Kin's Domain Village Rodnoe & Slavnoye

Recently in Russia there has been an increase in the number of people who prefer life in nature to the hustle and bustle of the city, and have moved to Eco-villages…and are creating 'Kin's domains'. They have given up the use of fertilizers, heavy agricultural machines, and grow all their food themselves.

Eco-village Rodnoe has approximately 100 plots of land, each of which measures no less than one hectare. Families organize their plots in their own way, and say that their domain has the personality of its owner.

Who are they? People who leave their successful and relatively quiet life in modern cities and go to rural areas to set up a hectare of land - their Kin's domain? What drives them? Are they happy about the change? How do they deal with the land and growing plants? How does one build an adobe house?

Winter comes to Kin's domains village 'Rodnoe'. The land is covered with snow. It's time for renewal and contemplation of what has been created during the summer time. How do the villagers survive the winter? What do they actually do in winter? How to create a true Space of Love and to live in harmony with Nature, animals and all other of God's creations?

The story about the Russian Kin's domains ecovillages continues! More than 150 families have found their home on the beautyful fields of the Kin's domain ecovillage Slavnoye. Each of them has their own story, their own path, but all of them have the same goal – develop their plot to create a Kin’s domain.



The books in English: Ringing Cedars

Intentional Communities In France

Ecolonie (Vosges)


Through the starting points and vision of ECOlonie, we wish to express our view that life is a continuous, unifying experience. Founded in 1989, ECOlonie houses a vibrant, ecological association still very much in development.

Ecology (the thesis of ecological thinking and acting) at ECOlonie goes beyond healthy and organic gardening and building. Ecology is a philosophy that includes all aspects of life - both physical and spiritual. 'Eco' is derived from the Greek word oikos , meaning to feel at home. To feel at home somewhere simply means 'to feel at ease, to be able to be yourself'.

At ECOlonie, creativity and spirituality inspire the development of this vision to include environmental sustainability and the daily experience of nature. Each individual can define their own spirituality, as we focus on being undogmatic, down to earth and practical.

Website: Ecolonie




Lothlorien (Haute Marne)

Lothlorien is the name of the Golden Wood in Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”. It literally means “Flower of the Golden Wood”, a place where rest, peace and harmony prevail and where travellers can seek good advice and find strength.

Centre Lothlorien is a small community and course centre. The basis is living and working in harmony with nature, respect for everything that lives, giving an active contribution to create a human togetherness. It is an international, ecological and spiritual centre that offers a helping hand to every seeking person, everyone who is on the path of life. The centre presents courses, activities and a resting place where you can find your unique Self in order to go on with your life.

Website: Lothlorien



Carapa (Cévennes)

Website: Carapa 



Some other communities:

Green Community (Languedoc Rousillon)
Douceur et Harmonie (Serralongue, Catalonia)
Eco Chateau  (Saint-Privat, Corrèze)
L'Ecovillage du Périgord (Sarlande, Dordogne)
Oasis de Lentiourel (Saint-Affrique, Aveyron)
Taizé (Burgundy)
Goshen (Burgundy)
Peace Factory (Montolieu, Languedoc Rousillon)

Valhalla Movement

Valhalla is a movement hell-bent on making sustainable communal living mainstream. Together we will create the beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible. Superhuman goals can be accomplished when individuals with a common goal come together. Together, we are stronger than the sum of our parts.

We strongly believe many of the world’s ills can be solved through sustainable communal living. Thus we are building a network of 100% off-the-grid communities, the first of which in Montreal, Canada. We are documenting the entire process to teach others how to do the same AND to show the world that sustainable communities are:
- Awesome: This is not only great for the planet, but also a fantastically fun and free way to live.
- Feasible: You can do this too, and we’ll show you exactly how to do it.
- Necessary: Even if this wasn’t fun or easy, this is what we need to do right now.

We are the solution, not the protest.
Unlike other ‘hippie communities’, we are not shutting ourselves off from the world. We are doing everything possible to make this lifestyle universally appealing. We will be as loud as possible so that we’re either loved or hated, but never unheard of.

Website: Valhalla Movement

Intentional Communities In Spain

8th Life (Canary Islands)

We believe that stopping the destruction, working to build soil, restore ecosystems, heal our addictions, change organizational structures of the global economy & learn to live in community starting locally ... are the most important & urgent jobs to do now.

Website: 8th Life

Matavenero (Castile & Leon)

Website: Matavenero 



Sunseed (Andalusia)

Welcome to the Sunseed Desert Project, a hands-on practical centre for low-impact living and environmental education in Andalucía. At this lively international community, staff and volunteers work and learn together to develop, demonstrate, research and communicate alternative ways of having less impact and a smaller environmental footprint. Situated in a Los Molinos del Río Aguas, in a beautiful valley in southern Spain, Sunseed is off-grid and committed to low impact living and environmental stewardship.

Website: Sunseed

Valle De Sensaciones (Andalusia)

The project 'Valle de Sensaciones' is creating a space rich in nature, whose design, installations and sustainable infrastructure are allowing people to experiment with a wide variety of projects that revive the senses, including the conscience, and help to recreate a profound contact with the spirit of nature, the basis of our life. A space where various creators find fertile soil for the development of new initiatives between Art, Ecology and Technology. Another objective is to transmit the whole range of knowledge and inspiration out of the creation of this project. Beside the thematic areas of permaculture, green building, ecotecnology, and many other, we like to mediate a different attitude towards the need of changing our lifes, where each iniciative is enriched by creativity, art, music, spirituality, sensuality and by the spirit of comunal living.

Website: Valle de Sensaciones 

Ecoaldea de Lakabe (Navarre)



Other Ecovillages & Communities in Spain:
(Click for link to website)

Escanda (Asturias)
Falcon Blanco (Ibiza)
KanAwen (Catalonia)
Los Portales (Andalusia)
Flores de Vida (Catalonia)
Matricultura (Canary Islands)
Taller Karuna (Castile & Leon)

Iberian Ecovillage Network

Intentional Communities In Portugal

Awakened Life Project

A short introduction to a sustainable community in central Portugal that is pushing the boundaries of collective human potential. The Awakened Life Project is a non-profit association situated in a beautiful and wild ecological reserve in the mountains of Central Portugal. Part retreat centre and 21st century spiritual ashram, part permaculture farm, part integral evolutionary education hub, the Awakened Life Project is a multi-dimensional evolving organism and movement of (r)evolutionaries that is being co-created by a growing network of people throughout Portugal.

Website: Awakened Life Project



Tamera

Tamera in Southern Portugal is an international training and experimental site for the development of peace research villages and healing biotopes worldwide. Under the motto "Think Locally, Act Globally," approximately 200 people live, work and study in Tamera. Tamera’s aim is to develop an example of a model for a nonviolent co-existence of people and between people and nature. The main tasks of Tamera are: the education of young people within the "Monte Cerro" peace study, the building of a village model called "Solar Village" which produces its own food and solar energy, and global networking under the name of GRACE.

Website: Tamera



Osho Garden

Osho Garden is a communal project to create a living space where ecological gardening and meditation go hand in hand. We are registered as an Osho Information Center. The project started in 2010 and presently our accommodation is limited to a maximum of about ten people. We welcome visitors who want to participate and enjoy community life, spend time in nature and join the meditations, workshops, meetings, gardening and health food preparation.

Website: Osho Garden

Terramada

Isn’t Terramada like ”home”? A place where we can belong instantly and leave knowing we are a part of it even when apart. One Global Family. We share a wonderful gift in being Terramadians, in a community that is created by our principles of love, harmony, truth and freedom. By the labour each one of us who have tilled the soil, made the website, baked or organised or participated in an event or workshop has given.

Terramada needs your help to evolve into an ethical village and community, Where more people can visit and be inspired by our lived philosophy: Living as one, loving as one, in harmony with the Nature and each other. Creating a new world based on the heighest visions of ourselves by developing the power of our spirit.

Website: Terramada

Sustainable Living Projects, Courses and Events: Eco Living Portugal

New Earth Destiny

An Anastasia inspired grassroots documentary film by Mikael King & Igor Revenko.

As ocean waters continue to rise, natural resources continue to dry up, GMO seed issues continue to distract, and the technocratic ego-mind based world continues to crumble; millions of awakening humans are now co-creating empowered spaces of love as the sole answer to the world's problems. Be inspired by the ringing cedar ecovillage movement which started in Russia and is now expanding into all countries throughout the globe. Follow film co-creators Mikael King & Igor Revenko on a synchronized journey into the heart of Russia where they discover ecovillage Kin Domains, Siberia ringing cedar trees, ancient Black Sea dolmen pyramids, and culminate the incredible journey with a week long immersion into the awe-inspiring lyceum children's school.

Read the books: Ringing Cedars Series

O.U.R. Ecovillage (Canada)

O.U.R. Ecovillage in British Columbia is aiming to create a self-sustaining community where they live in balance with the land, the animals and the environment. This is likely the most well developed eco community in Canada and is used as a model for similar sites all over the world.

Website: O.U.R. Ecovillage

From their Zero Mile Meal Eatery to zoning and financing innovations, O.U.R. Ecovillage in BC, Canada has paved the way for many communities worldwide. For co-founder Brandy Gallagher, the story on the planet right now could be a shared ethos of caring: "Everyone is fed. Everyone is taken care of." Asserting that "No is just an uneducated Yes," Brandy shows how a village mindset can transform individuals, preserve land, reduce resource use, apply permaculture principles, change laws, and even the way money works.

O.U.R. stands for "One United Resource," expressing how interdependence and inclusion undergird this 25 acre demonstration sustainable community on Vancouver Island. This model ecovillage comprises natural buildings, a school, long- and short-term residences, extensive gardens, greenhouses, and even a bed & breakfast. Brandy Gallagher MacPherson describes how they created an entirely new zoning category by building relationships with regulatory agencies that go beyond "us versus them".

Life Under Palm Trees

The ecovillage Sieben Linden is a community of 50+ adults plus children who plan to build a new village in a rural, conservative part of Germany with high unemployment and little cultural infrastructure. Som 300 people are supposed to live an ecologically and socially oriented life there one day.

Website: Sieben Linden

Seeking The Good Life

Like many of us, Joy is not content with the high consumption modern lifestyle we live in the United States. So she journeys to three different intentional communities - places where people have chosen to share land and resources in all kinds of creative ways - and documents her experiences. The result is a fun and engaging crash course in sustainable living, thinking outside of the box, and finding positive solutions in an increasingly challenging world.

Featured communities are:

Light Morning
Twin Oaks
Acorn Community



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4

Communal Living With Nikki Silva

Visiting La Selva, the communal home that Nikki and eight others have built for themselves in over thirty years of hard toiling work (in Santa Cruz, California).

While Nikki attests that there was no intention of building a commune per se, it is very much a communal living situation. They are all partners in the shares of a single plot of land, and each partner or couple has a housing space within the whole compound based on their share. On the property, there are four separate houses, a large barn, a storage shed and an art studio. There is also a main house that has the kitchen, living room, and bathhouse (I didn’t pry). In total, eight unique yet cohesive structures share the property of gardens, fields, and forest, overlooking farmland and the pacific ocean. For those living at La Selva, they eat dinner together every night, take weekly turns with the meal preparation and cleaning of the kitchen, and share in a remarkable sense of togetherness that is much like that of a family.

Atamai Village

The Atamai permaculture community was set up on the principle that it takes a village to live sustainably - it is too difficult to do it on your own. Members of this community have come together to deal with the impacts of climate change, energy shortages and the social and economic challenges that are likely to follow these changes. "You don't want to wait until the signs are so obvious because then it is too late."

Website: Atamai Village (New Zealand)

Eco Homes: Small Holdings In Wales

The Tir y Gafel ecovillage aspires to be a replicable model for low-impact development in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Nine families lived there at the time of this filming. They are self sustainable: living off the grid, producing food, having built low impact houses using alternative energy sources.

They are taking advantage of legislation in Wales which allows low impact sustainable communities to go build eco-small holdings on open countryside. Under the TAN 6 Policy Guidance (Welsh Assembly Government), there is now a planning framework which accommodates low-impact development. Think of it as getting a little help and encouragement from the government to live off the land. And bring the land BACK!

Using permaculture techniques, they are making marginally productive land into maximally food producing land. They are aiming for a 40% increase in productivity. They have plenty of volunteers who simply want to learn the techniques to be able to live this way. Says one resident: "I don't think governments are going to provide the solution to the challenges. I don't think our economic system or our corporate structures are going to provide the solutions we need. I think solutions are going to come from people."

Website: Lammas

Crystal Waters Ecovillage

An introduction to Crystal Waters covering permaculture design, innovative housing design, intentional community living and land restoration. Crystal Waters is situated in rural south east Queensland Australia. Filmed in 2001-2002.

Website: Crystal Waters

Young Greeks Create Rural Community

On the slopes of Mount Telaithrion on the island of Evia, a group of young Greeks have left the busy city and created a self-reliant rural community. Their goal is to eat only the organic produce they grow themselves, to free themselves from the national electricity grid, and to exchange what they grow or make instead of using money. The project, whose ultimate goal is to create a school for sustainable living, was the idea of four Athenians who met online back in 2008 and bonded over their dissatisfaction with the daily grind of city life.

Finca Bellavista: A Treehouse Community

Finca Bellavista is a residential treehouse community in its formative years in the south Pacific coastal mountains of Costa Rica. We are a rustic, yet comfortable, private retreat off the beaten path where owners and limited numbers of guests can explore the natural wonders of the rainforest canopy and enjoy what we like to call 'treetop Pura Vida'. Finca Bellavista, while a one-of-a-kind concept, is also in a one-of-a-kind place. The finca as a whole, comprised of more than 300 acres of secondary rainforest and reclaimed pastureland, provides a nearly custom-built backdrop to house the world's first planned, modern, sustainable treehouse community. Perched overlooking the Golfo Dulce and nurtured by two whitewater rivers, the location of this unique enclave is unmatched in its magnificence and pulses with life. While it feels a world away, Finca Bellavista boasts easy access to some of the country's most stunning natural assets, like National Parks, isolated beaches and epic mountainscapes. Those with a spirit of adventure will feel right at home amongst the outdoor activities available on-site and nearby.

Website: Finca Bellavista

The DISE/ Das DIES: The First Kin's Domain (Village) In Germany

In a nutshell Kin' s Domains are settlements owned and developed by people who prefer living their lives in nature to the hustle and bustle of city life. They provide a sustainable way of living which also helps improve the quality of our planet. The way in which the Kin Domain concept differs from the previous eco-village model is by providing for each family on a Kin Domain a minimum of one hectare, or 2.47 acres of land. A Kin Domain can stand alone, or be part of a Kin Domain settlement or village. Each village consists of multiple 1 hectare or larger plots owned by each family or domain settler.

Why one hectare? Because this is a sufficient minimum amount of land sizeable enough to sustain the basic life-long and multi-generational needs of each family or domain settler. This is an amount of land that can be stewarded sustainably by the efforts of an individual or family, without becoming too difficult to manage and that can be managed without the need for heavy industrial agricultural machinery or harmful chemicals and fertilizers or pesticides and without the need for reliance on declining fossils fuels.

Each plot is created with the specific goal of being a self sufficient area that can support all the basic human needs of the owner including life-long food production, shelter and water supply. Each domain is designed with the specific intent of surrounding the home by a supportive natural eco-system that will additionally support the domain owner by providing the cleaner air created by oxygen producing plant life, creation of forest land for the optional use of timber for seasonal home heating needs etc and a wide variety of other plant life with a focus on edible perennials as well as plants that can be grown for medicinal purposes.

Kin’s domain settlements are a new step in eco-village development. They share some elements with general eco-villages: eco-building, recycling and reduction of waste materials, organic food production, use of renewable energy sources, alternative social and economic models and artistic expressions, etc. A kin’s domain settlement is a type of eco-village that ensures upbringing of future generations of families in safe, healthy social and natural environment. They preserve natural heritage, taking into account cultural tradition and the knowledge of our ancestors for many ages.

Website: Naturwert Stiftung



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German version with larger screen



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Part 3

Ecovillage Experiments Around The World

Having come to the realization that international treaties, top-down, government programs, and even academic research isn't going to get us out of the environmental mess we are in, Professor Karen Litfin set out to study communities that are trying to live sustainably. She researched 14 ecovillages intensively from four perspectives: ecological, economic, social and spiritual sustainability. She concludes that these ecovillages, located in different continents and settings, have a lot of commonalities that serve as a model for how we can all live our lives where we are today. 

Living In The Future # 28: Open House

Lammas ecovillage in Pembrokeshire host their first Volunteer Week and Open Day in Spring 2010.150 people attended Lammas' first ever tour of the project. Visitors were guided around the site to view the developments to date. Lammas attained planning permission to build an ecovillage in Wales which combines the traditional smallholding model with the latest innovations in environmental design, green technology and permaculture.

Living In The Future # 26: Snowed In

Snow at Lammas ecovillage causes enforced hibernation. Building works have been put on hold at Lammas when freezing weather conditions hit the site. Such conditions have not been experienced in this part of the world for many years.Once the snow and ice pass works will begin again at Lammas. Some residents are focusing on tree planting, others on landscaping and others on building.

Living In The Future # 25: Sanford

Sanford is a fully mutual housing co-operative. It is run entirely by its members who make decisions each month at management meetings and periodically through general meetings. Located in South East London in the borough of Lewisham and own all of Sanford Walk. The 130 rooms and six flats were purpose built as a single persons co-op in 1971 by a core of founding members.

There are 14 houses which are each shared by eight to 10 people. Each person has their own room with wash basin and shares three toilets, a farmhouse kitchen, a shower room and a bath room. The housing is not appropriate for couples or people with dependant children (or dogs, though there are many cats) nor do we have facilities for people with disabilities.

Sanford has a somewhat bohemian culture with many artists and performers living here. Sanfordians have had a long tradition of an annual party with local musical talent, we have just started a tradition of performing an annual play having done Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare) and Wyrd Sisters (Pratchet).

Environmentalism is a priority of many who live at Sanford and we have undertaken a large innovative project to reduce our carbon emissions by 60%. The C60 project uses biomass and solar to reduce our carbon footprint. There are many keen cyclists on the street too and this has been combined with the periodic performances into the Recyclestage project, a combined bike shed and stage from recycled materials.