Ecovillages for sustainable rural development

Programme 2007 - 2013 Baltic Sea Region

Date of latest update: 2021-04-06

Description

Description (EN):

The Ecovillage Movement is an initiative looking for a more sustainable way of living in rural areas and promoting a lot of innovations which deals with climate change, environmental pollution, resource shortages and social problems people face nowadays. Project “Ecovillages for sustainable rural development” aims at fostering ecovillages development as a more sustainable way of living in rural areas of the BSR. Aim will be achieved by collecting and transferring innovative concepts and good practices of the Ecovillage Movement to the society. The knowledge transferred by project activities will help for inhabitants of BSR region to develop new nature-friendly ways of living together on the land in a genuinely more sustainable way. Sustainability in the project includes physical, environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects. The overall objective of the project is to develop more sustainable ways of living in rural areas of the BSR by offering a toolkit for ecovillage initiators and developers of various technological and social eco-initiatives. Project will create informal education system on eco-technologies and nature-friendly living models within BSR region based on Ecovillage Movement experiences and produce training materials with case studies of best practice examples from BSR.Recommendations for policy-makers resulting by project activities on new rural development measures will help to find innovative ways to increase sustainability of rural areas within BSR. The partnership composition is based on integrated territorial development principles realized through the inclusion of partners from different BSR countries. Project has partners from Poland, Latvia, Sweden, Finland, Belarus. Lead partner is from Lithuania.Project also has associated partners from Germany,Belarus,Russia,Finland,Sweden. Key messages of the project: • Ecovillage movement suggests an alternative idea to the individualistic, materialistic and consumer-oriented lifestyle. • Ecovillage principles aim at combining sociocultural environment with a low–impact way of living. • Ecovillage is one of the innovative concepts, which deals with climate change, environmental pollution, resource shortages and social problems people face nowadays. • Project aims at fostering ecovillages development as a more sustainable way of living in rural areas of the Baltic Sea Region. • Ecovillages are important element of sustainable rural development in BSR and beyond. • Project contributes to the EU’s Baltic Sea Strategy and its Action Plan by proposing environmentally sustainable ways of living.

Achievements (EN):

Over 45 ecovillages were interviewed in BSR countries, assessing demographical, social, economic and ecotechnological aspects of ecovillages. Based on the results, case studies have been prepared which serve as a background for two manuals - guide for eco-settling practices and nature-friendly technologies and guide on social aspects of ecovillage creation and development. Manuals have been released in 6 BSR languages and are available for free in a project website. The handbook for Ecovillage road aiming to inspire ecovillages to engage in green business as well as leaflet presenting Ecovillage road have also been released. Books are being distributed in PPs and APPs countries in order to spread the knowledge about sustainable ways of living and practical examples among society members. Final transnational conference with external guests participation has been held. Information on project implementation progress and project outputs are available in the multilingual project website. Ecovillage sustainability self-evaluation test is available in project website in 6 languages. It is a tool to: a) form a vision of the ecovillage b) diagnose the real ecovillage situation c) assess the gap between vision and reality d) identify what aspects of the ecovillage governance should be improved. Short and long versions of the test measure ecovillage’s real and desirable situation on 6 dimensions by using 5 point scale. The Ecovillage road website is ready to use. Ecovillages, eco-projects, consultants are constantly registering as services/activities/knowledge providers. Ecovillage road network continues working in different areas to promote, expand and develop the ecovillage movement in the BSR. Guideline for establishing an internship programme in ecovillage has been created and is available for public in the Ecovillage road website. 3 newsletter issues were released presenting Ecovillage movement, illustrating project progress and highlighting outputs. A proposal for a Regulation 2014 - 2020 supporting rural development was prepared and submitted to respective bodies. The proposal highlights the growing role of ecovillages in the development of rural regions in the EU as well as designates how ecovillages could contribute to the sustainable rural development by transferring knowledge to the rest of society. The online petition to support the proposal was organized and reached over 1000 signees. Policy recommendations have been prepared identifying 6 issues (Energy, land use, planning & building regulation, Public funding & support, Alternative business & organizational models, Education, training, information dissemination & exchange, and more R&D focus on eco-living, alternative food production) and potential reforms to tackle these areas. They are addressed to national MEPs and EU institutions in order to improve the development of ecovillages and to utilize their full potential as sustainable development drivers of rural areas.

Website: http://eu.baltic.net/

Thematic information

Sustainable management of natural resources Regional planning and development Rural and peripheral development

Partners (6)

Lead Partner: Lietuvos agrarines ekonomikos institutas

Address: V. Kudirkos g. 18, LT-03105 Vilnius, Lithuania

Legal status: n/a

Latvijas Valsts Agrārās Ekonomikas institūts

Name: Latvijas Valsts Agrārās Ekonomikas institūts

Address: Struktoru street 14, LV-1039 Riga, Latvia

Legal status: n/a

Zachodniopomorska Szkoła Biznesu w Szczecinie

Name: Zachodniopomorska Szkoła Biznesu w Szczecinie

Address: Zolnierska 53 Street, 71210 Szczecin, Poland

Legal status: n/a

Suderbyn ekonomisk förening

Name: Suderbyn ekonomisk förening

Address: Västerhejde Toftavägen 211, 621 99 Visby, Sweden

Legal status: n/a

Цэнтр Экалагічных рашэнняў

Name: Цэнтр Экалагічных рашэнняў

Address: Masherova prospekt, 9, pom.1, antr.etazh, komn.1, 220004 Minsk, Belarus

Legal status: n/a

Maa- ja elintarviketalouden tutkimuskeskus

Name: Maa- ja elintarviketalouden tutkimuskeskus

Address: Humppilantie 14, 31600 Jokioinen, Finland

Legal status: n/a

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Ecovillages for sustainable rural development

Project acronym: Ecovillages

Project start date: 2010-09-16

Project end date: 2013-12-15

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 467 332.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 077 264.95

Co-financing sources:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2007 - 2013 Baltic Sea Region

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2015-03-01

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

92 / 92 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

1 414 / 1 414 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the programme and collected from programme website

Languages

Contact Form

Ecovillages for sustainable rural development

Description

Thematic information

Partners (6)

Partners map

Summary

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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