Wanted - Financial assistance to seed a permaculture village

[ecodharmamark]

Dear Fellow Earth-carer/s

Do you dream of investing in a long-term, ecologically sustainable permaculture project? Would you like to see your money put to work creating an entire eco-village? Would you like to be at the forefront of an exciting and inspiring project that will eventually see up to 500 hundred people living, caring, and sharing in a fully functioning community - all working towards an end goal of self-sustainability and personal/community peace and harmony?

Then this offer is for you!

The deal: You will need to provide the start-up capital in order to secure a suitable site. Depending on the bioregional factors, this site could be anything from 5 to 5000 ha. and in an urban, regional, rural or remotely-based environment. The options are endless.

Further, you will need to provide financial assistance to those that require a 'foot in the door'. Housing, clean food and water, and a safe and comfortable living/learning environent are the dreams of many. With your help you can make these dreams a reality.

You could become a greater part of this community by living on the site, or you could remain a more distant contributor, the choice will be entirely yours to make.

What is in it for you? Fame, prestige, financial gain? Highly unlikely. But there is always the chance that this venture could provide you with something much deeper than all of these things combined, something that your inner being has been in search of for a long time - Satisfaction.

If anything in the above interests you, in any way, please do not hesitate and contact me to begin the process of turning our dreams into reality.

Respectfully and sincerely yours,

Mark Chesterfield

ecodharmamark@hotmail.com

[ho-hum]

Mark..


What do we have to do to sign up?


floot

[Tezza]

Yes Id like to Invest In Permaculture also


Gimmee Gimmee Gimmee


Tezza

[andyo]

Here... have my dole cheque. Really.

Could I leave the burbs behind ? Has it been too long ? Am I addicted ?

Reciprical thoughts out loud in text on screen.

[ecodharmamark]

Hello Good People,

My apologies for not responding sooner. I have been out in the field for the past week and have not been anywhere near a computer.

Floot: I am not asking for anyone to sign anything. At this stage of planning what I am asking for is expressions of interest. Should you wish to know more about the project you can communicate with me via this forum, via my email, or via our Intentional Community (IC) forum. Thank you for your interest.

Tezza: We would love to have you on board as an investor - time or money, makes no difference (however it is your knowledge and your willingness to share it that we are interested in at present). We would be grateful for whatever you would like to share. Communication with me is possible via the above means. Thank you too for your interest.

Andyo: Thank you very much for your most generous offer. I too exist (financially) by the means of a fortnightly welfare payment, so I know how genuine your offer is. However at this very early stage of planning what we need is ideas, and I know that you can help us a lot in this regard. Thank you for your initial interest in the project and please feel free to join us at:

http://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/icdg/index.html

A note to all: It is almost imposible for the average wage-earner to secure enough capital in order to purchase a piece of land, much less someone who is dependant upon government welfare payments. It is for this reason that I make the request for financial assistance towards purchasing land. The idea is to build a permaculturally-designed/inspired community from the ground up, but in order to do this we need the ground. We could rent/lease the property, but we would then be subject to a fluctuating market and fickle land-owners. Security is what we require. The title could be held in trust with a core group of individuals named as trustees (MO - Multiple Occupancy style). Financial and non-financial core-group members could be named as trustees. All the details would be dependant upon local council regulations and the consensus-derived decisions of the core group, and after consoltation with appropriate legal advisors.

Many years of observation and contemplation have been put into this project already by a growing band of people. Will you join us? Your ideas will be given the utmost of consideration and respect. Together you, me and the rest of 'us' can become 'we'. And when the time does come to purchase the land for our IC, your money (if you have any at all) will be most welcome too. But should you not be able to contribute to the community in a financial way, then your other fine attributes will certainly be highly regarded.

Somewhere there is someone ready to provide us with the financial means to begin the property-purchasing stage of this project, but there is still much to be done concerning pre-planning and the building of potential community-member numbers. Feel free to join us at any time.

Yours in permaculture,

Mark Chesterfield.

[ChrisBellanger]

Hi all,

I am a long term wwoofer on a 13 acre permaculture property in the Yarra Valley, Vic.

The owner is a permaculture teacher (amongst other things), and is interested in having people living on the property as somewhat of a community... though all the existing abodes are full atm.

There is interest in building more accomadation, and i am sure that for the right people there would be the possibility of buliding your own accomadation.

I have been living there for 1 year, as have another 3 people.

Drop a line if you think you might be interested, Chris
chrisb05@hotmail.com

[ecodharmamark]

Hello Chris :)

Thank you for your interest and response. Your current situation sounds very interesting and I encourage you all to continue to strive for your goals.

Here in Central Victoria, we plan to start the building process of our IC in concert with local planning laws. Of course this means that we are going to have to push the boundaries of those laws on a daily basis. Indeed, we may even have to convince council to change some of its laws.

Composting toilets are still almost unheard here, and this is in a local government area that has less than 2.5% remaining potable water in its storages! We are also contending with the fact that we have yet to receive less than half our yearly average rainfall (500mm, of which we have only received 200mm to date). With all this you would think that waterless, composting toilets would be mandatory inclusion in all new developments.

You can begin to see the challenges that we face, however we believe that we are up to the task. So-much-so, that I plan to go back to university in 2008 and study towards becoming a professional planner. I figure that with profesional accredetation backing us, we stand a much stronger chance of implementing truly eco-sustainable designs, and more importantly, having them recognised by all levels of government as the way of the future.

Local planning is where the boundaries need to be pushed in terms of permaculture design getting a foothold in mainstream development. For years I have done 'my own thing' (composting toilets; blackwater recycling; building all manner of sustainable, waste-nuetral, low in embodied energy structures, etc.), and all outside of local planning laws. This has been good for the environment, but in terms of educating the wider community, it has been a process that has gone on mainly without notice. By addressing the planning requirements of Council, indeed altering the very way that Council thinks in regards to the planning and development of human spaces, we hope to change our little part of the world and pave the way for others to follow.

Thanks for the offer to come WWOOFing. Unfortunately I have already made plans for the 4-weeks I have spare this year. Maybe next year.

Cheerio, peace and love to you all,

Mark.

[kathleenmc]

Hi Mark,

You can do it! It is being done with this mob....

http://www.bend.org.au

This project was started by a group of local people, with no money only the incentive, to build a permaculture orientated village a few years ago and it now has D.A approval! Things are finally starting to come into fruition! If you want to know what they came up against, how they accumulated the funds etc, just contact them. You can download a lot of info from them as well.

Keep up the good work. :D

kathleen

[ecodharmamark]

G'day kathleen :)

Thank you ever so much for the link-in to BEND. Isn't it great that they have already achieved so much? I'm in the process of reading the available documents provided on their site. Great stuff! BEND's work to date reminds me a lot of the Fryer's Forest eco-village (see link below) with regards to the planning processes. Oh, how exciting it is!

http://www.holmgren.com.au/html/Fryers/fryers.html

Our local council has only just today sworn in our new Mayor. The coucil website lists her interests which include "...sustainable planning and development" (see link below for full page).

http://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Page/page ... Id=721&h=0 (http://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Page/page.asp?Page_Id=721&h=0)

The future looks bright for sustainable development in Central Vic :D

Cheerio, and thanks again, kathleen.

Mark.

[kathleenmc]

No worries mate, goodluck with it all.

We have indeed had a bit of input from David H about Fryers experience as well as Robyn Francis and Jarlanbah's experience. The Management Statement was developed with stategies gleaned from those experiences.

You might find some support with council from Michael Mobbs from the sustainable house project as well.

http://www.sustainablehouse.com.au

I'll keep this forum informed on the project as things develop.

We've just had a celebration about attaining the D.A and I was suprised to learn that it all started in 2003 with two friends (women) with one saying flippantly "I have this dream about an ecovillage" and the other friend took her seriously and organised a meeting over it! Just goes to show how an idea can become an actuality.

:lol: Kathleen

[Foxywhiskers]

Hello Mark.

I am extremely inteerested in becoming an active person in assisting this dream to fruition. I have spent much time looking at other eco-villages such as Crystal waters and so on on the net with a dream to be involved. Ironically when I came across your forum today i discovered you are also from Bendigo. Physically I can assist in these early planning stages and have many environmentally friendly suggestions.ie no domestic animals etc..to contribute. Financially my assistance is rather restricted however with ideas and labour, I think i can be a valuable member of an innovative team. Please personally message me and assign me a role in this great group endevour, I was so excited to find this thread. Its part of my ultimate dream :wink:

Thankyou,
Paula

[ecodharmamark]

Hello Paula and Everyone with an eye on this thread :)

An update:

I've been accepted into LaTrobe University's (Bendigo campus) Bachelor of Urban, Regional and Environmental planning course. It's a brand new course, designed to address the shortfall of multi-disciplinary planners, especially in regional areas:

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/planning/undergraduate.html

Of course the above means that I'm tied to a rather heavy study-load for the next four years, but that has not diminished my dream of helping create sustainable community one bit. However the focus of where this will all begin has shifted a little. For example: I'm now looking at being part of a large (up to 12 individuals?) co-housing complex, probably located somewhere in the sub-urban locale of Bendigo, near the Uni and a public transport point.

This is where you may be interested in helping, in the very early stages of planning, Paula. However is not up to me to "assign" roles to anyone. If this is going to work then we all need to be part of a team, with an equal appreciation for the valuable input of all. There is no room for power imbalances in a fully-functioning, truly sustainable community.

I'll be PM-ing you, Paula, very soon after I post here. I'll provide you with additional details about the work that a few Bendigo people have already done with a view to making our shared dreams a collective reality.

Peace people, may your day shine and your lives be filled with happiness.

Mark.

[Nathan Edwards]

Mark, I'll be keeping an eye on this thread it looks very interesting. My partner and I purchased a 10 acre block in Castlemaine in 2005 and although my focus is on the development of that block and I am for the time being financially tied to it I am very interested in IC as I did my first PDC in crystal waters in 92 and have always known that eventually the culture will shift toward those type of communities.
Having said that I am in the process of looking into starting something similar with members of family and friends up North so info is a resource at the moment
Peace bro.

[RobWindt]

Go for it Mark, planners with a clue are in very short supply.
FWIW, i have some wonderful resources on sustainable settlement design that i would be happy to discuss and share with you, ranging from rural planning guidelines to various eco village DAs
This booklet was put together by Peter Cuming and the team at Sustainable Futures along with Robyn Francis, well worth having
http://www.bookshop.nsw.gov.au/pubdetai ... cation=297 (http://www.bookshop.nsw.gov.au/pubdetails.jsp?publication=297)

Cheers
Rob
http://nakedmechanic.blogspot.com/

[ecodharmamark]

Hello Nathan and Partner :)

Yes, what an inspiring place Crystal Waters has become. I first visited there in 2002. I was given a lift by the partner of one of the founding members who picked me up whilst I was hitch-hiking into the village. We talked at length about village life and the politics that drives it. I think this was when I first become interested in IC as a very real alternative to the mainstream. During the next few days I WWOOFed my way around the village and got a real taste for IC life. Since then I have visited many IC's right around Australia and have had the very great opportunity to see first hand (at various stages) the the birth of quite a few. Also I've had the great privilege to visit some of the older, very well established IC's.

Good luck with your ventures in both Castlemaine and "up North". I think one of the challenges we face as planners, designers and developers of IC's remains the need to balance structure with flexibilty in terms of the people we gather around us. Herb Seal's book Alternative Lifestyles: A study of communes, intentional communities, group marriages and other non-nuclear families (1974) continues to provide me with a thorough basis for this understanding. In it he strongly argues that we need to find the balance within our chosen social structures. Whether we chose an open-type, or the more conservative co-operative, or even as you suggest an IC based on the exteded-family model, they all have one thing in common; the need for balance, and the ability to remain dynamic.

Cheerio for now, and may peace and happiness be yours to keep,

Mark.

[ecodharmamark]

Hello Rob :)

Thank you for your continued encouragement, and nice to hear from you again.

Yes, Robyn Francis' work gives me great inspiration. I'm studying the model she used in Nimbin Village (see link below) for I believe that this community will stand the test of time.

http://www.rosneath.com.au/ipc6/ch07/francis/index.html

Another developing IC that I'm particularly interested is the creation of David Holmgren and Su Dennet: Fryer's Forest (see link).

http://www.holmgren.com.au/ (then click on Fryer's Forest Ecovillage)

This venture is close to me and was a source of great inspiration during the 2005 Bendigo PDC.

Thanks again, Rob. Yes, I would like to accept your offer of sharing in your vast wealth and knowledge of all things IC. Just as soon as I get the hectic start to this year out of the way I'll be in touch.

Cheerio, and may goodness and peace forever shine in your part of the world,

Mark.

[RobWindt]

"Robyn Francis' work gives me great inspiration", you're not alone there mate :) The cultural mapping component of her eco village design course was a real eye opener and encouraged me to study community development in more depth. She was also gracious enough to let me photocopy the complete development application for Jarlanbah, amongst others.
We will catch up when the time is right and I look forward to it

Cheers
Rob
http://nakedmechanic.blogspot.com/

[Foxywhiskers]

Hello Paula and Everyone with an eye on this thread :)

An update:

I've been accepted into LaTrobe University's (Bendigo campus) Bachelor of Urban, Regional and Environmental planning course. It's a brand new course, designed to address the shortfall of multi-disciplinary planners, especially in regional areas:

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/planning/undergraduate.html

.
I guess I will be meeting you at Uni then! Lolz. Doing the same Degree..
Cheers!
Paula

[ho-hum]

Hiya,

Can I jump in here and ask what sorts of careers you two can forsee at the end of your degree?

Where do you want this to take you?


cheers

floot

[ecodharmamark]

G'day floot :)

In my case, I believe my current course of study will lead me to a further course of study. I think I will always have one foot in some sort of learning environment, and the other out in the 'field' (testing the theories) for the remainder of my life.

Career wise? Simple! I will use my knowledge to plan, design and build better community. Much the same as what I do now, except on a much larger scale.

Over-heard a good one today - my first day of a brand new course: "We live courtesy of an ecology, not an economy!"

Cheerio everyone, may peace and happiness burst forth and shower us all with its loving-kindness.

Mark.

[PULSE]

G'day Mark. I was just wondering if you'd any joy in your search for finance.
I've thought alot about trying to get finacial assitance for some kind of lifeboat/sustainable community. I have a few schemes like approaching big business for sponsorship to protect and rejuvinate land so I can live there as well :lol:
If I dont manage to set up my dream lifeboat before shit really hits the fan, I am just making good friends with people who do have large amounts of land and resources so I can join them.
I do get a bit hung up on wanting 'my own land' as i'm renting, there are lots of people with lots of good land that dont have a clue what to do ,or the energy to do it. I'm young fit and am building my skills so I know when the time comes I'll be a useful asset.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day PULSE :)

Nah, no joy, but then we havn't really been out there flogging it yet. The initial post was written with the intention of 'flushing out' similar-minded folk, rather than securing finance, and it's certainly achieving that goal.

Like you (perhaps) I have no desire to 'own' land. There is plenty of 'pre-owned' real estate sitting idle out there right now, just waiting for the right 'caretakers' to come along and turn it in to fully functioning, self-suficient living spaces.

And like wise, in the event that the poo does hit the fan in the big way, then I have built up a great network of friends over the years whom all offer their 'shack in the hills' as a potential place of refuge.

Keep in touch. Let us know how you fair, and I'll endevour to keep you in the loop from this end.

Cheerio, Mark.

[Richard on Maui]

"We live courtesy of an ecology, not an economy!"
That's nice, I agree. But take away the economy and most people would starve. This is the challenge, to develop an economy that is not at odds with the ecology. This is where building strong communities is so important, isn't it?

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Richard :)

Exactly! What I believe we need to do is to 'swap' our current, mainstream (false) economy - the one that doesn't work - for another, more naturally-aligned (true) economy - one that does work! Living life according to the principles of permaculture is one way to do this. Now all we need to do is 'sell it' to the people.

Cheerio, Mark.

[ho-hum]

Interesting,

I am not playing 'devils advocate' or anything like that.

I would like to know how this new economy would be different to a subsistence lifestyle and do you have any examples or ideas on this?

I wonder if we just banned most forms of credit would this be enough?

I certainly do not like our current economic model.

Aimed at mark and richard.

cheers

floot

[ecodharmamark]

G'day floot :)

Prohibition (banning) does not work - never has. I don't know of one case in the entire history of humankind where a 'ban' on something has ever stopped absolutely everyone from carrying out the prohibited practice. If we try to ban credit (or transactions incuring a debt) transfers, people will still 'borrow' and people will still 'owe'.

What we need is an entire re-jigging of the global human psyche. The concept that one person can 'own' something of a material nature and therefore has the right to 'lend' it to someone else, albiet with provisio that when it (whatever 'it' is) is returned it comes back 'with interest' is preposterous - indeed deserving of the title 'false economy'.

Anyway, who was it that said "All property is theft"? Surely that person was a permaculturalist...

A system that operates outside of the mainstream, socially-constructed (false) and capitalist economy does exist, floot, and has done so since we come down from the trees. It's called 'bartering'.

In an anarchist society, all forms of capital expansion that create disproportionate levels of 'power' within community cease to exist. An anarchist society develops sustainably by utilising the principle of 'cooperation' rather than 'competition' (see link below).

Modern society has been at war with itself for the past 10,000-years, or ever since the great agrarian revolution. This was when the previously sustainable and stable levels of human population began to expand. It was also the same period that saw the many working for the betterment of the few. Class divisions started, and the rest is (war) history :lol:.

I'm sorry I don't have either the time nor the energy to continue with this rave, floot. However I suspect I'm preaching to the 'partially-converted' anyway :), and possibly boring others to death.

Further reading on this enormous topic can be found in any library throughout Australia, and indeed in most countries throughout the world. However, as good as place as any to start is here (an excerpt from an old copy of the Anarchist's Age Weekly Review):

ANARCHIST QUESTION AND ANSWER

Q. ANARCHISM - ONE SIZE FITS ALL?

A. I´m afraid not, Anarchism isn´t a philosophy that claims it has all the answers. It isn´t a religion or a political philosophy that both asks the questions and gives you the answers. There is no anarchist commandments, follow the 10 commandments and you´ll achieve eternal life. Anarchism doesn´t provide the certainties that people find in the Bible and the Koran. Anarchism has no gurus or holy places you can worship at and gain enlightenment. Anarchism is a great disappointment to people who are looking for ready made answers, instant solutions and a way to make sense about the vagaries of being.

Anarchism is a mechanism by which people can regain practical control of their lives. It is a philosophy that places the individual at the centre of existence. It is a philosophy that recognises an individual´s freedom is intertwined with the freedom of those around them. It is a philosophy that recognises that both individual and collective freedom is dependent on people having access to common resources to make dreams a reality.

Anarchism is rooted in the here and now. An anarchist´s common bond lies in their recognition that in order to be free, we need to develop ourselves as autonomous independent human beings. We recognise that what stands between us and this brave new world, are the institutions and structures that ruling elites have created to justify and maintain the power they are able to exercise over millions of people.

Anarchists challenge the right of those elements in society that exercise power by creating structures and institutions that allow people to individually and collectively make decisions about their lives and which allows them to use the common wealth to make their decisions a reality.

The Anarchist Age
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~anarch/mainindex.html

Cheerio, and may peace and happiness be the final outcome for all of our lives of suffering,

Mark.

[ho-hum]

Mark,

Thanks very much for your writings and time. Just as a heads up to you.. have you ever run across the concept of Georgism by Henry George. A surprising amount have not.

It would appear to fit many of your ideals and perhaps offer a solution.


Georgism, named after Henry George (1839-1897), is a philosophy and economic ideology that follows from the belief that everyone owns what they create, but everything supplied by nature, most importantly land, belongs equally to all humanity.



I have read a bit on this man and ''georgism'' but have yet to really get my head across it.

http://www.wordwebonline.com/search.pl?w=georgism

This is a wiki on him but much much more is written...

cheers

floot

[ecodharmamark]

G'day floot :)

Yeah, thanks for that. I come across Georgism quite a few years ago during my more political-phase of life, and yes it does fit very closely with my current personal ideal. However the latter is a fluid thing, and remains in a constant state of flux, and as such it pretty hard to align it with anything :lol:.

Interestingly, both Walter Burley Griffin (1876-1937) and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin (1871-1961) were Georgists, among other things (members of the Theosophical Society comes to mind). Many of the politicians in Canberra today could learn a great deal about creating a sustainable community by studying the very people who initially designed the basis for the modern Canberra planning strategy. Kind of ironic, don't you think?

Anyway, must get back to the books, exams are only a bit over 3-months away :lol:.

As always, it's been a pleasure, floot. Keep up the great work!

Cheerio, Mark.

PS: A great read by an Australian academic that explores a possible alternative to the present economic-rationalist, just-left-of-and-just-right-of-centre government: Beyond Right and Left: New Politics and Culture Wars by Prof David McKnight:
http://beyondrightandleft.com.au/archiv ... _beyo.html (http://beyondrightandleft.com.au/archives/2005/09/welcome_to_beyo.html)

[Jez]

I don't have time to add anything to this thread (despite my temptations... :lol:), but I've been meaning for some time to wish you the best of luck with your endeavours Mark, both academically and community wise...I hope it all bears fruit for all your effort mate. :thumbright:

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Jez :)

Thanks for the encouragement. It's a fact that I know via this forum (and other mediums) that there are others out there working just as hard, if not harder to get the message out to the masses that keeps me going. Thanks for all your hard work. Keep it coming!

Cheerio, Mark.

[ho-hum]

Mark,

Something to be considered..

http://www.rosneath.com.au/news.html

floot

[ecodharmamark]

G'day floot :)

"Greedy Buggers" - yep, they exist at all levels of society. Thanks for the pointer to the latest news at Rosneath.

Hooroo, Mark.

[russellberry]

Paul Antonelli (cofounder of Somerville Ecovillage (http://www.somervilleecovillage.com.au/) is setting up a public fund specifically for funding ecovillage projects.

A well-planned permaculture village development may well attract his attention... you can contact Paul or other members of the Green Edge team at this address: http://www.greenedge.org/contact_us.htm.

good luck...
Russell.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Russell :)

Thank you very much for the links to both Somerville and Greenedge. Both websites have proved to contain a mountain of information that is extremely valuable to us.

Cheerio, Mark.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day All :D

Thought it was about time I gave you an update:

Have almost completed the 2nd year at La Trobe (probably going to do five years now, and leave with an MA):

http://www.latrobe.edu.au/planning/

Been working in local government for about 14-months now:

http://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Page/page ... Id=110&h=0 (http://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Page/page.asp?Page_Id=110&h=0)

Volunteering with Landcare, our local Community Planning Action Group, and the Bendigo Sustainability Group, all combine to keep me busy when I'm not at uni or work:

http://www.bendigosustainability.org.au/

The above three allow me the opportunity to meet with hundreds of likeminded (not to mention, thousands of un-likeminded) individuals; all good when it comes to expanding my own thoughts and dreams...

Still working at retrofitting .4 ha here in dry and dusty Bendigo town. Hard work, but we are making some good inroads towards creating a decent (sustainabilty-orientated) place for someone to take over when the time comes to move on to the next BIG project (see: below).

Still working at expanding the original idea. Have decided to forego the MC2 website as a means of communicating, and instead we are working as a group of dedicated individuals at the local level.

Scoping a local (urban) site; lots of preliminary issues - heritage constraints and ground contamination are the two biggies, but hoping to be able to spend a bit more time on this project to expand on the opportunities that the site presents - walkability, amenity, public transport at the 'gate' (yes, it has a beautiful old red brick wall along one boundary).

Still have very little money, but looking at a range of funding options at present. Could even go down the path of creating a PPP...

Given that Peak Oil, Climate Change, and the 'False' (Wall Street) Economy are all practically MSM articles these days, it will only be a matter of time before some enterprising philanthropist comes our way (nudge, nudge, wink, wink to all you 'rich' people out there).

Personally, I get tired (16-hour days tend to do that). But every now and then I jump on a bus/train (and/or hitch) to urban locals throughout Australia to scope out ideas from other urban-orientated, eco-communities - thus giving me the opportunity to relax and recharge at the same time.

I trust that you are all well and as happy as you can be in your respective endeavours.

Cheerio, maintain the dream, Mark.

[ozneil]

As per Russell's post earlier, the fund has been launched. A prospectus was lodged with ASIC this month and we are aiming to raise a minimum of $8 million before November 14th so that Greenedge Ethical Investments Limited can be floated on the ASX.

This has been a marathon effort and a number of years in the making.

In order for the float to succeed, we need some grass roots investors to step up! The minimum investment is $2000 and you can find out more on the web site at http://www.greenedgeethical.com.au.

The fund will invest in ecovillages such as the SomerVille Ecovillage project and other sustainable developments.

Neil Robertson
Greenedge Projects

[ecodharmamark]

G'day Neil :)

Thanks for the post.

Greenedge (in its many facets) is something that we are very keen to explore further. My intitial reading leads me to believe that Prof. Peter Newman has a seat on the Greenedge Ethical Investment (GEI) board. This is great news! I have followed Prof. Newman's path for some time, and believe him to be a person of great character.

We are carefully weighing up our options (given the current economic climate) before exploring further an investment in the ASX.

I'm personally in the process of reading the GEI prospectus, and will probably not make the closing offer deadline.

So much to do, so little time...

Regards, Mark.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day All

Time flies when you are having fun. Hard to believe it has been nearly 12-months since I gave this ol's baby a 'bump'.

Time for an update:

Work: I am no longer employed with the City. After a marathon 2-years of juggling that position, along with a full-time study load, and together with all the other commitments that one acrues in one's life, I have decided it is time to give one of my fellow students a go 'at the coal face'. It was fun, often frustrating, but in the end I learnt so much. All the better for working with the system when the time comes to hang out my own shingle.

Study: Getting to the pointy end of the third year. Bloody tired of learning about how grim things appear, and have resorted to allowing myself a few brief daydreams of living in utopia, just to get me through the days...

Subjects covered thus far:

Year One

Introduction to Planning and Design
Reading the Australian Landscape
Introduction to Sociology and Politics 101
Principles of Sustainable Development
Introduction to Statutory Planning
Globalisation: The Rise of the Modern World
Introduction to Sociology and Politics 102
Society, People and Place

Year Two

Planning Practice A
Local and Regional Economic Development
Rural and Regional Communities
Asian and Pacific Cities
Landscape and Humanworld
Electives

Year Three

Planning Practice B
Australian Cities and Regions
Climate Futures – Water Land Use and Development
Electives

And next year... (final year as an undergrad, or first year of the Master's, depending on which way I hold my tongue...)

Year Four

Negotiation, Mediation and Community Consultation
Principles of Strategic Planning
Research Methods for Planners
Statutory and Environmental Planning
Project Management and Professional Ethics
Elective

Homefront: Not a great deal of progress with regards to the retrofit, although I have put a lot of work into developing permeable, yet robust 'universal access' surfaces in and around Zone One in preparation for mobility aides -one family member is starting to get a bit 'wobbly'. Oh, and have spread close to 30 sqaure cubic metres of mulch on the companion gardens and onto a new 15x3x1.5 mt bushfire/flood berm, the inspiration for which came when the local 'roadies' decided to clean out the spoon drains in the street, and I just could'nt bring myself to see all that silt/humus get dumped as useless fill somewhere (a carton of VB is all 5 truckloads 'cost') .

I've been lending a lot of support these past 12-months to quite a few individuals/collectives with regards to their own projects - everything from doing a few simple designs for chooksheds and mandalas, right through to consulting with a couple of groups who are in the process of implementing eco-village plans. All this has meant that our own plans for developing a village have not progressed very far, although we have decided that location wise, an urban/peri-urban layout will be for the best given that peak oil and CC make it extremely difficult to continue and justify the development of an isolated village, far from essentials such as uni, public transport, schools, hospital, etc.

On top of reams of papers/journals, and about 20-plus text books, I have been reading a lot from the Collected Works of Murrary Bookchin. I can no longer myself work/study 16-hours plus per day, but I still like to read at least 2-hours of Bookchin per night - and at this rate, I plan to have read his entire life's work by the end of the year.

After 2-plus-years at the helm of our local Landcare Group, I have reluctantly let go of the tiller and we now have a couple of new and (energetic) individuals heading up that team. I haven't been able to get to the Sustainablity Group for a while, but they are pluggin' along just fine.

Well, that's enough banter from me. And, just to keep on topic, if there is a wealthy person/organisation out there somewhere who is feeling a little guilty about where their capital may have been 'extracted' from, and they would like to 'put a little back' in order to assuage that guilt, well our urban eco-village group would be only too happy to give you a $5 million 'tax offset' - saw a great site today, would make an excellent village...

Night all, pleasant dreams, may all of your permaculture endeavours come true, Mark.

[purplepear]

Very interesting Mark - I will read the whole post when I have time but consider the posibilities of converting existing ownership into an eco village. Zoning aside, what would it take to turn Purple Pear into an integrated farm- education-village :?:

[ecodharmamark]

Very interesting Mark - I will read the whole post when I have time but consider the posibilities of converting existing ownership into an eco village. Zoning aside, what would it take to turn Purple Pear into an integrated farm- education-village :?:

G'day Mark (PP)

All statutory planning issues aside, just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a community to build a village. Gather together enough like-minded individuals, then plan, design and build your village. You can't raise a child overnight, likewise it takes time to find enough community members in order to begin the process of building a village. I've been working at the latter for over 10-years now, and slowly (but very surely) I'm building a network of people committed to the vision - to build a village where I can die in peace, and a village where children can grow in peace - cradle to cradle - learning from the distant past, working toward the distant future, living in the moment in peace and harmony.

Peace, Mark.

[ecodharmamark]

As per Russell's post earlier, the fund has been launched. A prospectus was lodged with ASIC this month and we are aiming to raise a minimum of $8 million before November 14th so that Greenedge Ethical Investments Limited can be floated on the ASX.

This has been a marathon effort and a number of years in the making.

In order for the float to succeed, we need some grass roots investors to step up! The minimum investment is $2000 and you can find out more on the web site at http://www.greenedgeethical.com.au.

The fund will invest in ecovillages such as the SomerVille Ecovillage project and other sustainable developments.

Neil Robertson
Greenedge Projects

News update:

Greenedge Ethical no longer exists:

Greenedge Ethical IPO share applications to be refunded and offer withdrawn (http://www.greenedge.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=138&Itemid=203)

However the development arm of Greenedge still appears to be in operation:

Welcome to Greenedge (http://www.greenedge.org/index.php)

One particular 'ecovillage' development that I have been following is the Cape Patterson Ecovillage (http://www.capepatersonecovillage.com.au/) project. This particular development appears to have stalled at the statutory planning phase of the proposal:

Bass Coast Planning Scheme - Amendment CO53 ("http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/Shared/ats.nsf/WebViewUniqueID/b22882a3e46e008eca25750700762878?OpenDocument&fromSearch&Click=CA256DC800080C18.476caac79d318ee2ca256dee001 434f7/$Body/0.5938).

I have a keen interest in the above as I will probably use it as a 'case study' in a (future) paper that I am working on. This study will continue in the vein of my over-arching research interest: How sustainable are rural-based ecovillages?

So many existing research findings to analyse, so much empirical data to collect, so many papers to write... leaves me to wonder where I will find the time to continue and develop our own urban ecovillage.

Cheerio all, Markus.

[Michaelangelica]

I had shares in greenridge.
Then . . nothing. . .

[qis]

Hi, I'm one of a few planning a 100% sustainable and self-sufficient permaculture community. I'm keen to hear from others who are doing it or are interested in doing it.

[Michaelangelica]

500 people donate $5 a month; the price of a large coffee.
In one year you have $2500x 12 =$30,000

500 people donate $5 a week; the price of a large coffee.
$25,000 x52 =$1,300 000
Year two
Interest + 1.3m
year three etc
Perhaps you pick a number out of a hat 1-500; that person gets back $5,000 for his /her donation and still has 1/500th of final goal.

500 is a lot of people, 100 is a nice number-- a centurion?

Getting people to part with money is not easy. You have to think of a way they can make money by giving you some. That is what a franchise is.

[purplepear]

http://www.givengain.com/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=donor&profile_id=44577

[ecodharmamark]

G'day all

Time for my (roughly) annual update:

I have now completed the BUREP (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/handbook/2011/undergraduate/bendigo/humanities/abure.htm). Next year I will return to La Trobe and complete the MCPD (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/handbook/2011/postgraduate/bendigo/humanities/amcpd.htm) (of which because of my already 4-years completed as an undergrad, I only have to do one more year of coursework). My minor thesis (http://mrcplanning.wordpress.com/about/) will revolve around cohousing. Specifically, how effective is it at achieving positive quadruple bottom line outcomes, and does the concept meet with much resistance from a statutory planning perspective? This body of work will roll into a PhD thesis (beginning 2012), and will broaden to encompass the wider scope of IC (intentional community) in the Australian setting.

Between now and the beginning of the 2011 academic year, I will continue to undertake research as a private consultant, working in the role of research assistant to my primary mentor, and professor of community planning and development, Trevor Budge (http://www.latrobe.edu.au/socsci/staff/budge/budge.html). This work thus far has seen us undertaking some preliminary research into the role that the metropolitan-wide planning strategies of several dozen 'global' and 'world' cities play in the conceptual paradigm of 'food systems'. Also we have been undertaking some private research into the role that planning jurisdictions play with regards to the issue of protecting prime agricultural land from conversion into land used for purposes other than for agricultural production. I have a couple of other research themes in play, too, but more about them later. As I have always promised in the past, when our work is eventually published in the public domain, I will make sure that you are all among the first to see it.

On the home front, involvement with my local community continues to evolve/splinter into many subsets. Next year will see me continue to work very closely within the local planning community, which of course means that I will continue to work with local people; by addressing planning matters on a scale from local to global, and with issues that concern us all. You have been reading my posts for long enough now to know the kind of stuff we do - everything from helping local groups get their planning permit for a community garden, right through to offering up large policy submissions to global entities.

I'm looking forward to a couple of field trips early in the year (well, they are actually a wedding and a conference, and in that order. But I never let trivial matters get in the way of the first rule of permaculture: observe and interact): The first is to Ballina (NSW), the second is to Hobart (TAS). These are both beautiful regions, with many great socio-ecological attractions. Maybe I'll bump into you in the street, if you live in or near one of these regions (but be warned, I do not resemble in the slightest my avatar)?

I maintain the dream of one day returning to live in the midst of an IC, but for the time being we (my close family and I) continue to convert the .4 ha we currently call home into something more sustainable than how we found it 5-plus years ago. The fact that we have had double our average annual rainfall this past calendar year means that the task has been somewhat easier of late. But don't be fooled into a false sense of security by our current weather patterns, my friends. I have it on good authority that the La Nina ENSO complex that has bought us this bountiful rain (and snow, for our northern hemisphere friends) is due to collapse and put us straight back into an El Nino - and for how long, who knows? Maybe it will be a very long time before I see it this soakingly wet again...

Anyway, enough banter from me. I wish you a simply superb mid-summer/winter period, and trust that you will make the most of the festive season with those that you love. And don't forget, true community is all around you. We survived eons as a species devoted to our communities prior to evolving into a sub-species that is the selfish variety (at least as far as most affluent societies are concerned) we are today - and all we need to do in order to rekindle that position of mutualism, is reach out and interact with the 'strangers' in our community.

Well, its time for bed (or at least time to read another couple of chapters), peace and love to you all, Mark.

[sun burn]

I don't know quite what you mean by la nina collapsing. I've learned from reading on the net that a la nina year occurs about once every 10 years.

[ecodharmamark]

I don't know quite what you mean by la nina collapsing. I've learned from reading on the net that a la nina year occurs about once every 10 years.

G'day sunburn

Quite right. Historically, La Nina conditions have visited the Pacific approximately every ten years (give or take a year or two). By 'collapse', I meant that rather than a 'gradual decline' (as the Bureau are projecting, based on their modeling analysis: see link below), the current La Nina will diminish quite rapidly and we will swing straight back into a severe El Nino event. I am further predicting, based on the projections of my source (who, I am unable to reveal for personal reasons), that the next ENSO cycle is likely to last well beyond the average ten years, for reasons too complex to mention in detail here, suffice to say - climate change is upon us!

Strong La Niña event continues in the Pacific (http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/)

Peace to you, and all my NQ friends and family, Markos.

[INNOVERTS]

Hey mark
thanks for your offer i need people like you around me.i am interested to be part of the project i have 10 acre land near town area and another near source of a river.curently i am planning to start spirulina (algae) farming with an intetion to venture in various fields.any assistance will be of great help to me.

[whs]

IC intentional community? Theres a pretty broad range of intentions in society and in permaculturalists, and multiple layers, with deeply hidden intentions.
You looked into steiner? or biodynamics? One line there is that "Community strength is courtesy of how much the individuals give to the community"
ie people who come to communities to get things (or take) weaken and undermine the common good.
Then the problem of living together,.. who puts out the rubbish, who drinks the last beer,.. needs a strong group.
So it would have to begin with people who wanted to work together? For some unselfish ideal?

[ecodharmamark]

IC intentional community? Theres a pretty broad range of intentions in society and in permaculturalists, and multiple layers, with deeply hidden intentions.
You looked into steiner? or biodynamics? One line there is that "Community strength is courtesy of how much the individuals give to the community"
ie people who come to communities to get things (or take) weaken and undermine the common good.
Then the problem of living together,.. who puts out the rubbish, who drinks the last beer,.. needs a strong group.
So it would have to begin with people who wanted to work together? For some unselfish ideal?

G'day whs

Welcome to the PRI Forum.

Agree (generally). Your last line is probably the most telling, however, of what IC is all about: "...it would have to begin with people who wanted to work together ... [f]or some unselfish ideal". Herein lies the difference between intentional community, and non-intentional (or circumstantial) community. In an IC, people have a strong desire, an intention to work together. Generally speaking, in circumstantial community (better known as society, and particularly that of the industrial kind) people tend to be in it for themselves. Nothing new here, Ferdinand Toennies (http://www.cas.sc.edu/socy/faculty/deflem/ztoennies.html) (1855-1936) covered it well in Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (http://pnz.sagepub.com/content/17/1/3.extract). In essence, what we (IC-thinking and advocating people) are really talking about here, is the concept of mutualism. For an expansion on this ideal, see: Kropotkin (http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/kropotkin/Kropotkinarchive.html) (1842-1921).

To Steiner, and by extension, biodynamics:

We have a few practicing advocates here at the PRI Forum, perhaps they might like to share their views on its role in IC? It's not my forte.

Personally, I believe there is room in Mandala Town (http://forums.permaculture.org.au/group.php?groupid=1) for all forms of thought, because through diversity of thought comes (eventually) community cohesion, resilience and ultimately, the strength to go on into an uncertain future.

Others that continue to inspire me in this area (in no particular order) are:

Murray Bookchin (http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bookchin/Bookchinarchive.html) (1921-2006)

Lewis Mumford (http://www.nd.edu/~ehalton/mumfordbio.html) (1895-1990)

Patrick Geddes (http://patrickgeddes.co.uk/) (1854-1932)

Prof Stuart B. Hill (http://www.stuartbhill.com/)

David Holmgren (http://www.holmgren.com.au/)

Jane Jacobs (http://www.preservenet.com/theory/Jacobsbiox.html) (1916-2006)

Erwin Gutkind (http://www.transatlanticperspectives.org/entry.php?rec=25) (1886-1968)

Kathryn McCamant & Charles Durrett (http://www.cohousingco.com/)

Alexander et al (http://www.patternlanguage.com/)

...and on and on it (the list) goes

Cheerio, Markos