Eco-village?

Is Raccoon Creek Community an eco-village? It's a question we have even asked ourselves.

In 1991, Robert Gilman set out a definition of an ecovillage that was to become a standard. Gilman defined an ecovillage as a:

• human-scale
• full-featured settlement
• in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world
• in a way that is supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future. "The Eco-village Challenge" by Robert Gilman, One of the articles in Living Together (IC#29), Summer 1991, Page 10

Let's take each line in order. Raccoon Creek will definitely be "human-scale." We are expecting no more than fifty residents at the most, though events held at the community might boost the population from time to time.

"Full-featured." Hmm... We expect to have everything on site that a person would want at their own residence, and we expect some residents will be able to run small businesses from the community, but it is not likely we will every be full-featured. To me that term implies at least a few small businesses that won't likely ever be on the site, like a grocery store. On the other hand, we expect many things one would "go into town for" will be available in the community, but, if we accept "full-featured" as a requirement, and my definition of having most of what one would need from town on the site, then we fail this test.

"Human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world." We should get an A-Plus on this qualifier. I doubt anyone can build any significant building without some harm to the natural world. The questiion is, what will be done to compensate nature for the damage. We hope our "mitigation" will more than compensate for any damage done.

"Supportive of healthy human development and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future." The first part of this one is easy, and goes without saying. Continuity, thouigh, is something we just won't know for some time to come. Clearly it is a goal that has been accepted by all participants.

You gotta believe

While I'm thinking about it, let me dispel another myth about intentional communities:

"Most intentional communities are organized around a particular religion or common spiritual practice."

While it's true that many groups have a spiritual focus--and most of the better-known historical communities did, such as Amana and Oneida, and even New Harmony here in Indiana--according to the 1995 addition of the Fellowship for Intentional Communities' Directory of Communities, of the 540 North American communities listed, 65% were secular or didn't specify, while only 35% were explicitly spiritual or religious.

Raccoon Creek does not have a spiritual focus, at least not in the normal sense. There is a strong respect for all life shared by all of our participants, and a self-imposed mandate to live lightly on the earth.

If anyone has more current statistics, please post them with a comment. An update to the directory was published in 2000 and another will be published this year.

"How's your commune coming?"

It seems like every week we hear this question from someone who has heard we are creating a co-housing community. They chuckle, and we smile, and we generally leave it at that.

I'm sure my friends don't mean anything by it, but it has made me think. Even kidding comments are likely based on some idea held by the speaker, rightly or wrongly, that came to mind when they asked the question. If people who know us have a misimpression about what we're up to, I worry how the idea strikes others who don't know us.

So let's see if I can explain briefly the difference between a commune and an intentional co-housing community, at least as I see it. Many people use these terms interchangeably, however, it is probably more appropriate to use the term "commune" to describe a particular kind of intentional community whose members live "communally" in an economic sense--operating with a common treasury and sharing ownership of their property. Most intentional communities, including Raccoon Creek, are not communes.

A community by any other name - definitions

Intentional community, eco-village, co-housing community... call it what you will, but to us the terms are not so far apart.

The "co-housing" community model suggests that the residents will share some things that need not be purchased by every household. These might include lawnmowers, tillers, a pick-up truck, laundry equipment, exercise equipment, and so forth. Co-housing residents will share occasional meals as a group, and will make group decisions on issues that affect them all. Co-housing communities are intentional communities.

An "intentional community" is one in which all residents share certain values and agree to certain rules about how their community will operate. Both of these terms describe the Raccoon Creek Community.

An "eco-village" may not be an intentional community when it begins. Whether it does or doesn't begin intentionally, though, over time, residents of an eco-village take up practices that are environmentally sound and the community expects all members to abide by them.

None of these terms necessarily implies that a community will grow vegetables or fruits, or raise poultry or livestock. But the term "sustainable agriculture" implies that whatever things are grown will be grown in an earth-friendly, sustainable manner. Raccoon Creek will use sustainable practices to raise as much of our own food as we can. Who knows, we might even sell some at farmers markets or along the road nearby.

Raccoon Creek will have a "community building", sometimes called a common house, that will allow residents to meet, house shared equipment, perhaps hold a library in which members can share their books, encourage work on community projects, and provide a place to accomplish other shared purposes. The community house may also include a few apartments for residents or visitors.