cloughjordan eco-village: a model for sustainability and resilience

Cloughjordan Eco-Village: A Model for Sustainability and

Resilience

Lohren Deeg, ASAIAssistant Professor of Urban Planning

Nicholas Hufford, Graduate Assistant Ball State UniversityAPA Indiana, October 11th, 2013

?What is an Eco-Village?

?What is an Eco-Village?• Human scale

Source: ‘Eco Village Challenge’ by Robert Gilman, Living Together, Context Institute, 1991

?What is an Eco-Village?• Human scale• Full featured settlement


?What is an Eco-Village?• Human scale• Full featured settlement• in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world


?What is an Eco-Village?• 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


?What is an Eco-Village?• 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.


?What is an Eco-Village?• Human scale

Human-scale refers to a size in which people are able to know and be known by the others in the community, and where each member of the community feels he or she is able to influence the community’s direction. There is considerable practical evidence, both in modern industrial societies and in other cultures, that the upper limit for such a group is roughly 500 people.


?What is an Eco-Village?• Full-featured settlement

A “full-featured settlement” is one in which all the major functions of normal living – residence, food provision, manufacture, leisure, social life, and commerce – are plainly present and in balanced proportions. Most current human settlement in the industrialized world – urban, suburban, and rural – is entirely divided by function: some areas are residential, some are for shopping, some are industrial, etc. In contrast, the eco-village is a comprehensible microcosm of the whole ofsociety.


?What is an Eco-Village?• In which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world

This idea brings the “eco” into the eco-village. One of the most important aspects of this principle is the ideal of equality between humans and other forms of life, so that humans do not attempt to dominate over nature but rather find their place within it. Another important principle is the cyclic use of material resources, rather than the linear approach (dig it up, use it once, throw it away forever)


?What is an Eco-Village?• In a way that is supportive of healthy human development

This fourth principle recognizes that eco-villages are, after all, human communities, and without genuine human health at the core, these communities are unlikely to be successful. (Arguably, this) involv(es) a balanced and integrated development of all aspects of human life – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. This healthy development needs to be expressed not just in the lives of individuals, but in the life of the community as a whole.


?What is an Eco-Village?• And that can be successfully continued into the indefinite future

Without it, it would be easy (or at least easier) in the short-term to create human-scale communities that seemed to be harmoniously integrated into nature and to be full featured, but in fact were in some not-so-visible way living off the capital accumulated in other parts of the society; or dependent on unsustainable activities elsewhere; or not inclusive of a major aspect of life (such as childhood or old age)


Source: Bing

Cloughjordan’s Origins• Began in 1999 as a charity / non-profit with founders initially forming a charity who met as acquaintances in College and at Environmental protests against mass development.

Source: Duncan Martin, Cloughjordan resident

photos by Lohren Deeg


• Cloughjordan, while in decline, was chosen for its three schools, three churches, rail depot, and an intact main street. A 67 acre farm to the north was available, and was affordable as agricultural land, but when rezoned became more expensive.

Source: Duncan Martin, Cloughjordan resident


• Cloughjordan, while in decline, was chosen for its three schools, three churches, rail depot, and an intact main street. A 67 acre farm to the north was available, and was affordable as agricultural land, but when rezoned became more expensive.

• Original plan was for 130 houses. Financial recession prevented rapid development. Currently 50 dwellings built, with first occupied dwelling in 2009. Source: Duncan Martin, Cloughjordan resident

Source: Youtube / Ultimoman Productions (Finnegan/Keane/O’Kane/Vahey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BLiziwsrkYw#!

Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BLiziwsrkYw%23!

Source: Solearth

Source: Bing

Source: Solearth

Source: (top) Solearth / (left) Lohren Deeg

Key Features• Native woodland with 17,000 trees and walkways

Source: www.thevillage.ie and signage

http://www.thevillage.ie/

Key Features• Native woodland with 17,000 trees and walkways• Organic farm and orchard – managed by community farm organization



Key Features• Native woodland with 17,000 trees and walkways• Organic farm and orchard – managed by community farm organization• Experimental permaculture zone (chickens, composting)



Key Features• Native woodland with 17,000 trees and walkways• Organic farm and orchard – managed by community farm organization• Experimental permaculture zone (chickens, composting)• Garden allotment and poly-tunnels for residents to grow their own food



Key Features• Native woodland with 17,000 trees and walkways• Organic farm and orchard – managed by community farm organization• Experimental permaculture zone (chickens, composting)• Garden allotment and poly-tunnels for residents to grow their own food• Entrepreneurial building for start-up businesses



Key Features• Wood chip and solar array for district heating



Key Features• Wood chip and solar array for district heating• Mixed use ‘nodes’ for retail and socialization



Source: Drawings by Solearth / photos by Lohren Deeg

Key Features• Wood chip and solar array for district heating• Mixed use ‘nodes’ for retail and socialization• 32 bed youth hostel and outreach center



Key Features• Wood chip and solar array for district heating• Mixed use ‘nodes’ for retail and socialization• 32 bed youth hostel and outreach center• Strong emphasis on live-work and cottage industries



Key Features• Wood chip and solar array for district heating• Mixed use ‘nodes’ for retail and socialization• 32 bed youth hostel and outreach center• Strong emphasis on live-work and cottage industries• Architectural emphasis on vernacular / timber frame, adobe, passive solar



Drawings by Solearth / photos by Lohren Deeg

?Cloughjordan’s Precedents

The Village HomesDavis, CaliforniaMike and Judy Corbett, Developers

Source: Bing

Source: The Village Homes: A Community by Design by Mark Francis

?Workshop: How would we do it here?

Q1: What development model or policy model would we take?



Q2: What code or ordinance framework(s) would we take?




Q3: What location would be most sustainable / resilient?




Q3: What location would be most sustainable / resilient?

Q4: What specific technologies, performance metrics, and guidelines would we recommend or require?

Thank you.More information:

directory.ic.org

www.thevillage.ie

__________________

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Twitter: @lrdeeg Facebook: lohren.deeg