Search Results (32)

This article provides a systematic literature review of the scientific literature on forms of communitization that feature alternative nutritional practices to reveal their organizational structures, opportunities, challenges, and transformative potential. The forms studied are alternative food networks and are characterized by their sustainable commitment in food production, distribution, and consumption practices. This review focused solely on articles investigating these forms of communitization in Germany. A systematic literature search was conducted using the databases Web of Science and Business Source Premier in accordance with the PRISMA statement guidelines. Forty-two articles were included in the final analysis, with the oldest article published in 2006 and the newest in 2025. The systematic literature review identifies five forms of communitization with alternative nutritional practices: community, urban and self-harvest gardens; food cooperatives or cooperative initiatives; food sharing and redistribution initiatives; community-supported agriculture and networks; and ecovillages, commune, food initiatives, and other partnerships. The review highlights key forms of communitization that feature alternative nutritional practices, the methods used, and the geographical areas involved. Using content analysis, the organizational structures, opportunities, and challenges of various forms of communitization that feature alternative nutritional practices are identified and their transformative potential discussed. Full article

Italian inner areas face population decline, limited access to services and fragile infrastructure; however, the micro-mechanisms through which community practices generate tangible improvements often remain unclear. Still, local communitarian initiatives, such as those represented by ecovillages, can be an effective response to the ongoing process of marginalisation, becoming true living labs for place-based transitions. Through the analysis of the Torri Superiore Ecovillage (Imperia, Italy), a recognised and well-known good practice in the national and international ecovillage circuit, we want to find answers to three research questions: (RQ1) To what extent can an ecovillage act as a living lab for social innovation and ecological transition in inner areas? (RQ2) Which demographic and governance conditions enable territorial resilience and which ones block it? (RQ3) Which environmental practices generate locally significant improvements and with what limitations? Based on qualitative and interpretative evidence (2016–2025)—field observations, internal documents and testimonies—and on essential demographic indicators (ISTAT/SNAI), this study examines the Torri Superiore Ecovillage as a small-scale living lab. Torri Superiore and the surrounding municipalities are ageing and have reduced demographic bases; however selective immigration and heterogeneity of skills act as partial buffers. The governance of the Torri Superiore Ecovillage combines clear rules, participatory routines and coordination mechanisms, promoting problem solving while remaining sensitive to leadership burdens. The “bridging” between multiple actors enables terrace maintenance, local water resource management, agroecological practices, renewable energy adoption, waste prevention/composting and light mobility to achieve tangible environmental improvements on a small scale. We frame transferability as analytical (not statistical), specify the enabling conditions (sufficient active participants, stable routines, territorial management) and outline the relevant policy implications for SNAI classes and a lightweight longitudinal observatory. Full article

Background: Landscape approaches are recognized for their holistic view on development and conservation. However, they encounter sustainability and localization challenges due to short-term funding constraints and dependence on external experts. In this paper, we examine commoning as a means of land tenure interventions that enable mixed land use and community stewardship. Methods: Based on desk research and 20 interviews, an institutional analysis was performed on two landscape management cases to shed light on commoning processes and land tenure changes, as well as their impact on land use and community stewardship. Results: In the first case, a collaborative governance model was developed through policy interventions, which provided not only institutional frameworks but also financial resources to incentivize landowners to cooperate with nature conservation groups and share management rights over their land. In the second case, a community land trust model was used by self-organized civil society actors to develop ecovillage practices and ensure the balance of conservation and agricultural uses. In both cases, we found that land tenure innovations in terms of boundary rules, choice rules, aggregation rules, as well as rules for higher-level action situations, were key to enabling land rights sharing, mixed land use, and different levels of stewardship depending on the preferences and capacity of stakeholders. Conclusions: Commoning could address the sustainability and localization challenges faced by landscape approaches to mixed land use and long-term adaptive management. Full article

Converting traditional villages into ecovillages provides a sustainable path for rural development by integrating ecological, social, and cultural aspects. This study utilizes the Community Sustainability Assessment (CSA) tool from the Global Ecovillage Network to evaluate the potential of six villages in Bursa, Turkey, across coastal, lowland, and mountain typologies using 21 themes and 900 criteria. Within the scope of the research, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied to the quantitative data obtained from the CSA using IBM SPSS V28. The results indicate that coastal villages show greater potential for transition to a more sustainable lifestyle, while mountain villages face challenges with resource management and infrastructure. The villages show strong cultural and spiritual resilience, having existed for centuries, but many ecological practices have been lost due to urban migration. Recommendations include creating a national ecovillage database, training experts, supporting local projects, and convincing villagers of the transformation’s benefits. This study highlights the significance of the CSA for measuring sustainability potential and suggests future research on traditional villages in various geographies, along with developing region-specific methodologies. This approach focuses on enhancing existing villages rather than starting new ecovillages from scratch. Full article

This study investigates sustainable settlements—in terms of low-carbon settlements and communities transitioning from oil dependence to local resilience—in urban and rural areas of Austria. The objectives of this study are twofold: First, to examine the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and Transition Towns Network (TTN) as platforms for alternative lifestyles for urban and rural planning and, second, to comprehend the socio-spatial factors influencing the development of future transition settlements. This study provides updated insights into the concepts of the Global Ecovillage Network in a rural context as well as transition culture in an urban context. In two case studies, we focus on one Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) member, the Cambium Ecovillage near the village of Fehring, Styria, and one Transition Town Network member, Graz, the capital city of Styria. Using transdisciplinary and participatory methodologies, we examine the specific local contexts of these sustainable settlements. Ultimately, the findings of the study about facilitating participatory land use frameworks can be extrapolated from the Austrian context to the broader European context. Conclusions drawn from the results will inform potential future urban and rural land use initiatives concerning ecovillages and transition towns across Europe. Full article

The Citarum watershed is the longest in West Java Province. It is used as a source of raw water for drinking water, irrigation water for hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice fields, fisheries, industrial raw water, and hydroelectric power plants. The high population and industry growth at the outskirts of the Citarum watershed, which is not accompanied by good waste management, also results in high pollution in the Citarum watershed. Various efforts to handle the issue have been carried out since 1989 until the present; however, this problem still needs to be solved. One of the approaches to overcome environmental pollution that has been conducted is to develop an environmentally-cultured village. This study aims to determine the sustainability level of environmentally-cultured villages in the Upper Citarum watershed viewed from ecological, economic, social, and cultural dimensions using a multidimensional scaling (MDS) approach with the Rapid Appraisal Technique for Ecovillage (RAPVIL) software (version 1.0). The result shows that the multidimensional sustainability of ecovillage development in the Upper Citarum watershed, West Java Province is “fairly sustainable” for the cultural dimension and “poorly sustainable” for the ecological, social, and economic dimensions. This result shows that ecovillage development still requires support from various stakeholders to improve its sustainability status. The cultural dimension has the highest value due to the local cultural values, including a value system, traditions, languages, norms, and customs that have grown in the community. Meanwhile, the social dimension has the lowest sustainability value, influenced by the low level of community participation in ecovillage development. Full article

From the middle of the 20th century, the rise of anthropocentric beliefs partly inherited from the Abrahamic religions led to a change in mentality about ecosystems. The measurable signs of environmental exploitation and destruction and their consequences for human health, the shift to post-materialist values, and the growth of ethical philosophies (Land ethics, the Gaia Hypothesis, and Deep Ecology) were predictors of global ecological awareness. Progressively, human cultures (which are inseparable from religion) have become a priority for understanding relationships with the natural world. Alongside beliefs, individual subjectivities, influenced by the New Age, also positively affect sustainable values and practices. One of the community manifestations that demonstrate this is the ecovillage phenomenon. The sociological study of these new social realities influenced by the New Age is a relevant field of research in the frame of secularization or the criticism of this paradigm. Full article

Many countries have been digging deeply into local culture and characteristics, and constructing appropriate models for culture, industry, and consumers is a critical problem. Employing a qualitative research method, this study focused on the communication mechanism in the workshop and its implications for the sustainable development of lacquer in Taiwan. A creation-exhibit-popularize model was constructed. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with one lacquer artist. The results showed that cultural sustainability needs to be addressed from different aspects in order to benefit all participants. This can allow those who have no artistic background to participate, feel the charm of art, and realize the connotation and value of culture, and the artworks can convey the value of cultural features to tourists. A follow-up study should focus on how participants and visitors can better appreciate the value of activities such as workshops, and explore ways to invite them to give feedback. Due to the limitation of the number of people in these activities, and because many people may not have time to participate, it is advisable to use technology to achieve simultaneous offline and online implementation, which is of great benefit to cultural sustainability. Full article

Decarbonisation is an essential response to the threat of climate change. To achieve Europe’s net-zero 2050 climate targets, radical technological and social changes are required. Lifestyle changes for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are an important component of complex systemic transformation. The typical behaviour of inhabitants in ecovillages is potentially more conducive to sustainable lifestyles than the current European standard lifestyle. This study explores the potential of ecovillagers' lifestyles to contribute to decarbonisation using the Multilevel Perspective (MLP) theoretical framework. The research data were obtained through the model tool EUCalc and an online survey of 73 ecovillage residents in 24 European countries. The results indicate that current ecovillagers’ lifestyles, regarding home, consumption, diet, and mobility, would continue to produce 40% fewer emissions per capita than the standard European lifestyle by 2050. The study identifies which ecovillage behaviours would produce the largest reductions in per-capita CO₂eq emissions if adopted by society more broadly. Full article

The authoritarian regime in Russia represents a political context of societal turmoil in which the challenges for building sustainability can be studied. We explore intentional communities (ICs) with an environmental component that often appear with a focus on other issues such as spirituality and culture. Our focus is on Crimea’s Belbek Valley, a contested space that has nevertheless become attractive for ICs. We use semi-structured and open-ended interviews to collect data, which we analyze thematically. We discuss the reasons for the emergence of the ICs in the Belbek Valley and the variety of different ICs and initiatives there and build a typology of the ICs. They stand in stark contrast with neighboring traditional villages in Crimea. The Belbek Valley’s ICs are small-scale alternatives to the mainstream lifestyle, and they aim for a low carbon footprint, practicing permaculture, the application of energy and water saving technologies, vegetarianism, and yoga. The number of environmental practices adopted by each IC depends on the scale of their activities and investments in the infrastructure. We conclude by emphasizing the paradoxical nature of the Belbek Valley becoming a hub for ICs seeking long-term sustainability amid geopolitical turmoil. Full article

Social sciences in recent years have clearly proven that TINA—There Is No Alternative (to capitalism)—is no longer tenable. Today, alterity to capitalism comes in many forms and blossoms from inside its borders. Ethnographies of experimentations that span from ecovillages and community economies to alternative forms of work, production, and consumption are now countless. One common denominator of these experiences is that communal forms of social relation take over market relations. The main theoretical issue raised by this empirical work is whether this ferment of scattered, small scale alternative ways of organizing economy and society can coalesce into a fully fledged postcapitalist future or whether it is doomed to be stay marginal and transient at best. Anthropology can be at the forefront of this theoretical challenge. We close this brief commentary by addressing the importance of a future-oriented thinking in Anthropology and for the social science in general. Full article

As a result of the experience and scientific research of the authors on the deep ecology and sustainability process, academic courses were created that are run at two stages of educating architecture students. The authors aimed at demonstrating the effectiveness and quality of the courses as well as the rationality of the assumptions and educational methods adopted for their implementation. One of them was the survey method, as a didactic and scientific experiment and didactic tool. The innovative educational methodology presented in the work may be implemented by other educators at architectural universities in order to improve the quality of teaching design in the spirit of pro-ecological and sustainable development. The result is a long-term action which constitutes a tool to combat the ecological crisis. It consists of bottom-up activities, both in the open landscape (ecovillages) and in the urban context (housing complexes with elements of urban farms and environmental education parks). This is connected with the application of the educational system from the pre-school level in the place of residence up to in-depth academic education. Full article

One of the reasons for the spread of the Western Hare Krishna movement is that it offers several alternatives for the practice of religion: devotees can be full-fledged members of the church in congregations located in complex urban or in simple rural contexts. An example of the latter is Krishna Valley, where approximately 130 Krishna-devotees live austere lives. My paper presents the interpretations of this settlement concentrating on (multiple) internal (emic) views: On the one hand, I will show how the leadership of the church contextualizes and interprets Krishna Valley and how they wish the inhabitants to conceptualize it. On the other hand, I will also show what Krishna Valley means for its ordinary inhabitants and what interpretations those living there attach to it. When I was gathering material for the current paper, Krishna Valley was in flux. The settlement has always favored following a sustainable lifestyle but—due in part to the strengthening of the Hungarian eco-village movement—it was at this time that the conceptualization of Krishna Valley as an eco-village gained momentum. This was the heyday of the Eco Valley Foundation, which was to strengthen the eco-village aspect of the Valley, and in the communication of Krishna Valley the ecological aspect became paramount, drowning out all other interpretations. Not all inhabitants of the village welcomed this change and in response some began to emphasize the interpretation of Krishna Valley as a sacred place. In the current paper, I will present these two processes and the relationship between them through the lens of the interpretations of the members of the community. Full article

Ecovillages are collective projects that attempt to integrate sustainability principles into daily community life, while also striving to be demonstration projects for mainstream society. As spaces of experimentation, they can provide valuable insights into sustainability transformations. Through shared values and interpersonal connections, ecovillages possess collective identities, which provide a platform for enacting their ideals. However, many ecovillage residents question how to best enhance their role as models, resource centers, and pieces of a greater movement toward sustainability transformations, while simultaneously preserving their unique community and identity. In relation to the above, this paper addresses the questions: What can collective identity in ecovillage communities teach us about the objective and subjective dimensions of sustainability transformations? Furthermore, how can the perspective of collective identity highlight challenges for ecovillages for initiating sustainability transformations? Sustainability transformations encompass objective (behaviors) and subjective (values) dimensions; however, the interactions between these spheres deserve more scholarly attention. Using ethnographic data and in-depth interviews from three ecovillages in the United States, this paper reveals the value in collective identity for underscoring belonging and interpersonal relationships in sustainability transformations. Furthermore, the collective identity perspective exposes paradoxes and frictions between ecovillages and the societal structures and systems they are embedded within. Full article

Nowadays, in the context of climate change, efficient energy management and increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix are helping to reduce greenhouse gases. In this research, we present the energy system and its management and the possibilities of its development through the example of an ecovillage. The basic goal of such a community is to be economically, socially, and ecologically sustainable, so the study of energy system of an ecovillage is especially justified. As the goal of this community is sustainability, potential technological and efficiency barriers to the use of renewable energy sources will also become visible. Our sample area is Visnyeszéplak ecovillage, where we examined the energy production and consumption habits and possibilities of the community with the help of interviews, literature, and map databases. By examining the spatial structure of the settlement, we examined the spatial structure of energy management. We formulated development proposals that can make the community’s energy management system more efficient. Full article