ECO-Village Concept
The main aspects behind the ECO-Village concept are “social solidarity” and “social responsibility”.
Social Solidarity
The shortest analogy to “Social Solidarity” is captured well with the saying “Union makes strength”. In fact, this is the case for any sort of project, but it is a must for implementing an Ecological community…
While this may be easily understood in the context of a one-time project such as an online petition, or the building of a structure, this concept can be extended over time in the community, making it part of its culture. If a group of people that conforms a neighborhood feel part of a tight community, then every-day life challenges can be approached and overcome in a easier way for everybody. And this is specially key for those more vulnerable.
In Chiloé, south of Chile, there is a perfect example of this social solidarity that is embedded in their culture, making life easier and tastier for all the inhabitants of the Chiloé island. They call it “minga”. They have been living this principle of social solidarity–where payments are absent, rather contributions to a bigger social cause are expected,– since the first settlers arrived to the island, back in 1,650. The following French documentary explains very well how the “minga” or the “social solidarity” can fill all the aspects of the Chiloé community (i.e., ranging from celebrations, home building, and even home moving with very rudimentary means) and how the “minga” has allowed them to maintain a sense of community that can be hardly found elsewhere:
Social Responsibility
If we want to benefit for having a caring community and enjoy a sustainable ecosystem then every member of the community needs to be “socially responsible”. In other words, every person should contribute to the common benefit with his/her skills according to his/her capacity. Individual contributions should not be limited to the visible aspects of our life, but also to the private decisions that we need to make when facing challenges. For instance, if we need to build a permanent dwelling, we need to install the adequate black and gray water treatment solutions to protect the environment, etc.
ECO-LIFE Ecosystem: A fast & cost-effective adoption for a sustainable life style
Our proposal will guide a person thru the process of finding a lot, and building a dwelling (seasonal or permanent) at a fraction of the cost (around 60%) and time (around 25%) that would be required by any conventional construction method, yet achieving a high quality and beautiful end-result.
Our ECO-LIFE Ecosystem – A quick guide for beginners covers the following concepts:
- Design concept (one instance of geometric design that promotes the establishment of an ECO-Village)
- Different options for efficiently and effectively embrace your construction project using EZ-LOG structures (a fast, inexpensive, and environmental friendly proposal)
One simple Point System to promote work (trade)
Technology can be used to implement a community local economy, but the same concepts that the technology can implement usually can be rolled out on a first phase in a manual fashion.
One Help/Volunteer System that illustrate this is a Russian volunteer live map, sponsored by a Russian TV channel, which aims to connect those who need help with voluntaries in Russia, and other countries during the covid19 pandemic. At the end of the pandemic, the organizers will distribute gifts among the volunteers that helped the biggest quantities of people.
In San Francisco there is a large illegal Chinese immigrant community withing Chinatown that doesn’t speak English, doesn’t have access to the health care system nor the social network, doesn’t have formal jobs, etc. They developed an informal economy within their Chinese community, implementing a system of vouchers that are recognized internally as money, even by the formal economy players.
For sure, an intermediate solution (using cellphones, without the need of Internet) can be implemented to facilitate trade in an informal economy (assuming the absence of currency as we know it today). Phones have Bluetooth to communicate with other devices, and that should be enough to implement a stand-alone wallet system, even with the potential of being audited by a third party to prevent fraud.
invites Android programmers interested in create such an Android App to and together we will devleop a valuable tool for humanity during these difficult times.