PARTNERSHIP - MAKE IT HAPPEN

Earlier this year, the Maremma family and Ecovillage Project Kenya decided to collaborate on creating the dream we have held for year.

Located in Ilkusument near Tinga town in Kajiado District, 50 acres of possibilities awaits its potential owners where homes, kitchen gardens, herb gardens, forest and green spaces can be created for generations to come.

The grand plan is organic. It has changed from our original cookie-cut approach to allow for owners the flexibility of creating this project themselves.

We want to first get owners to buy 10 unit shares, an equivalent of 5 acres at Ksh 1M. These being the directors, they will adhere to a required instalment plan to complete the project within a time frame decided by the WHOLE. This time frame can be from 5 years to 10 years.

So imagine this: Each share affords an owner a) 2 acres of land for their home; and their share of land to b) Communal forestry, c) Communal farming and d) Communal common spaces.

SAMPLE PLAN

After buying in, the first phase will have the owners choose to work on the basic needs. What gets done is determined by a collaborated agreement. Each phase will have a paying period that must be stuck to. Here are the possibilities:-

• planning the site design
• inviting vendors for costs
• build a fencing; plant a live fence
• planting trees, bamboo
• build a dam

The following phases will be on building common areas and finally the homes. The possibilities are many. Want to build your retirement home? Want to escape from the city-living and move into a better greener-living? It is possible. There are others like you. Join us! 

WHAT IS AN ECOVILLAGE

WHAT IS AN ECOVILLAGE?

When we speak on our project recently, which was revived in the last month, we are often having to explain what an ecovillage is.

Sometimes spelled, eco village, an ecovillage is officially defined as  "a community whose inhabitants seek to live according to ecological principles causing as little impact on the environment as possible." What we hope that looks like is what we have been planning to create these last couple of years. 

Our ecovillage aims to follow the ecological principles of permaculture while providing homes for no more than forty families. It will be a source of refuge, a place to learn, a source of food and so much more.

The inhabitants, also known as the ecovillagers, will have a united view on ecological, social-economic and cultural values. As green-minded people, the ecovillages will consciously seek alternatives to the lifestyles that are wasteful or contribute to the destruction of our natural habitat.

Our ecovillage will be a deliberate  community of middle class Kenyans that will use the space as a rural home built to be a green example for others willing to learn a new regenerative social and environmental option in Kenya. Where the desert creeps forward, the ecovillage aims to create an oasis that will greenify the dry landscape of Kajiado County as it matures.

The different ecovillages around the world may operate differently, some are a solution for orphans, and others have created a barter system or their own currency, but are solidly rooted in the some, if not all, the principles laid out in Robert & Diane Gilman's Ecovillages and Sustainable Communities.

We aim to value and practice community living by not only finding solutions that meet our needs (water, food & shelter) we will be a source of green knowledge to the communities near by. So, as a planned community, we will generate sources of income for the village, e.g. selling our produce, offering classes, but also ensure that especially in the early years, each owner contributes to the planning, progress and infrastructure as part of a team as well as part of a collective financial source.

With any luck, you will see our ecovillage be the sustainable community that we want our children's children to be able to take part in. With the principle in place, it is a reality ready to happen.

Learn more about our plan! Email us today!

THE BIGGER PICTURE

VISUAL CONCEPT



They say, "it takes a village..."

I am one of the dreamers, one of the creators of the EcoVillage.


Then we have...
Lawyers
Accountants
Financial Advisers
Architecht
Interior Designer
Permaculturists
Landscape Designer
Energy Engineers
Water Engineer
Biogas Specialist
Agriculturists
and you, the owners

As we get closer to confirming our plans, we first get clear with the bigger picture. 

Here it is.

Tell us what you think.

WE WILL BE A HUMMINGBIRD

In the documentary movie "Dirt," Kenya's very own Nobel Peace prize winner, the late Wanagari Mathaai tells a story about a hummingbird that did the best it could to rescue a burning forest while every other animal just stood and watched. Moral of the story: the little you or I can do in turning the effects of climate change, ill-advised laws and ignorant cultural practices does in fact make a difference.

In our mind's eye, the EcoVillage will be a human settlement that is consciously designed to secure long term sustainability. If we do not turn the corner, more is at stake. Less than twenty-eight percent of Kenya is green with "good" dirt. This productive land is scarce and thus a source of conflict and greed. When we fight over prime real estate, we are fighting over dirt!

Through bad agricultural practises and the rampant cutting of our forests, we changed our lands. The result is a high demand for the dwindling natural resources that in turn altered our relationship with the "dirt". EcoVillage Project Kenya would like to turn the tables. Restore the "waste land" and thus restore the dirt. .

Be Like a Hummingbird - by Wangari Mathaai

In the Hummingbird's spirit, the EcoVillage Project Kenya plans to implement solutions that slow down the effects of climate change and solutions that will prove to provide healthy dirt for future generations! 

 

 One village at a time, we envision 
a) homes built with sustainable material; 
b) an organic farm using the permaculture techniques; 
c) a water system that harvests rain, is damned and recycled; 
                                         d) a forest that changes the surrounding climate; etc. 


This is what we would like to do! Join us!

You can be a Hummingbird too!

a) Recycle

b) Support organic farms

c) If you have a garden, build soil by creating your own compost from scraps in your kitchen

d) Choose renewable solutions:- solar panels; water harvesting; biogas energy; etc.

Think outside of the box. Let the spirit of Wangari Maathai live in what we do so that her vision of a greener Kenya is realised!

Learn more!
Watch the movie!

BE DIFFERENT

It is no secret that ecosystems around the world are failing.

EcoVillage Project Kenya would rather be part of the solution than the problem. And, let's face it, wouldn't it be great to have a beautiful home and a breathtaking landscape to enjoy while we are at it!

The newest apartment complexes are nearly void of any tree cover. What little renewable solution added to these new developments are the classic solar water heaters. What about grey water recycling? solar back up systems? Water harvesting?

The bottom line is: our country has less tree cover; water; and viable land. Today's property developers are not doing enough to provide their clients with living spaces that combat climate change. Nor are they doing anything to reverse it.

Is it the responsibility of the property developer?

We at EcoVillage Project Kenya say, resoundingly, yes!

Developers around the country are building our future and as they do so, they are systematically cutting down trees, carpeting our soil with cement and not doing much to help future generations with sustainable living solutions that conserve what little we have left.

Be different. Choose to live in a way that gives back and leaves something for future generations. An eco village by design considers the local environment when planning for the inhabitants and their needs, today and tomorrow.

Be different and choose to be part of a system that provides a healthier choice - produce; peaceful and serene environment; connection to nature and a break from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

Be different.

There is no clear how-to-create an eco village. However, the Gaia Trust say that "through personal commitment and change in lifestyle, ecovillagers are building living models of the future in harmony with nature."

The EcoVillage we plan to create will be one with a living space that will model a revolutionized rural home that provides a healthy way of living amongst like-green-minded, while offering a source of income, an option to share our methods and an opportunity to replicate across the country.

Be different. Make a permanent change...or consider supporting us.

Be different. Join the conversation!