Sustainability in Community

I was rummaging around in the old electro-attic and found a cool site – the Eco-Village Network of the Americas. They have a very interesting project to help communities assess their “sustainability” in a somewhat quantitative way.

Here are their categories. Very interesting to explore. Have you ever considered doing an assessment of where you live?

This is the link: http://gen.ecovillage.org/activities/csa/English/toc.html

Introduction to the Ecological Checklist

1. Sense of Place – community location & scale; restoration & preservation of nature
2. Food Availability, Production & Distribution
3. Physical Infrastructure, Buildings & Transportation – materials, methods, designs
4. Consumption Patterns & Solid Waste Management
5. Water – sources, quality & use patterns
6. Waste Water & Water Pollution Management
7. Energy Sources & Uses

Introduction to the Social Checklist

1. Openness, Trust & Safety; Communal Space
2. Communication – the flow of ideas & information
3. Networking Outreach & Services – resource exchange internal/external)
4. Social Sustainability – diversity & tolerance; decision-making; conflict resolution
5. Education
6. Health Care
7. Sustainable Economics – healthy local economy

Introduction to the Spiritual Checklist

1. Cultural Sustainability
2. Arts and Leisure
3. Spiritual Sustainability
4. Community Glue
5. Community Resilience
6. A New Holographic, Circulatory World View
7. Peace and Global Consciousness