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As part of two interconnected atelier courses at UVM in the Fall Semester of 2003 (NR285E/ASCI297K/CDAE295A/PSS297B: Ecovillage Design and CDAE195Z2: Community Design and Planning Charrette) we: (1) surveyed basic principles of ecological design and existing ecovillage designs worldwide (a journal article is being prepared detailing the results of our survey; and (2) used this knowledge base to create proposals (including schematic physical designs, and proposals for financing, ownership, governance, agriculture, education and other elements) for a pair of ecovillages for UVM. One proposal is for a retrofit of existing on-campus housing into an ecovillage. The second is for use of the Wheelock Farm property on South Spear St. as a site for a new ecovillage. After some background material common to both proposals, details of each proposal are presented in separate sections, along with recommendations on how we feel the University should best proceed in each case.
UVM is well on its way to achieving its vision of becoming the world’s premiere environmental university. As part of this, it needs to take a leadership role in developing models of sustainable communities. It must do this at several scales, from local to global. There are significant advantages to creating a “model” small-scale sustainable communities on or near the campus itself, to serve as laboratories for developing and testing new ideas.
At the same time, these model sustainable communities can provide an experiment in improved student housing. Clustering students together with only other students clearly does not provide an optimal living/learning environment. Nor does segregating any of the many other rich patterns of diversity that exist in our world. Our vision for ecovillages at UVM is to create integrated living and learning environments where students, faculty, other citizens and the larger community can interact on many levels, both with each other and with the built, agricultural, and natural environments.
There are several historical precedents for this approach. The traditional British residential college is one, where faculty and students shared adjacent living quarters and common areas. This created an extremely valuable enrichment of the educational experience for both students and faculty. We wish to extend and update this model, by adding residents from the community at large and by focusing the village on the theme of creating a model for sustainable communities of the present and future. The process of developing and maintaining this community would make a unique contribution to scholarship on sustainability and would place UVM clearly in the forefront of education and research on sustainability.
The basic characteristics of the the proposed Wheelock Farm Ecovillage include:
· Living/Learning laboratory for sustainable agriculture, urban/rural integration, renewable energy, ecological economics, and integrated ecological design and governance
· A population of approximately 80, 40 UVM students, 20 UVM faculty/staff and families and visiting professors, and 20 members of the broader community.
· Broad diversity in age, income, ethnic origin, etc.
· Housing clustered on 4-5 acres to minimize site impact and improve social interaction
· 20-40 acres designated by the University for organic farming and animal husbandry (managed in conjunction with applied and service learning classes through majors in e.g. Ecological Agriculture, Animal Science, and Sustainable Forestry)
· Independent living units with a common house, barn, greenhouse, and other shared facilities
· Ecologically designed to be a net energy and food producer, improve water quality, and be a desirable, aesthetic living experience
· Consensus-based governance in a learning community
· Long-term lease on university land, but non-student units owned by residents.
The basic characteristics of the the proposed retrofit of the Living/Learning Center in an Ecovillage include: