woodlands in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Kimberton Hills is also a local center for culture and a model for sound ecological living."

Currently there are about 100 residents living at Kimberton Hills, 41 of which are adults with developmental disabilities. There are about 20 long term adult residents without disabilities and about 25 year long residents, either working through AmeriCorps, or are volunteering foreigners. There are 13 children living at Kimberton Hills. The population is diverse in age and in abilities, although the people at Kimberton believe that each person, no matter developmentally disabled or not, can contribute to the village in a significant way. Residents of Kimberton Hills are divided into expanded families that live together and share 3 meals a day together. During the day residents work on the farm, in the gardens, in textiles and woodworking, in the bakery, coffee shop, or in the households. Kimberton Hills offers a variety of therapies, such as art and music therapies, eurythmy, counseling and support groups, which all strive to enhance the health and well being of the residents.

Check out our individual blogs to learn more about ecological design, biodynamic agriculture, renewable energy, waste, water and recycling!

You can also check out their website here.

Working Bibliography

Barton, Hugh. Sustainable Communities The Potential for Eco-Neighbourhoods. Minneapolis: Earthscan Publications Ltd., 2000.

Bang, Jan Martin. Ecovillages: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Communities. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society, 2005.

Gilman, Robert and Diane. Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities: A Report for Gaia Trust. Denmark: Gaia Trust, 1991.

Jabareen, Yosef Rafeq. "Sustainable Urban Forms - Their Typologies, Models, and Concepts." Journal of Planning Education and Research 26(2006): 38-52.

Jackson, Hildur, ed. Creating Harmony : Conflict Resolution in Community. New York: Hyden House Limited, 2000.

Malcom, Miles. Urban Utopias The Built and Social Architectures of Alternative Settlements. New York: Routledge, 2008.

Marsden, Terry, ed. Sustainable Communities : New spaces for planning, participation and Engagement. New York: Emerald Group Limited, 2008.

Roseland, Mark, ed. Eco-City Dimensions : Healthy Communities, Healthy Planet. New York: New Society, Limited, 1997.

Sizemore, Steve. "Urban Eco-villages as an Alternative Model to Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods: The Eco-village Approach of the Seminary Square/ Price Hill Eco-village of Cincinnati, Ohio." MA Thesis. University of Cincinnati. 2004.

Walker, Liz. Ecovillage At Ithaca Pioneering A Sustainable Culture. New York: New Society, 2005.

Worrell. “Living Machine Systems: Treating Wastewater Nature’s Way”. The Living Machine. 2008. Worrell Water Technologies LLC. 23 March 2009.

http://www.camphill.org/

http://www.camphillkimberton.org/home.asp

http://www.ecovillagefindhorn.com/docs/FF%20Eco%20brochure.pdf

http://www.ecovillagenews.org/wiki/index.php/Is_The_Farm_an_Ecovillage?

http://www.fieldstudies.org/pages/147_center_for_sustainable_development_costa_rica.cfm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/happy-to-be/2891438651/in/set-72157607393482980/

www.free-counters.co.uk/

http://www.google.com/search?q=camphill+communities&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

http://www.lagoonsonline.com/reedbeds.htm
http://www.rogerdean.com/architecture/willowater.htm

http://www.solborg.net/english/index.html

http://www.thefarm.org/lifestyle/antiochecovillages.html

Camphill Social and Ecological Renewal

Dr. Karl Koenig in Scotland founded the Camphill foundation in 1939. The vision of the foundation was to create settlements that would enhance the wellbeing of people with special needs by providing them opportunities within a cooperative community to contribute their own special attributes. Coupled with the movement to harbor nurturing communities, Camphill communities integrate organic agriculture and ecologically conscious living. The video posted above is a slide show of the Kimberton Camphill in West Chester County Pennsylvania. We will be looking at this community in more detail in the coming days. These images showcase the ecological considerations that are integrated into many Camphill communities.

Ecovillage of the Week II: Ithaca

A brief history of how it began.............

The EcoVillage of Ithaca (EVI) started in a rather peculiar way. One of the founding members, Liz Walker, took part in The Global Walk for a Livable World across America from Los Angeles to New York City. The walk's intent was to raise awareness and promote the idea of creating a better world. Essentially a better world in their view is to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle, live in a more holistic, harmonious fashion with nature, and to push the idea of sustainability.

During the walk Liz discussed various subjects with fellow supporters. The ideas ranged from nature, life, philosophy, spirituality and more. Basically, a solid connection was made. The idea of an ecovillage was eventually discussed during this walk and only months later when the walk was over, the seeds were planted about bringing the Ithaca ecovillage concept into existence.

A retreat was organized in Ithaca, where future residents set up tents in an isolated field in close proximity to the town. It was at this time that ideas were shared and excogitated. After many meetings, disagreements, and difficult choices, the decision to build EVI on a 175 acre site called West Hill was made. The land was gorgeous, spacious and only within 1.5 miles of Ithaca, allowing for a reasonable commute. It was bought for $400,000 just one year after the initial retreat. The money used to pay for the land can be attributed to wealthy donors as well as the hard work of many resident's fundraising efforts.

Now EVI is exemplified throughout the world as a model ecovillage "committed to reaching mainstream, middle-class Americans and others who are open to positive change" (Walker 3). It was a finalist in the World Habitat Awards and has had the privilege of hosting various delegates from all over the world! The success can be attributed to the hard-working, grassroots efforts of those who stuck around from the get-go and never gave up in seeing their dream of EVI materialized. In addition, the success can be linked to EVI's mission statement:

"The ultimate goal of EcoVillage at Ithaca is nothing less than to redesign the human habitat. We are creating a model community of some five hundred residents that will exemplify sustainable systems of living - systems that are not only practical in themselves but replicable by others. The completed project will demonstrate the feasibility of a design that meets the basic human needs such as shelter, food production, energy, social interaction, work and recreation while preserving natural ecosystems" (Walker 7).

To learn about the specifics, such as, architecture, food, energy, sewage, water, waste and recycling, check the Jem Group Blog located on the sidebar.

Sources:

Walker, Liz. Ecovillage At Ithaca Pioneering A Sustainable Culture. New York: New Society, 2005.

Ecovillage of the Week: The Farm, Tennesse

In 1971 a caravan of school buses, hand painted and shingled, careened down a dirt road in Summertown Tennessee. Having spent their collective funds on acquiring a plot of earth, their buses became their homes. These settlers were on an exodus out of the degenerating Haight Ashbury hippie scene in San Francisco. After traveling the country, with a ‘badge is your belly-button’ open membership, the caravan had grown. The Farm, as it would be known, was the last stop for these travelers. Over the next 30 years the Farm would develop and evolve into a communal settlement with a self-sufficient economy, back to nature living techniques, and also serve as a spiritual and educational center.

Read each post by following our links to the right under JEM group blogs

The Farm

Ecovillage of the Week: Findhorn Ecovillage

Photo courtesy of The Findhorn Ecovillage

This week the JEM group will be showcasing the Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland. The Findhorn Community began in 1962 as a sustainable and holistic living center. In 1972, the Findhorn Foundation was established to educate people on holistic living systems and brings over "4,500 residential visitors a year from over 50 countries." The Findhorn Ecovillage Project was initiated in 1981 as an organic continuation of the Findhorn Foundation. The Ecovillage Project is an incredible example of an ecovillage that integrates a sustainable human settlement with one that also addresses the "spiritual, social and economic aspects of life". Click here to visit the Findhorn Ecovillage website. You can also visit the JEM Group's individual blog sites to learn more about ways Findhorn is addressing building and design; water and waste; and food and energy. Their links are provided on the left sidebar.

Before the Ecovillage

Timothy Miller analyzed the communal movement in the 1960s in his book, The 60's Communes: Hippies and Beyond. He states that during the early 60s a counter culture of youth began to live communally in cities and soon after moved out to rural areas to settle there. As the environmental movement began to take shape in the late 1960s, early 1970s, an alternative lifestyle began to emerge as well. People became concerned with the state of the environment for the first time on a great scale. Over the years the rise in communes and intentional communities grew. It was not until 1990 that the Gaia Trust initiated a study to explored ecovillages around the world. In 1991 the first meeting on how to develop and spread the ecovillage concept occurred. Great interest was shown during the meeting and in the subsequent years, community members from around the world gathered to discuss a global ecovillage strategy. The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) was set up in 1995. Three regional networks were set up to cover the globe: one in the Americas, one in Europe, and one in Oceania. Over the years, the GEN has been placed on the international radar by attending international conferences on Sustainable Development and Human Settlements. Not only do ecovillages practice sustainablity in their own communities, but they educate people on ecovillage living through courses and workshops. A full history of GEN can be found on their website. A link is provided on the left sidebar.

From here on out

The JEM group has created this blog as a group page in order to access each of their individual blogs. The links are located on the right sidebar. John will be working on the environmental design of homes and communities. Matt will be focusing on ways that ecovillages address water, waste, recycling, and sewage issues. Emmy will be looking at food and energy issues, as well as permaculture design practices. Collectively JEM will be looking at the social, political, and economic dynamics that are associated with their portion of the research project. Check back to learn more about ways communities around the world are enacting a low impact lifestyle!