This Sunday – the Opportunity to Join a New Ecovillage/Cohousing Initiative

Welcome, Fellow Founders

We’re launching an effort to create a new ecovillage/cohousing neighborhood in central New Jersey or Eastern Pennsylvania. We have some pretty definite ideas of what we want: (a) a site of 10+ acres that could be ecologically restored/enhanced with permaculture; (b) a variety of building styles; (c) agricultural potential; (d) a receptive local community (e) carbon-neutral (or “carbon positive”), (f) nondenominational (g) all of us being interested in both the natural ecosystem and the human one.

Who’s the “we” in this initiative? The core group consists of four individuals / households, combining experience, intention, and understanding of what it takes to establish a new eco-community. Some of us are focused more on the eco- part or more on the community; in reality both are needed, at the level appropriate to each.

Ecologically, our goal is to restore and enhance a degraded property, in such a way that the humans living on the land and its natural inhabitants can coexist for the benefit of the place and of all life. Socially, our goal is to build a cohesive, collaborative, and congenial community made up of individuals who are effective at living and working together towards common goals, and find a municipality that will welcome us and that we can contribute to. Join us online this Sunday to find out more about how you can become involved.

Building a Post-Pandemic Community

Sunday, May 24, from 2-4 pm

Please RSVP for this event.

Please note that this is not our regular Zoom meeting room. You must be registered to attend the event (limited to 100 participants).


If you’re not able to attend the event, but want more information, please email evnj@ecovillagenj.org. Thanks.

Posted in Agendas, Cohousing, Community, Dynamic Governance, Ecovillage, Education, Empowerment, Energy Efficiency, Investment, Organization, Properties, Renewables | 3 Comments

May 24 Virtual Meetup: What the Pandemic is Showing Us

It is self-evident that a community of healthy, economically stable, and happy people can withstand the onslaught of a pandemic better than a group of sick and sad people. (Dr. Allen Weiss, Blue Zones)

We know from anecdotal evidence that people in ecovillages, cohousing neighborhoods, and other intentional communities live longer, happier, and more meaningful lives. Increasingly, though, there is concrete scientific evidence that some environments are better for our health than others.

Allen S. Weiss, MD, FACP, FACR, MBA

A recent article by Dr. Allen Weiss in Blue Zones[1] points out that some people and places are more susceptible to the coronavirus while others are much less so. In particular, Dr. Weiss argues that our ability to withstand pandemics has more to do with social determinants of health (“SDOH”) than with genetics.

Join us online on May 24  to learn more about how ecovillagers are coping with COVID-19:

EVNJ Virtual Meetup — Living in Cohousing
in the Midst of the Pandemic

Sunday, May 24, from 2-4 pm

Please RSVP for this event.

Please note that this is not our regular Zoom meeting room. You must be registered to attend the event (limited to 100 participants).

Continue reading

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Sunday, May 24, 2020, 2-4 pm: EVNJ Virtual Meetup
— Living in Cohousing in the Midst of the Pandemic

Jordan Hopkins

We can meet up this month, but it will still have to be virtual!

April has turned to May, but in-person Meetups still might be a couple of months in the future.

There’s nothing like face-to-face interaction (that’s one of the reasons we want to create an intentional community!), but for the time being virtual is the way to go. So we’ll be hosting an online Meetup on Sunday, May 24, 2-4pm, on the topic of how cohousing and ecovillages are surviving the pandemic… what’s possible, what’s feasible, and what the future holds for eco-communities in the post-COVID-19 world.

There’s one thing we feel certain about: Change is in the air. The unusual situation we’ve all been facing clearly has ecological, economic, and social implications. Many feel this could be a turning point. There’s a sense that a more cooperative and communitarian lifestyle would provide the kind of support (and hope) people need during times like these when the global economic and public health systems demonstrate their unsustainability.

Continue reading

Posted in Agendas, Cohousing, Community, CRCS, Ecovillage, Finances, Possible Planet, Properties | 1 Comment

How We’re Responding to the Pandemic

Out of deference to concern about the spreading virus, we’re moving all events online — for now. Stay tuned!

* * * * * * * * *

Our movement advocates that humanity get back to living in more humanly-scaled communities. There are many, many reasons why this would be advisable.

Problematic trajectories of population growth and population concentration have led to the insane megalopolis densities we witness worldwide in modern mass society. And: from the standpoint of social change, if we desire a participatory form of democracy we’ll have to decentralize. Meanwhile, it may be pandemics that finally make it clear why we need to get back to living in more humanly-scaled communities.

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Scale-Kirkpatrick-Sale/dp/1897408064

Size matters. And “progress”—as it translates into sprawl, congestion, resource depletion, overpopulation, the decline of communities and the rise of corporate rule—is quite literally killing us. In his landmark work “Human Scale,” Kirkpatrick Sale details the crises facing modern society and offers real solutions, laying out ways that we can take control of every facet of our lives by building institutions, workplaces and communities that are sustainable, democratic, ecologically balanced, and responsive to the needs of the individual. As relevant today as when it was first published in 1980, this remarkable book provides a fascinating perspective on the folly of “growth” and anticipates by decades the current movement towards rejuvenation of local community life.

—Steve Welzer

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This Sunday 12-4: Joel Rothschild, Kathy Moser, & Community Progress Reports

Sunday, February 23, Noon-4 p.m. (NOTE New Time)

We’ll be back at the IYCC in Princeton this Sunday, but note the time change: Noon to 4 this time, starting off with a potluck luncheon.

Joel Rothschild will be our featured speaker. He’ll tell us about the progress being made toward developing an ecovillage neighborhood in Lancaster, PA based on the Community Land Cooperative model. He’ll also have information about the upcoming series of study groups that will focus on practical issues toward establishing, funding, and governing a regional network of eco-communities. (For more information see https://ecovillagers.org)

Kathy Moser, who has performed at several of our fundraisers, will join us to relate some exciting news. She lives on a 100-acre property near Long Valley (Morris County) which has a complex of five houses located on it. Three of the five have now come up for sale. If one or several of us ecovillagers could purchase these houses we’d have controlling interest in the homeowners association and thus a chance to implement some of our green-living ideas for the full site. The current asking price for the three houses is $650K (or about $220K each). The location is in-between I-78 and I-80 (about 20 minutes from each). Kathy is looking for others to work with her to buy the houses. It’s not clear at this point whether the town would consider allowing construction of additional units, but that’s a possibility worth exploring. If you have a pioneering spirit, love the Earth, and are looking to live with friends, this could be your opportunity.

 

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Reclaiming Our Place as a Commons

Sunday, February 23, Noon-4 p.m.

Re-taking the Land for the Commons,
Place by Place

with Joel Rothschild

Princeton Integral Yoga Community Center
301 N Harrison St #1E · Princeton, NJ

Joel Rothschild, Ecovillagers Alliance

“As Community Land Cooperatives gain ownership of land, neighborhoods gain security as a place for community. CLC holdings won’t be sold to speculators, developers, or gentrifiers. They won’t be ‘flipped,’ or suddenly cost double the price. Household and business equity in the neighborhood will tend toward more equitable distribution among members, without recourse to paternalistic state or philanthropic programs, and market shocks like the Great Recession won’t periodically liquidate the neighborhood’s real estate for the easy picking of outside investors.”

Joel is an ecovillage organizer with a social-change vision. Find out more at http://ecovillagers.org.

He’ll join us again at our February Meetup, with our usual fabulous potluck, and an update from our community leaders in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. Please let us know if you can attend!

 

 

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Jan 12, 2020 in Philadelphia: Regional conference on communities and cooperatives

Hosted by Roger Balson

Details
Sunday, January 12, 2pm to 7pm
Mt Airy Nexus, 520 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia

Hosted by Delaware Valley Co-Living Cooperative

http://delvalcoco.org/conferences/

Pot-luck dinner. Carpools available (let us know if you can drive or you need a ride).

Come hear about initiatives, proposals, and projects in the tri-state area:
* cohousing
* co-living
* house-sharing
* ecovillages
* co-working
* food co-ops
* credit unions
* workers cooperatives
* urban farming and community farms
* time banks
* land trusts
* community land cooperatives

Sign up here on our Meetup site, and also RSVP at http://delvalcoco.org/contact-us/ (with a note in the comments field “First Public Meeting”)

More details: http://delvalcoco.org/latest-news/ and https://www.facebook.com/events/2472444916300574/

Posted in Agendas, Cohousing, Community, Cooperatives, Ecovillage, Event Listings, Organization | Leave a comment

Saturday, Dec 14, 2-6 pm: Holiday Party & Fundraiser

You’re invited to our

 Join us for community, thoughtful discussion, and the opportunity to make a difference.

Saturday, December 14
2-6 p.m.
@ 8 Revere Drive, Basking Ridge, NJ

Bring something to share / BYOB
Bring your voices, instruments & holiday songs!

Meet people who care about restoring our communities and the climate.

Can’t Attend But Want to Support Us?

At the party, we’ll share our mission and initiatives, and you can contribute to the “mother ship,” Possible Planet, or earmark your donation to one of our initiatives:

Global Carbon Reward 
Ecovillage New Jersey 
Ecovillagers Alliance
New Jersey PACE / Regenerative Financing 
Possible Planet (General Fund)

Attend the Party

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Sunday, November 10 at Princeton’s IYCC: Building Eco-Communities in an Age of Transformation

There’s no doubt that we’re living through a remarkable time in human evolution, both because of the urgency and severity of our challenges, and because of the possibilities that are available to us in meeting them. There is an imminent existential threat to humanity, from global warming, biodiversity loss, toxic waste accumulation, soil depletion, and so on — not from some new capacity for self-destruction, but simply from our unwillingness to wake up and take action in time. At the same time, many people are waking up, and building communities and organizations designed to address our most important challenges, from reducing carbon emissions to actually restoring the climate to what it was for the most recent ten thousand years in which humanity has flourished.

Some of the people responding to this situation are doing so by building communities founded on different principles and seeking different outcomes. Joel Rothschild, of the Ecovillagers Alliance (EVA), is one of these visionaries, who has laid out much of his thinking in several articles in Green Horizon Magazine (beginning with this issue), will be introducing the Alliance’s new programs on Sunday, November 10, at the IYCC in Princeton, along with updates from a growing number of communities in formation.

Sunday, November 10 … 2:15pm
Princeton Integral Yoga Community Center
301 N. Harrison Street, Bldg A, Suite 1E, Princeton, NJ 08540

The usual potluck, so bring something yummy to share. If you can’t make it, join by Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/8283857296.

EVA’s program involves a high level of engagement, a deep and experiential dive into what it takes to develop a thriving ecovillage, starting with the people who will bring that ecovillage into being.

Continue reading

Posted in Cohousing, Community, Cooperatives, Diversity, Ecovillage, Ecovillagers, Event Listings, History, Organization | Leave a comment

Nov. 10: Digging Deeper into the Northeast Ecovillage Movement

Our next meeting at IYCC will feature Joel Rothschild of Ecovillagers Alliance and a new in-depth study program, along with a round-up of reports on the emerging communities in NJ and PA.

Sunday, November 10 … 2:15pm
Princeton Integral Yoga Community Center
301 N. Harrison Street, Bldg A, Suite 1E, Princeton, NJ 08540

Joel Rothschild of Ecovillagers Alliance (EVA) will preview the program his organization has developed for those who are considering joining an ecovillage, either now, or in the future. Since Ecovillage NJ (EVNJ) now has three or four ecovillage communities in development, this is the perfect time for these newly-forming groups to start learning and growing together. EVA’s program involves a high level of engagement, a deep and experiential dive into what it takes to develop a thriving ecovillage, starting with the people who will bring that ecovillage into being.

Joel and his expert team have a vision and a plan for educating, incubating and helping to launch ecovillages all over the Mid-Atlantic region. Ecovillagers Alliance’s financial and legal approaches are designed to enable ecovillages to be established, at scale. Joel will also be highlighting Community Land Trusts, as some of our members are looking into this legal structure for their new communities.

Meanwhile, our members have been busy gettin’ around. So at our November Meetup there will be report-backs from visits to the first cohousing community in Connecticut and the first Community Land Cooperative in Pennsylvania. We’ll hear about progress toward a farming-based intentional community in West Windsor, the vision of an urban cohousing neighborhood in Trenton, and updates from Altair, as well as a report from a visit to Lancaster planned for November 5.

The usual potluck, so bring something yummy to share. If you can’t make it, join by Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/8283857296.

And remember, the ecovillage movement is about more than building a few neighborhoods here and there — it’s about demonstrating a better way to live, ecologically and in community.

Posted in Agendas, Cohousing, Ecovillage, Ecovillagers, Event Listings, Organization, Yoga | 3 Comments