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Eco-villages
An ecovillage is a traditional or intentional community with the goal of becoming more socially, culturally, economically, and/or ecologically sustainable. An ecovillage strives to produce the least possible negative impact on the natural environment through intentional physical design and resident behavior choices. It is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes to regenerate and restore its social and natural environments. Most range from a population of 50 to 250 individuals, although some are smaller, and traditional ecovillages are often much larger. Larger ecovillages often exist as networks of smaller sub-communities. Some ecovillages have grown through like-minded individuals, families, or other small groups—who are not members, at least at the outset—settling on the ecovillage's periphery and participating ''de facto'' in the community. Ecovillagers are united by shared ecological, social-economic and cultural-spiritual values.Van Sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ross Jackson
Ross Jackson is a Danish-Canadian economist, author and philanthropist born in Ottawa, Canada in 1938. In 1971, Ross Jackson co-founded SimCorp A/S: one of the world's first financial engineering companies. Later, Jackson began focusing more on international finance, consulting around the world in investment strategies for banks, insurance companies, and mutual fund providers. This led Ross Jackson to research currency trading methods and the creation of various investment strategies. In the early 1980s, Ross Jackson traveled to India and met Muktananda, a Hindu swami whose teaching led Jackson to an epiphany. ''"I felt a divine connection," he says. "Material things meant less after that."'' Ross Jackson has described his awakening in the book, ''Kali Yuga Odyssey: A Spiritual Journey'' (San Francisco, Robert D. Reed, 2000). In 1987 he integrated his spiritual insights with his business and environmental interests by forming Gaia Trust, a charitable Danish entity with the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
004A Mwuerfel
4A or IV-A may refer to : * 4A, Ararat International Airlines' IATA airline designator * 4A, a series of Toyota A engine produced by Toyota Motor Corporation (1982-2002) * 4A, the production code for the 1974–75 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''Robot'' * 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, Australia * 4A Engine, a video game engine developed by ''4A Games'' * 4A Games, a video game development company in Ukraine * Calabarzon or Region IV-A, a province in Philippines * Pixel 4a, an Android smartphone * Vermont Route 4A, a highway in Vermont, U.S. See also * 4A/OP, a radiative transfer model for the infrared * Long March 4A, a Chinese rocket * Stalag IV-A, a German prisoner of war camp * TI-99/4A, a 1981 home computer * AAAA (other) * A4 (other) A4 most often refers to: * A4 paper, a paper size defined by the ISO 216 standard, measuring 210 × 297 mm A4 and variants may also refer to: Science and mathematics * British NVC community A4 (''Hydrocharis mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fair Trade
Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and environmental standards. The movement focuses in particular on commodities, or products that are typically exported from developing countries to developed countries but is also used in domestic markets (e.g., Brazil, the United Kingdom and Bangladesh), most notably for handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, wine, sugar, fruit, flowers and gold. Fair trade labelling organizations commonly use a definition of ''fair trade'' developed by FINE, an informal association of four international fair trade networks: Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), Network of European Worldshops and European Fair Trade Association (EFTA). Fair trade, by this definition, is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rural
In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are described as rural. Different countries have varying definitions of ''rural'' for statistical and administrative purposes. In rural areas, because of their unique economic and social dynamics, and relationship to land-based industry such as agriculture, forestry and resource extraction, the economics are very different from cities and can be subject to boom and bust cycles and vulnerability to extreme weather or natural disasters, such as droughts. These dynamics alongside larger economic forces encouraging to urbanization have led to significant demographic declines, called rural flight, where economic incentives encourage younger populations to go to cities for education and access to jobs, leaving older, less educated and less wealthy popu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urban Area
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbanism, the term contrasts to rural areas such as villages and hamlets; in urban sociology or urban anthropology it contrasts with natural environment. The creation of earlier predecessors of urban areas during the urban revolution led to the creation of human civilization with modern urban planning, which along with other human activities such as exploitation of natural resources led to a human impact on the environment. "Agglomeration effects" are in the list of the main consequences of increased rates of firm creation since. This is due to conditions created by a greater level of industrial activity in a given region. However, a favorable environment for human capital development would al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Husbandry
Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starting with the Neolithic Revolution when animals were first domesticated, from around 13,000 BC onwards, predating farming of the first crops. By the time of early civilisations such as ancient Egypt, cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were being raised on farms. Major changes took place in the Columbian exchange, when Old World livestock were brought to the New World, and then in the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century, when livestock breeds like the Dishley Longhorn cattle and Lincoln Longwool sheep were rapidly improved by agriculturalists, such as Robert Bakewell, to yield more meat, milk, and wool. A wide range of other species, such as horse, water buffalo, llama, rabbit, and guinea pig, are used as livestock in som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Living Villages
Living Villages is an organisation in the United Kingdom established in 1993 as part of The Athena Foundation UK (now dissolved) and as ThLiving Village Trustin 1997 by Carole Salmon and Bob Tomlinson. The objectives are to encourage sustainable development through appropriate design and ethical commercial practice. The first project of five environmentally friendly houses calleBells Courtin Bishops Castle, Shropshire, UK built in 1997 and the 40 house eco-neighbourhood calleThe Wintles also in Bishops Castle, demonstrate that new housing can be eco-friendly, attractive and beneficial to a local community provided that specific set of design principlesis adhered to. Tomlinson and Salmon maintain that sustainability within the built environment is not possible unless the inhabitants feel a connection to the place and enjoy living there. For example, even if a building is highly energy efficient or made from environmentally friendly materials, it cannot be sustainable if it is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cultural Creatives
''The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World'' is a nonfiction social sciences and sociology book by sociologist Paul H. Ray and psychologist Sherry Ruth Anderson (born 1942), The authors introduced the term "Cultural Creatives" to describe a large segment in Western society who since about 1985 have developed beyond the standard paradigm of modernists or progressives versus traditionalists or conservatives. Ray and Anderson claim to have found 50 million adult Americans (slightly over one quarter of the adult population) can now be identified as belonging to this group. They estimated an additional 80–90 million "Cultural Creatives" exist in Europe as of 2000. Two types Ray and Anderson divide "Cultural Creatives" into two subdivisions: Core "Cultural Creatives" Just under half of the CC population comprises the more educated, leading-edge thinkers. This includes many writers, artists, musicians, psychotherapists, alternative health care p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Findhorn Ecovillage
Findhorn Ecovillage is an experimental architectural community project based at The Park, in Moray, Scotland, near the village of Findhorn.Local relations between the Findhorn Foundation and the village of Findhorn have occasionally foundered over inconsiderate use of the word 'Findhorn' to mean either the former or the Ecovillage. See for example Walker (1994), Talk:Findhorn Foundation and also Findhorn (other). The project's main aim is to demonstrate a sustainable development in environmental, social, and economic terms. Work began in the early 1980s under the auspices of the Findhorn Foundation but now includes a wide diversity of organisations and activities.Lovie, R. et al. (2005) ''Moray Sustainability Handbook.'' Keith. REAP. Numerous different ecological techniques are in use, and the project has won a variety of awards, including the UN-Habitat Best Practice Designation in 1998.Burns, B. et al. (2006) ''CIFAL Findhorn''. Findhorn Foundation. An independent s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diane Gilman (environmentalist)
Diane Gilman (1945–1998), was a painter, potter, writer and co-founder of the Context Institute. She played a key role in the initial development and coordination of the Global Ecovillage Network, a support network for model communities to show how to live more sustainably on the planet, in urban, rural, developed and less developed situations. In 1991, she and her husband, Robert Gilman co-wrote ''Eco-Villages and Sustainable Communities'', a seminal study of ecovillages for Gaia Trust. Biography Gilman attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Art. A professional watercolor painter and potter, she founded the Context Institute with her husband, Robert in 1979. She was Associate Publisher of ''In Context'' magazine from 1983–1995 and coordinated citizen diplomacy work with the USSR for the Institute. She and Robert Gilman co-founded the Foundation for Russian/American Economic Cooperation, in Seattle, Washington.Contex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cohousing
Cohousing is an intentional community of private homes clustered around shared space. The term originated in Denmark in late 1960s. Each attached or single family home has traditional amenities, including a private kitchen. Shared spaces typically feature a common house, which may include a large kitchen and dining area, laundry, and recreational spaces. Shared outdoor space may include parking, walkways, open space, and gardens. Neighbors also share resources like tools and lawnmowers. Households have independent incomes and private lives, but neighbors collaboratively plan and manage community activities and shared spaces. The legal structure is typically a homeowner association or housing cooperative. Community activities feature regularly scheduled shared meals, meetings, and workdays. Neighbors gather for parties, games, movies, or other events. Cohousing makes it easy to form clubs, organize child and elder care, and carpool. Cohousing facilitates interaction among nei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suburban Sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of land, with little concern for urban planning. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization, the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. Medieval suburbs suffered from loss of protection of city walls, before the advent of industrial warfare. Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, and destruction of the countryside. The cost of building urban infrastructure for new developments is hardly ever recouped through property taxes, amounting to a subsidy for the developers and new residents at the expense of existing property taxpayers. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
