Eco-Hamlets UK

• What is Co-Housing?
• What is an Eco-Village?
• What is Permaculture?

What is Co-Housing?

The essence of co-housing is a combination of self-contained dwelling units with some shared facilities. Each household has its own front door and can live independently. Alongside this are shared facilities where residents eat together if they wish, and often also a shared sitting room, guest rooms, laundry etc. The major benefits of co-housing include:

• Affordability - The shared facilities mean that individual units can be smaller and hence more affordable. Sharing transport, childcare, food purchasing and production also help reduce living costs.
• Sustainability - A co-housing group can live more ecologically than a single household: for example, through car pooling, shared shopping, sustainable energy systems. Having more social contacts and some work opportunities where you live reduces the need for car use.
• Community - Co-housing creates many of the qualities of a traditional neighbourhood or small village. It makes it easier for people to socialise and support each other. It creates a safe and supportive setting, especially helpful for older people and young families.
• Autonomy - Co-housing enables individuals and households to maintain a high degree of independence: they can choose how much interaction with the group they want. Whilst some group agreements are essential, these are kept to a minimum.

What's an Eco-Village?

There are a number of definitions of an eco-village including this one:
a 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.

An eco-village typically has a population of between 50 and 500 people.

What is Permaculture?

Permaculture is working with nature to make a better world for all. By observing the natural world we can see that there are a set of principles at work. Permaculture design uses these principles to develop integrated systems to provide for our needs of food, water, shelter, energy and community in ways that are healthy and efficient. Through permaculture design we can improve the quality and productivity of our individual lives, our society and our environment.

Permaculture is based on the three ethics of:

• Earth Care
• People Care
• Fair Shares

Permaculture design is applicable to any scale, from a window box to a bioregion, and to any system, from household through industry to economy.

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	This work by John Boshier is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.