What is an Eco Village

In light of our upcoming project I wanted to do a little research into what exactly and Eco Village is.  I have my own preconceived notions about some aspects of community living and the odd interactions and rituals that seem to be a part of what I view as "Communes" that are really just a term with negative connotations about community living.  A community is a wonderful thing, and as it has recently been pointed out to me, a community is a gathering of people who share a commons belief.  That isn't to say all of the inhabitants don't have different points of view on topics or sit around chanting mantras and never challenging an idea. My very own thesis is on the idea that people in a neighborhood, town or community will come together to share the practice of gardening out of the joy they get from coming together to grow and learn from each other.

I found a site for an Eco village in Ithica New York that makes all of my ill thought out ideas of what an eco village is. Below are some links to all sorts of different looking eco villages and each has a slightly different program making each individual from the others.

http://gen.ecovillage.org/  this is a website for the clobal ecovillage network and they have a map of the world where you can find an Eco Village near you.

http://ecovillageithaca.org/evi/

http://www.theecovillage.com.au/ an Australian Eco Village of people who enjoy both beach and city living

http://www.thejunglelodge.com/staying-here/your-retreat/  a sustainably built resort in Panama

http://www.lokomuna.de/  I honestly can't tell you a thing about this place because the whole site was in German, but it appears it was built in an existing city which lead me to think it is higher density than other eco villages and a neat urban twist on the concept of sustainable living