Regenerative Villages As Polisolution to the Policrisis [#4]

Most people have caught up to the fact that the climate crisis and biodiversity collapse are happening and that the way we do business is closely related to it.

The new thing that's en vogue now is the idea of "green growth".

The idea that we can grow out of the crisis with new "green" technologies that will decouple carbon emissions from GDP.

While this might work nationally if you outsource carbon-intensive activities to other countries, it won't work with a wide boundary lens.

It misses the fact that green technologies still require materials. These materials need to be extracted somewhere. Resource extraction is responsible for half of the world's carbon emissions and for 80% of biodiversity loss worldwide.

Green growth doesn't work.

Having worked with and in the sustainability and regeneration ecosystem for quite some time, I am now convinced that you can't solve the world's problems within the current economic model.

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete."
- Buckminster Fuller

We have to build a new model.

This model needs to meet all our needs and, at the same time, respect the boundaries of our biophysical reality and regenerate ecosystems that we have exploited for monetary surplus.

This model needs to overcome the extractivist nature of capitalism and focus on "use-value" of goods (how they improve well-being) rather than "exchange-value" (how they can help capital accumulation).

This model needs to overcome oligarchic tendencies, authoritarianism, and power hierarchies by incorporating a governance structure that is egalitarian and still functional.

This model has to incorporate circular economy principles to minimize or eliminate waste.

The model needs to create a community and a healthy life for everyone.

This model has to curb overconsumption by meeting collective material needs through sharing and stewarding (commoning) of resources.

This new model needs to address the housing crisis by providing affordable housing and welcoming refugees.

The model also needs to address the epidemic of fake food (food without nutrients and full of pesticides) and provide healthy, fresh food that nourishes and heals people.

I would go so far as to say that the model also needs to address geopolitical tensions and teach or help people develop emotional intelligence

The model should provide a meaningful and joyful life for everyone.

These might look like big asks, but I think there exists a polysolution to the policrisis.

The answer is simple but not easy: the new model is a system of regenerative villages or ecovillages.

Regenerative villages are not new.

Inspired by indigenous tribes and how they steward their villages and surrounding lands, regenerative villages are a modern approach to do the same.

It's an old/new model that solves many issues:

• Regeneration & Self-sufficiency: Ecovillages regenerate the degraded ecosystems they "own" or are part of. The societal aim of these villages is to regenerate the earth to live off of her in a self-sufficient manner. Implementation of permaculture principles and methods, like creating food forests, helps regenerate the land and provide food for the village.
  
• Overcoming extractivist and capitalist tendencies by using other forms of transaction models like time banks or Universal Basic Income based on relationships, and meeting needs through community rather than individual "consumption".
  A local food production approach reconnects villagers with the impact of their consumption on the land, thereby teaching how much can be extracted.
  
• It provides space for implementing new governance models based on sociocracy, holocracy, and consensus decision-making that encourage a more egalitarian society.
  Of course, ecovillages are still part of the broader system, but if they can support everyone's basic needs collectively, there will be more independence from political decisions and provide an example for a different way forward.
  Ecovillages might inform decision-making on a local level that can transcend to higher levels.
  
• It organically implements circular economy principles to reduce or even eliminate waste. E.g., through composting, a natural greywater treatment system, or natural building.
  At the beginning of a project, that might not be possible, but as the idea of a regenerative ecovillage is to become more self-sufficient, it naturally moves to living off the land, reusing available resources, and therefore organically reducing waste.
  
• The regenerative ecovillage model also provides community, a basic need of humans that has gotten lost in an age of hyper-individualism.
  While everyone has their own space, there exist plenty of community spaces like a community kitchen, a community hub, an event space, and much more, where villagers organically come together.
  From my own experience, I have better relationships and a community in the remote village I am part of than in a hyperconnected city.
  
• The model also curbs overconsumption. First, simply because in a remote ecovillage, there is little to buy.
  But then also because your basic needs are met from the land and the community, and you don't need more.
  In our current system, we often buy stuff we don't need to impress people we don't like. The more egalitarian a society is, the less needless consumption there is.
  
• The model addresses the housing crisis by using bioconstruction that is cheaper than modern housing.
  For example, by using clay, sand, straw, and wood, you can build yourself (with the help of the community) a house for less than EUR 20,000. Compare that to a new house that costs close to EUR 500,000+, and it's easy to see how the regenerative ecovillage model is more efficient at solving housing.
  Bioconstructed houses are also more beautiful and healthier to live in.
  
• When it comes to food, the model provides locally grown, pesticide-free, high-nutrient-dense food grown by and for the community. When you add hunting or responsibly holding animals on the land, there are plenty of sources for healthy food for all kinds of dietary requirements. Trust me, you taste the difference.
  
• So how does this model address geopolitical tension? First of all, if you get your needs met locally in "village-states", there is not much need to expand your nation.
  Then the model provides space for peace research, mediation, and other forms to train emotional regulation. If this model were to become more ubiquitous, there would be less conflict in the world. It might be a long shot, but ecovillages could provide a framework for the future that is more peaceful.

"All of humanity's problems stem for men's inability to sit quiet with his thoughts in a room alone"
- Blaise Pascal

• Lastly and most importantly, this model, where we live closer to natur,e can help humans heal from the artificial story of separation. The story that we are separated from nature and that nature is just something to be exploited for our financial gain.

I'm convinced that regenerative villages can act as a polysolution to the policrisis and will help us to reconnect with ourselves and nature.

Building local-scale, self-sufficient, experimental, and holistically regenerative communities will be the seed that grows into a new form of society:

• Local Scale — the model needs to be relevant to the local context and be built by the communities that live in it. Local scale is easier to manage without needing the bureaucratized systems, favoring instead circles of care.
  
• Self-Sufficient — the model needs to weaken the dependence on defunct systems that barely meet our basic needs. This means food, water, energy, waste, and eventually material goods production, medicine, and more can all be handled onsite.
  
• Experimental — These places should be safe spaces to test out alternative governance systems, new forms of economy, and all things outside of “business as usual”. We can treat these communities like startups that are innovating faster than their established competitors, with a monopoly on how the world runs.
  
• Holistically Regenerative — This means being ecologically, socially, economically, and culturally restorative. This includes efforts to restore ecosystems, eradicate bigotry/inequity, explore inclusive commerce, and establish more healthy worldview paradigms.

What do you think? Have you ever pondered in trying out this kind of lifestyle? Let me know. I look forward to hearing from you! :)

Happy regenerating!

P.S.: If you got curious about ecovillages, here are a few links that might be interesting:

European Ecovillage Network - A network of old-school ecovillages

Traditional Dream Factory - A pioneering approach to ecovillaging combining tech with regeneration (I am part of this project as a token holder and visit regularly.)

Hope Hub Galicia - The ecovillage where I live right now.