The South Central Indiana Ecovillage Project |
Join our Facebook group called, The South Central Indiana Ecovillage Project
Ecovillage Collective Vision:
We are creating an intentional, sustainable, and integrated community. We support each other in fostering physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well being through conscious entrepreneurship and art-centered permaculture design -including building, food, energy, education, and wellness systems.
Survey Questions for those interested in being a Founding Member - please complete and email to Michael Hicks at michael@indianacommunity.org
Upcoming Meetings – Continual meetings being scheduled during the next months. Please watch our Facebook group site for more up to date info. Current meetings are revolving around the topics of forming the founding member team, Ecovillage vision, and basic Ecovillage structure.
Ecovillage Meeting 5-23 Action Items
Ecovillage Vision Document 6-13 - Request for Vision Ideas by 6-30
Existing Founding Members – Ryan Zaricki, Gina Herman, and Michael Hicks
If you are interested in attending one of our upcoming meetings or have questions, please email Michael Hicks at michael@indianacommunity.org.
We welcome those who are inspired to collaborate and create this collective vision! We believe this project will not only provide a beautiful place to live for those involved, but it will also be an example of the possibility of human potential and community synergy.
We are looking For – Dedicated individuals with heart skills and head skills who are interested in participating in an Ecovillage… however, specifically now we are looking for Founding Members. Those who: have vision, have dreams, can take action and are grounded, knows or is willing to learn how to make fair, participatory group decisions, speak genuinely, have ability to cooperatively craft fair agreements, have emotional maturity (have done some inner personal work), are focused, are flexible, can hold ownership in this project (many ways to do that), are ready to commit, can work through challenges keeping the goal in site, have resources (money and/or time are necessary to get this off the ground), etc. As you can see, being a Founding Member is not suited for everyone, but perfect for many who have had this vision for quite some time and who have the heart and head skills to make it a reality.
In other words; we are looking for diverse people to fill the following village roles:
Gardeners/Farmers, Animal Caretakers, Business Mgmt., Healing Arts Practitioners (Massage Therapists, Energy Workers, Herbalists, Naturopaths, Yoga Teachers, etc.), Nurses, Midwives, Teachers, Artists, Musicians, Natural Builders, Mechanics, Workshop Organizers, Spiritual Leaders, Alternative Energy Specialists, etc. We need those with big ideas that are willing to put them into action!
We will soon be sending out a survey to potential founding members to determine the best possible fit for this Ecovillage.
Timeline – Currently we are just finishing our vision statement. That will be followed by legal/financial structure for ecovillage, and purchasing land - hopefully by later fall.
Land – We have decided the land we were looking at near French Lick will not suit the Ecovillage (due to extensive flooding there and not enough usable land for different Ecovillage possibilities), so now we are open to new possibilities. Near French Lick that would be a good possibility for the Ecovillage - potentially southern Martin County, western Orange, or western Crawford). These areas are counties where there is no zoning, land is more affordable, good people are around, and they are near French Lick (jobs/marketing potential for cottage products, art, etc.) and Paoli (Lost River Coop), and Jasper (jobs and where Michael has Center for Community Empowerment and Permaculture Gardens). Looking for 75- 100 acres ideally with structures, and usuable land for buildings, gardens, etc. Also, this area is approx. 1 hour from Bloomington, 1 hour from Louisville, and 1 hour from Evansville.
Mission – Some ideas are:
- Create a self-sustaining village which provides for all basic needs of members – primal (food, shelter, etc.), emotional (community and family support), mental (continual opportunities for learning), and spiritual (support for each individual’s life path through the collective consciousness and connection to higher energy)
- Create a working and expanding organic, permaculture based farm
- Retreat Center for Healing Arts retreats
- Educational Center for farming, personal growth, etc. workshops
- Schooling on-site, such as a Waldorf School, for children
- Off the grid living or at least moving that direction
- Interact with the outside communities in ways that are integrative, instead of isolative
Interests – organicness, renewal, synergism, self-sufficiency, vertical integration, village synergism, nature, fermentation, raw foods, processed foods, integrated healing, community meals, beer making, mead making, cheese making, woodworking, flowers, medicinal herbs, greenhouses, wild edibles, gatherings and celebrations, food preservation, solar cooking, meditation, yoga, sacred and natural village design, plant propagation
Goals –
- Form Ecovillage Structure and Founding Members by Summer 11’
- Buy Land by Winter 11’
- Farm/CSA/Apprenticeship Program in Operation Fall 12’ (Moved from Michael’s Current Operation)
- Commercial farm kitchen by early 2013
- Fully functioning farm (veggies, fruits, animals, dairy, eggs, grains, processed foods) by 2014
- Community Gathering Building by 2013
- Retreat Center/Workshop Center by 2014
- Fruits
- Animals (Chickens, Goats, Sheep, Milk Cow, etc.)
- Herbalism
- Nursery Stock - Annual and Perennials Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs, Trees
- Seed Saving and Production
- Commercial Kitchen Opportunities
- Garden/Wild Plant crafts