Ithaca, New York, USA
 EcoVillage at Ithaca, Inc. is a not-for-profit
foundation, formed to envision and actualize a more sustainable kind of
neighborhood development, by creating a model village on a site in the Town
of Ithaca, NY. A related organization, EV/CRESP is a project of Cornell
University's Center for Religion, Ethics, and Social Policy, and serves
as the educational arm of the EcoVillage project. The EVI site is 176 acres
of fields, woods, and wetlands, about two miles west of downtown Ithaca,
NY.
The basic idea is to create a pedestrian village which maintains open
space and agricultural land within the urban area, by densely clustering
housing in appropriate-sized neighborhoods. It is thought that the EVI site
can eventually accommodate 4-5 such neighborhoods. The Danish Cohousing
model is being used as a taking off point. In cohousing, households cooperate
to design, build and manage their neighborhood. Key aspects of cohousing
are a Common House where meals can be shared, and pedestrian-oriented commons
areas. The development of the ecovillage will hopefully correspond to an
increasing proportion of the resident's energy and materials needs being
met by on-site or local sources. A big step has already been taken - West Haven Farm, a 3-acre organic CSA farm, has
been operating on the EVI land for five years.
 Development Guidelines
for EVI were created in Land Use Planning workshops by over 100 persons,
including future residents, architects, landscape architects, students,
professors, planners, ecologists and energy experts. Ideas for future implementation
include orcharding, agroforestry, aquaculture, on-site biological wastewater
treatment, greywater recycling, and a Visitor/Education Center. Currently
there are educational programs in ecology and agriculture at EVI for local
youth. Agriculture is a major component of the
EVI vision. A recent project of EVI/CRESP was the 3rd International EcoCity Conference in Yoff, Senegal,
the sister-city of EVI. Hundreds of experts and government officials from
around the globe came together to share ideas on creating and maintaining
sustainable cities and villages.
The first neighborhood is being built by EcoVillage
Cohousing Cooperative, and is due to be completed in July 1997. A second
neighborhood group, SoNG, is now in the planning
stage, with about 16 households involved. A third project, "Neighborhood
IIII" is in the early envisioning stage.
For more information, contact:
EcoVillage at Ithaca
Anabel Taylor Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
607.255.8276
ecovillage@cornell.edu
Further Surfing:
The Gaia Trust's
EcoVillage Information Service
Cohousing Network
Fellowship
for Intentional Community
Context Institute
Oikos - Green Building Source
Ecological.Architecture
Yahoo:
Sustainable Development
CSF: Permaculture
and Sustainable Living
|
