Village Vision
A community of approximately 100-150 residents and global citizens that will support and sustain itself to the highest degree possible; implementing the most ecologically regenerative living systems for food, water, shelter, energy and waste management. The Local Earth Villages will be a community-scale models for the world promoting peace, health, harmony, equity, ecologic awareness and socially responsible living. (This is part of the Earth 2.0 Research Project)
If you are interested in being a potential resident and co-creator of the 1st village please complete the Village Resident Application.
We invite you to join us for our monthly ReGenerative Community Development Mastermind! This is an opportunity for anyone with an interest in ecovillage development, community building and environmental stewardship to come together; share our collective wisdom and co-create regenerative solutions for the planet!
Listening to Wisdom
Welcome to Local Earth. We are at a unique and beautiful moment in history where Humanity and Nature have the opportunity to work together, in the creation of our future civilizations. We invite you to join us in a globally collaborative social experiment. We are bringing together visionary thinkers from all around the world to collectively create one of the most healthy, ecologically regenerative and forward thinking community development models in history. The intention is that this model will be adapted and replicated for various urban and rural ecosystems around the planet. The community-scale living systems being researched and developed will serve as a case study for community planning, land-use planning, urban development and ecovillage design.
The community is being collaboratively planned, designed and built with a combination of dedicated work and celebration. Each year we will host a 7 day community building celebration. The Local Earth Convergence participants will help construct portions of the village through workshops and training programs. The 1st phase will include the designing and building of communal spaces & prototype living structures. The annual gathering will bring together hearts and minds from all around the globe to co-create a community model for future generations. In a spirit of unity and celebration we honor the diversity of this amazing planet, and practice respect for all beings and resources on it.
A Local & Global Endeavor
Local / Internal Focus – To live with love, respect and celebration* for the Earth, self and all beings on the planet. To develop the most ecologically efficient community-scale living systems possible that support healthy and thriving human civilization; while simultaneously supporting the health of the global ecosystem. We utilize principles of permaculture and whole systems design to achieve optimal efficiency, health* and happiness*. The community will serve as home to full time residents; and a place of learning and education for students, interns and visitors.
Global / External Focus – We will share with the world the education, knowledge and skills we acquire in the process of building the Local Earth Village. Classes, workshops, internships, festivals and multi-media events will be offered to disseminate all information learned and created within the community. In future phases community teams will be trained with specific regenerative community development skills in order to assist in response to natural disasters and situations of humanitarian need. The outreach and responder teams will be trained with specific skills necessary to provide holistic and integrated solutions. Our intention is to personally live our lives as true to the Local Earth vision and values as possible in our local community; while simultaneously sharing the information we learn and being of service to the global community.
Local Earth Philosophy & Objectives
- demonstrating how the human species can co-exists in a healthy & harmonious way with the global ecosystem and contributes to the conscious evolution of life on Earth
- embodying love, compassion, gratitude, integrity, inspiration, peace, harmony, respect, play & celebration
- resource & time based economic systems (that do not operate on a fractional-reserve or debt/interest based model)
- equitable, just, adaptable and evolving governing systems
- local organic regenerative agriculture systems
- localized sourcing and efficient use of water
- localized sources of renewable energy
- localized natural building methods, technologies and materials
- localized waste management systems
- harmonious union of science & spirit (appropriate technology & indigenous wisdom)
- holistic integration of mind, body and spirit
- compassionate, creative & non-violent communication
*Respect & Celebration (defined in context to Local Earth): Living our lives (mind/body/spirit) in ways that simultaneously support happiness and health for self, community and natural ecologic systems.
*Health (defined in context to Local Earth): Including mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, psychological, social and natural health into a fully integrated system of health. This includes conscious awareness in all of our actions that honor self, community and planet.
*Happiness (defined in context to Local Earth): Living a life that puts a smile on our face and warmth in our hearts. Living a life filled with love, inspiration, celebration, service, gratitude and joy.
Partnership, Investment & RCD FUND
We have an open invitation out to like-minded people and organizations to collaborate with us in the development of a global network of regenerative communities. Check out the RCD FUND to learn more about ways people can partner, contribute and invest in this initiative!
Local Earth Villages (Global Network)
The completion of our 1st Local Earth Village model will mark the beginning of creating a global network of communities that share common vision & values. When the initial community development model and systems are functioning at an efficient level of success, the model will then be replicated and adapted for diverse ecosystems around the world. Our intention is that the 1st phase development model will be complete within 3-5 years. (see more about the Blueprint here)
Inclusive Spirituality & Culture
Conscious Arts & Ecologic Living
Union of Science & Spirit
An Invitation to the World!
This is an open invitation to anyone on the planet who feels in alignment with our core values and agreements… and wants to join us in this forward-thinking & solution-oriented co-creation! Together as community we will be learning and practicing natural building, organic gardening, and permaculture design. Together as a global community we will be planting seeds, singing songs, playing music, practicing yoga, eating delicious organic food, communing with one another and the Earth.
The development of the Local Earth Village will provide all of us an opportunity to observe and re-evaluate the social, political, legal, economic, environmental, religious and cultural structures of our planet. This is an opportunity for deep reflection on what IS working in our current social structures… and awareness of what is NOT working. Support and recognition for what IS leading us towards an environmentally sustainable and socially just presence on this planet… And re-evaluating those aspects that are NOT leading us towards a just and sustainable world.
We are taking the time to thoughtfully and honestly ask ourselves individually, and as a society the following questions…
Where are we now?
How did we get here?
What is possible for the future?
Where do we go from here?
Scalable Local Solutions to Global Issues
It can be overwhelming to attempt to understand issues on a global scale. For this reason we are breaking planetary and humans needs down to the most basic buildings blocks. We are framing these issues in a human-scale that everyone can relate to. Every human being on this planet deals with the same basic human needs. We all need food, water, shelter, a way to provide these basic necessities and an ecologically efficient way to deal with the byproducts of the systems needed to provide these necessities. We think it is also safe to say most of us appreciate love, community and friendship to make this human experience an enjoyable as possible.
No ONE human being can be 100% self sustainable… this means we need each other. This means we need community to survive. Yet we do not only want to survive… we want to THRIVE and enjoy! So by taking the often overwhelming challenges facing us on a global scale and breaking them down into the most basic building blocks of society we can begin to address these issues in a more understandable and comprehensible manner. Because we can not survive completely alone, this means our most basic building block of humanity is COMMUNITY.
The word ‘community’ can be used in the context of many scales. A community of 10, 1 thousand, 1 million or 8 billion?! We are using the word ‘community’ in the context of a manageable sized group that can support each other in providing the most basic human needs in the most efficient fashion. Anthropological studies have been conducted and research has shown that 100-150 humans working together appears to be one of the most efficient and effective community-scales to work with. 100-150 human beings can effectively work and communicate together to provide the basics human needs. (**See Dunbar’s Number**)
One of the most fundamental and imperative elements of healthy community, is healthy communication. Based on observation and research of human behaviors we are working towards an ideal village size of 144 residents. This number is guided by information from Dunbar’s number, and is based on communication systems and decision making processes. Communication is an essential and necessary part of a community, yet no one wants to spend large amounts of time in meetings and discussion… there is a lot of fun to be had!
Humans have an attention span and productive capacity in groups of approximately 1-2 hours. Communication in group dynamics (on the high-end) is most efficient between 9-12 people. Based on these observations we have designed the living-clusters (neighborhood pods) into groups of 12 people who can effectively communicate with one another in a 1-2 hour meeting once per month. Based on the communication from the monthly meeting (1st week of month), one rotating representative from each cluster is invited to represent the voice of their associated cluster at the monthly community meeting (3rd week of month). There will be approximately 12 clusters of 12 people, resulting in approximately 144 Local Earth residents with healthy and efficient communication in 1-2 meetings per month.
Whether it is a community of 100 or a mega-city of 10 million; the basic building blocks of our social constructs and developments can be broken down into neighborhoods and communities of 100-150. At this neighborhood-scale the global concerns begin to become more understandable and manageable. Living systems and solutions can be designed effectively and efficiently at this scale.
Collaborative & ReGenerative Community Development
We recently completed our 1st case study of the Living Cluster Model at Ecotopia Ranch in Valley Center California (April 2018-2020). The preliminary planning stages of the full scale Local Earth Village will begin when we have coordinated our core team. We will be hosting community design activities, projects and gatherings on a regular basis during the planning phases. The preliminary planning events will take place in the San Diego region, yet will be accessible world-wide via interactive multi-media. We invite visionaries, solutionaries, free thinkers and thought leaders from around the world to join us for conference calls, webinars and collaborative design charrettes. (see calendar for event information)
In conjunction with the Gaia Gathering and Local Earth Convergence; we will begin planning and building the preliminary infrastructure of the village. The convergence will offer interactive classes and workshops in natural building, permaculture design, organic gardening, living foods nutrition, yoga, art, music, dance, environmental awareness, corporate responsibility, social structures and just economics! Local Earth will be honoring and celebrating the union of indigenous wisdom and appropriate technology.
Every year the community will continue to grow as we plant seeds and begin to build our homes together, this will be an ever evolving creation! Unlike some community building events where everything is created and then taken down or destroyed… the Local Earth celebration inspires the design & construction of a community the world can continue to enjoy, experience and learn from 365 days a year! In collaboration with the Convergence; the 1st construction priorities will be the center camp, bathing areas and several spaces for resident lodging. Center camp will include the Community Lodge, community garden and performance stage. The community lodge will include a kitchen, large dining area, bathing area and large gathering space.
The community for approx. 100-150 international residents will be built in phases throughout a 3-6 year period. Village members will live full time in the community and oversee the development. 3-12 month rotational internships will be available to live-work residents. We will accept applications from anyone anywhere in the world! The applying intern residents will propose in their application what services or projects they would like to offer the community in work-exchange for their lodging.
One component of the Local Earth Village Development Model is an interdisciplinary, open-source Eco-Design Challenge to build the world’s most affordable and ecologically designed home for a semi-arid, temperate environment. Participants in this design challenge will include university students and working professionals from around the world. We will host a series of Eco-Design Challenges sequentially featuring one climatic region per challenge with varied design parameters.
Location
Our case-study of the Living Cluster Model was at Ecotopia Ranch in Valley Center California (April 2018-2020). The team and location for Phase I of the 1st official full scale village is still being determined. We are currently working on a smaller scale satellite project in Southern Baja called Lumeria.
Become a Local Earth Patreon Member for as little as $1 per month!
(Members are invited to join us for our monthly Interactive Webinars & meetings to collaboratively design, develop & build the Local Earth Villages)
Collaborative Global Team
This is an open-source creation developed by a diverse collection of individuals and organizations. Below is a list with some of the desired partnering organizations and individuals whom we hope will be joining us in this endeavor. The invitation is open to any individual or organization interested in supporting an environmentally sustainable and socially just presence on this planet. We invite you to join us!!
Organizational Invite
Bioneers
The Buckminster Fuller Institute
TED
United Nations
Earthship Biotecture
Future Generations
University for Peace
Permaculture for Humanity
International Living Future Institute
The Living Building Challenge
Institute for the Future
Gaia Education
Cal-Earth Institute
Pachamama Alliance
Transition Town Movement
Kleiworks
International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Green School
Global Ecovillage Network
The Community Planet Foundation
Venus Project
The World Wide Permaculture Network
City Repair
EcoTrust
Habitat for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity
Occidental Arts & Ecology Center
Solar Living Institute
Patagonia 1% for the Planet
Burning Man Organization…. and many others…
Artist invitations for event collaborations…
Ben Harper
Beth Preston
Brett Dennen
John Butler Trio
Make Peace Brothers
MC Yogi
… and many others….
… Welcome to Local Earth …
… more to be added here as support documentation… this is just the beginning!
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