Map of settlements of family estates. Five of the most original eco-villages in the world. The most protected eco-village
Principles of organizing ecovillages
In various ecological settlements, there are various environmental (environmental) restrictions and self-restrictions on the production and circulation of goods, the use of certain materials or technologies, and lifestyles. The most common examples include:
- Sustainable farming is the use of sustainable land cultivation technologies (for example, the principles of permaculture). As a rule, the use of toxic chemicals and pesticides on the territory of an ecovillage is also prohibited.
- Sustainable forest management and multicultural reforestation - careful use of forests and planting of different tree species to form sustainable ecosystems in forests, in contrast to monoculture plantings (prone to diseases and pests), actively practiced by forest industry organizations.
- Minimizing energy consumption is a fairly common practice, manifested in the construction of energy-efficient housing (see energy-efficient house), use, and minimization of household energy consumption.
- Smoking, drinking alcohol and obscene language are often discouraged on the territory of eco-villages, up to their complete ban.
- Among residents of ecovillages, the usual practice is one or another natural nutrition system, for example, vegetarianism, raw food diet, veganism, etc. In some cases, eating meat or raising livestock for meat is prohibited on the territory of ecovillages.
- Most residents of eco-villages usually adhere to a healthy lifestyle, which includes hardening, visiting the bathhouse, active physical activity, and a positive attitude towards life.
Often there is a desire for autonomy and independence from external supplies, for a certain self-sufficiency. In most rural and suburban eco-villages, their residents strive to grow their own organic food using organic farming technologies. In some (usually larger) eco-villages, it is possible to create their own production of clothing, shoes, dishes and other things necessary for the inhabitants of the eco-village and (or) exchange of goods with the outside world. In general, products must be made from local renewable natural materials or waste/recyclables, using environmentally friendly technologies, and be used and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. (In practice, it is not always possible to achieve all the goals set.)
A number of eco-villages use autonomous small-scale alternative energy.
The number of people in eco-settlements can vary between 50-150 inhabitants, since in this case, according to sociological and anthropological data, all the infrastructure necessary for such a settlement will be provided. However, large eco-villages (up to 2000 inhabitants) can also exist.
History of ecovillages
In the West, the ecovillage movement began in the early 1960s. In Russia, the first eco-villages appeared in the early 1990s, when materials on many environmental problems began to be discovered and widely published. The Russian network of ecovillages was created in 2005.
Organization of ecovillages
Residents of an ecovillage are usually united by common environmental or spiritual interests. Many of them see the technogenic way of life as unacceptable, destroying nature and leading to a worldwide catastrophe. As an alternative to technogenic civilization, they offer life in small settlements with minimal impact on nature. Ecological settlements often cooperate with each other, in particular many of them are united in Settlement Networks (for example, the Global Network of Ecovillages).
To some extent, the principles of ecovillages can be applied to existing villages and hamlets. A prerequisite for such settlements is harmonious interaction with nature and minimal negative impact on it.
A sociological study of ecovillages was conducted by R. Gilman and presented in his book “Ecovillages and Ecovillages.”
Notes
see also
Links
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
An ecological settlement (ecovillage) is a settlement created to organize an ecologically clean space for the life of a group of people, usually based on the concept of sustainable development and organizing food from organic agriculture... ... Wikipedia
- (until 2000, the Community of the United Faith) a new religious movement (sect), which was founded by Sergei Torop (who calls himself Vissarion) in 1991 under the name “Community of the United Faith.” Officially registered with the Ministry of Justice... ... Wikipedia - (English intentional community) a purposefully created local community of people, conceived for closer cooperation than other communities. Members of an ideological community usually share certain social, political, religious... ... Wikipedia
- (English The Fellowship for Intentional Community, abbreviated English FIC, Russian DZIO) an international social movement that supports connections and cooperation between ideological communities, eco-villages, cohousing and similar groups;... ... Wikipedia
Roof greening is a term that refers to the roofs of buildings partially or completely planted with living plants. This means plants planted directly into the ground; for this, a waterproof membrane is placed between the green layer and the roof... ... Wikipedia
Self-contained buildings are designed and constructed to operate independently of infrastructure, utilities such as electrical networks, gas networks, municipal water systems, wastewater treatment systems, storm drains, services... ... Wikipedia
ecovillage- ecological settlement... Dictionary of abbreviations and abbreviations
15.11.2016
A question that is no less important than the question of life itself in the settlement. Already at this stage, the majority have a fairly large information gap, and the arguments “against” or “for” in 99% of cases lie outside the scope of the real state of affairs.
First of all, it is worth noting that I have never been fanatical about the topic of settlements. No, I never had the opinion: “I read the books of V. Maigret and learned the truth! You can only live this way and no other way!” I don’t have a chest with Slavic shirts, I don’t listen to bards all day long, I don’t eat the sun, I don’t hug bears and hares... Maybe just for now)))))
I have absolutely no fanaticism or going to extremes, which is simply a given and is in no way assessed from the point of view of whether it is good or bad.
Probably, over many years of studying psychology, various religions, philosophies, esotericism, I admired new knowledge so many times, saw so many people who fanatically rushed into new religious or philosophical movements, and then after a couple of years completely changed their opinion, that I formed a certain a picture of the world that cannot be attributed to any specific direction.
View from our site to the neighbors' house.
It is important. It’s one thing when you go to a settlement to build “Gardens of Eden” with a fanatical attitude, euphoria, under the impression of new emotions or new knowledge, and another thing when you take this step deliberately, consciously and even a little pragmatically. In the context of this article, it is important for me that you understand from what bell tower I look at everything that is happening.
It was an extremely difficult decision
For about 1.5 years I studied the topic of settlements, went to see how people lived there, talked about this topic with those who had already received this life experience. The main problem for my pragmatic mind and the experience of past similar decisions was and is that in this case there is no “return”.
Let's say I decide to live in Spain. I bought a house there, lived there, and when I realized that it was not for me, I sold the house. We lived in Sochi for a year, rented houses and apartments, then just left. In a settlement, such a number may not work.
If it suddenly turns out that life in a settlement is not for us, then selling/renting it out is not so easy. It’s one thing to sell/rent an apartment in St. Petersburg, Sochi or Spain, and another thing in a settlement... The question of how to get out of this game remains open even now.
Many will say: how can this be? What kind of thoughts are these! Such thoughts are unacceptable when creating your own “family estate”!
Life experience says that today it is like this, but tomorrow it may be completely different. How many people who dreamed of their family estate ended up going to live in apartments... Life is very changeable. Today you are in Moscow, tomorrow - in the family estate, and the day after tomorrow - in Cyprus... This is normal, this is life! It changes, your thoughts change, circumstances change, so it is wise to look at things objectively and with an eye to the future, really understanding what you are doing.
It may not be a very good comparison to a business, but when you start a business (especially in a partnership), you first need to figure out how to get out of it.
As a result, the question arises of what to do if suddenly:
- The settlement collapsed (this happens too).
- Force majeure circumstances force you to leave the settlement (there are many options).
- You gained experience and found out that this is simply not for you.
In reality, it all comes down to the cost of a possible “mistake” if something suddenly goes wrong. I was and remain of the opinion that the decision to live in a settlement is a certain risk, even a gamble. On the other hand, if everything goes well, you can get a LOT.
- Are you ready to take risks for your dreams?
- How strong is your desire?
- How valuable is this experience for you?
I believe that with a certain and careful approach, the game is worth the candle, because life in an eco-village can really become a paradise for you and your children, you will get an experience that cannot be bought for any money, no training, you will change inside, your priorities and values will change, you will begin to look at the world around you differently, a global internal transformation will occur, you will no longer be the same as before... With all this, this is clearly not for everyone...
10 days that changed our lives
It so happened that by chance we managed to live fully in the settlement for 10 days, after which we seriously thought that maybe the game was worth the candle. Before this, we had not seriously considered this idea, but then 10 days in September in an eco-village seemed better to us than at any resort in the world.
After 10 days in the settlement, we returned to our beloved Sochi, which began to be seen in a completely different light. It’s cramped, you can’t breathe, the passion of the big city, the smell of cars, cigarettes, lack of goodness...
Returning to Sochi, we realized that the issue of living in a settlement cannot be solved mentally, in our heads, sitting in an apartment or in a country mansion. This issue can only be resolved at the level of the heart, desire, and intuition.
At the same time, the plot with the house in which we lived was put up for sale. And we decided...
The advantages that we see in living in a settlement after the first month of staying there:
Like-minded people.
It’s, of course, very cool when there are people around you who don’t swear, don’t litter, don’t eat meat, don’t drink alcohol, don’t smoke, smile and rejoice at you, and sincerely hug you when you meet.
You can safely go on a visit or invite guests to your place, discuss general topics, talk about things that are really interesting. Real peace of mind. There is no place for mental stress, no tension within. There is no need to fight with anyone, defend your position, fight for your uniqueness, or prove something to anyone.
Freedom for children.
Within a week, my daughter began visiting new friends, walking alone without supervision, and she was still only 4 years old. She certainly could never have had such freedom in the city.
Our settlement has its own primary school, children study according to the Zhokhov system. This is naturally a plus. In addition, the settlers are interested in giving children an education outside the walls of a regular school, but at the same time that all formalities are observed and the child has a full-fledged school diploma of secondary education.
Fresh air.
In almost any big city the air leaves much to be desired, and in a number of cities it is simply dangerous to health. In a separate article I can describe the state of the air environment in the city, consider various chemical compounds, MAC standards in different variations. Even in the most favorable cities from this point of view, near streets with heavy traffic, you simply can’t breathe; this is especially felt when you get used to breathing air that has no odor 24 hours a day.
Movement!
In the city I worked a lot on the computer. Of course, I tried to control this moment, but it’s difficult to be on the move if you do all your work on the computer. The entire change in activity is artificial in essence, but physical inactivity is a global problem for modern man. Here, the change of activity occurs naturally: after working, you go out into the street, where you do some work on the site, around the house, or just take a walk to catch inspiration.
Health in nutrition.
There are no shops selling junk food in the settlement, no restaurants, although you can order something tasty from your neighbors. You really eat less harmful, more healthy. And, of course, your own vegetables and fruits, which will definitely appear on your own land - it couldn’t be more useful. Much is purchased in bulk from trusted suppliers.
Silence.
In the morning, birds sing, not car engines in the parking lot. At night you can only hear mice if they suddenly snuck into the house. You won’t hear drunken fights under the windows or loud music. Complete sound comfort.
Weather in Krasnodar Krai
23 in November, sun, minimal number of gray cold days, and there is also snow, but not for long...
Space.
We have more than a hectare of land, no fences. A delight for the eyes. You can grow not only your own vegetables and fruits, but also create your own park or forest.
A special state of body, soul, mind, psyche, consciousness, thoughts.
This point cannot be described in words, you can only feel it. This is probably exactly the point for which we came here. Silence, clean air, fruits, vegetables - all this can be obtained without settling, and you can only get a certain state within yourself, which is formed thanks to the people around, the landscape, the peculiarities of life in this place.
Disadvantages and questions that, of course, exist
Since I am not an idealist, but more of a skeptic, it is much easier for me to see disadvantages than advantages (this is part of my nature: to see what is wrong and how to fix it), then, of course, I see the disadvantages, which, of course, exist. On the other hand, where are there no disadvantages? There is no ideal place, and in the end we make choices based only on some of our own priorities. Some advantages are more important to us than certain disadvantages and vice versa.
Infrastructure that doesn't exist.
It is clear that this is not the end of the earth, that Magnit and Pyaterochka are 5 minutes away, Krasnodar is 40 minutes, IKEA is 35 minutes... Many can only dream of such a lack of infrastructure, but still the settlement is located locally among villages where the level of education, healthcare, and so on is low. Sberbank in the nearest village - you need to see it... And this is what the post office looks like:
People outside the settlement.
If inside the settlement there are intellectually developed, interesting, good, kind, wonderful people, then in the surrounding villages the level of education, intelligence, responsiveness, kindness and self-awareness is extremely low. If we add to this the special Kuban mentality and the low level of wages, then the picture is not very rosy. A typical picture of places remote from large cities.
People are actually good, but most have bad habits. The locals have not heard about vegetarianism, training, etc., or rather, they have heard, but only that there are sectarians living in an eco-village somewhere in a field. I wouldn’t like to put everyone under the same brush, there are very nice people I’ve met here, everyone is different, but in general there is a tendency that is determined by the environment, landscape, and traditions.
A misunderstood question about how to exit the game.
I have already written about this. The cadastral and market value of a hectare of agricultural land is from 20,000 to 150,000 rubles. In other words, it is worth nothing unless it is the land of a developed settlement. It will not be possible to sell a plot of land with a house to an “ordinary person”, since an “ordinary person” (note that there are quotation marks) simply will not buy this, and according to the rules, you cannot sell it to anyone. Finding someone as abnormal as you is not so easy... This is a fact, I think it’s stupid to turn a blind eye to it.
Children's life.
This point was in favor, but now it is on the other side of the barricades. This is not even a minus, but rather a question, since it will be possible to say something specific only after 5-10-20 years... The question is how children will study at school, how to receive further education, how they will be able to realize themselves in such a life, whether they will even want to live like this, whether they will have enough communication and socialization, how they will be able to adapt later in the life of the big cities, if they want to move there... Such, in general, a slippery point. There are a lot of questions here.
On the other hand, life in a big city also leaves a certain imprint on the child’s consciousness, habits, and behavior. Some of my good friends moved to an apartment in a large residential complex; before that they lived in their own house.
A week later, they were shocked by what habits their daughter had picked up on the playground near the house among smoking moms, dads with beer, children who brought chips, soda, and potatoes from McDonald's to the playground. Children smoking hookah near school, school and kindergarten education itself - there are many things that we would not like to see in the lives of our children.
A question of law.
Almost all settlements are located on agricultural land, and the type of use can also be different; however, they want to abolish this point. According to the law, houses can only be built on individual housing construction. There are nuances, loopholes in the legislation, subtleties. I won’t talk about this now - this is a topic for a separate conversation. So, most of the houses in the settlements are illegal construction. This issue needs to be resolved, fortunately there are solutions. In “Zdravoy” this issue is being resolved; there are already those who have even registered in their home.
Our life
There were many questions about amenities and life. This is an interesting question, because for some, convenience is that there is a toilet in the house, but for others, a dishwasher is a must, and if there is no dishwasher, there are no conveniences.
Electricity.
In most settlements there is no electricity and there never will be. In our settlement this issue has been resolved. There are already poles at the house, in the coming months the cable will be extended, after which 15 kW will be ours. This is very good, it means there will be enough not only for the needs of the house, but also for greenhouses, a vegetarian garden and even charging an electric car! For now, we make do with a generator and a system that stores and distributes the electricity that the generator produces. 3 hours of generator operation per day is enough for all the needs of the house. In terms of money - 700 rubles a week for gasoline.
Water.
The water from the well is of good quality, but it requires purification, of course, from various impurities; for now, the simplest system is in place. I bring drinking water in large bottles. The electric pump pumps water, turned on the tap - and here you have water.
Toilet, bathroom.
The most interesting question is where is your toilet. On the street? There are both on the street and at home - choose which one you want. A question from the same opera: where to wash? There is a bath in the house, but you can also go to the bathhouse, no problem here either.
Internet.
Internet is normal. Keeps Skype calm and downloads perfectly. True, there is an amplifier. Without it, there is no Internet at all... And it works fine 100 meters from the house.
There is no main gas and there never will be, but it’s normal here without it, since the climate is very warm.
Heating
At the moment it is stove, but once the electricity is connected, it will be electric and combined. Luckily the climate is warm. Someone in the settlement installs a boiler and wiring for the house, there are no special problems with this.
Roads.
400-500 meters on excellent quality gravel to asphalt.
We don’t have any problems with amenities; as soon as the electricity is connected, there will be no reason to even talk about this topic. If a normal house is built, then everything inside the house will be the same as in a regular apartment. You shouldn’t think that in an eco-village everyone lives in dugouts, the toilet is only on the street, and they wash themselves once a month, of course not. Everything is very civilized.
The area needs attention. Mow the grass, plant trees, pave the road.... There are a lot of things to do, but they are pleasant.
Building an ideal life for yourself and your children is not easy.
I made this point separately. Many people consider an eco-village from the point of view of a ready-made solution for heavenly life; they want an eco-result:
- It was already populated so that at least 50 families, or better yet 200, lived in it. Few people are ready to be the first, even the second, even the twentieth.…
- Everything should already be landscaped, the gardens should be blooming, the roads should be perfect... I don’t want to come to the field and dig up virgin soil.
- There must be its own school, clinic, kindergarten, and store.
In the eyes of many ordinary people, an ecovillage is seen as a finished product in the form of a cottage community, but with good people. Unfortunately or fortunately, this is not possible at the moment. The settlement is built and developed due to the competent leadership and strength of the residents. It is not simple. There are financial, social, and legislative difficulties. There are a number of issues that need to be resolved, but no one will solve them for you. This is work of body and heart.
It’s not so easy to decide, not everyone can catch this subtle smell of freedom and not drown in everyday life, this requires courage or recklessness, it’s not easy...
What is the name of our settlement and some summary.
Our settlement is called “Zdravoe”, here it is link to VKontakte group.
Of all the settlements, I would also note the settlement “Rayskoye” in Tyumen, where not only fiber-optic Internet was installed, but also main gas! Here is the link This settlement breaks all the templates.
These are the thoughts I have after 1.5 years of choice and a month of living in a settlement. Ask your questions in the comments, tell us how interesting it will be for you to receive information about how we settle here, what insights come, how thinking changes when you live on your own land in a settlement.
Comments:
Elena 11/16/2016
Mikhail, good afternoon! Very interesting! Thanks a lot. Some time ago, probably more than a year, I came across information about this settlement. I was so inspired then, but my husband quickly criticized everything. I didn't argue with him. And according to the age limit, we are not suitable for living in an eco-village.
But I am happy to read about all the news from Zdravoy in the VKontakte group.
I am very happy for you that you have finally decided to take this step! It seems to me for some reason that this way of life is close to you. Quite a bit of time will pass, spring will come, and then no amount of gingerbread can get you out of there. A feeling of ownership will appear: the owner of the house, the plot, your life. It doesn’t matter that your children will grow up far from the city; you have the opportunity to come and visit St. Petersburg, for example. And then, just imagine how many children all over Russia come to big cities to study after school from small towns, villages, villages. You understand perfectly well that it is in your power to raise your children so that they have a stable psyche and a correct understanding of the world. This is much more important than going from the opposite (seeing all the ugliness of relationships, humiliation, insults - what is easy to meet on the streets of our cities).
With all my heart I wish you harmony and prosperity! You are doing a very great thing for your future and the future of your children.
I look forward to hearing news from you in your New Life.
Admin 11/16/2016
Tatiana 11/16/2016
Thank you for sharing this experience. I myself have been considering the issue of an eco-village for five years now. But something is missing courage... As a result, three years ago we bought a plot of land in a cottage village with all the amenities))) (gas, central sewerage, water, internet, security...) But they never started building... It’s possible that they simply didn’t fit in...
I will watch your experiences and impressions with interest. It will be interesting to find out how a city dweller will become familiar with life on earth once the first impressions have passed...
Good luck to you. I'm really looking forward to the continuation...
AnswerAnna 11/16/2016
Good afternoon
To be honest, I even envy you a little. It's great to be able to live like this! And you have an eco-village with almost all living conditions: shops, a post office, a bank are nearby! Everything is nearby, the weather conditions are good! And all other issues can be resolved. For example, about teaching children - the settlers can unite and create a school together, you can find teachers or teach yourself, there is generally a lot of scope for creativity... Especially for you, Mikhail, with your teaching skills...
Anna 11/16/2016
The nature is modest, somehow there are no mountains, lakes, rivers, or sea. There are much more beautiful places to live. But try it, if you don’t like it you can always leave, I think this is not the best option for life. It’s better to earn some money, buy land in a beautiful place with wealthy neighbors and build your own garden and park; infrastructure is very important.
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
Anna, I've lived in many places. In Europe, Asia, in different cities of Russia, here I wrote about it in detail: It’s not about money, it’s not about a beautiful place and wealthy neighbors, if you choose based on the principle of beauty and comfort, then I would just stay in Spain and not return in Russia. Or I would have stayed in Sochi - one of the best cities in Russia in terms of comfort, weather, views, nature.
AnswerJulia 11/16/2016
Good afternoon, Mikhail!
After independently building a house and living in the village for 4 years, there is no fear of developing the land and organizing everyday life.
Your experience inspires and inspires the idea to join you, the only question is getting a job. Not everyone is ready or able to work remotely.
Please tell us in more detail what people in the settlement do for a living?
Best regards, Yulia
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
In our settlement, a couple of people work remotely, so it is not necessary to work remotely to live in the settlement. As in any place in our country, here you can work for hire or for yourself. There are those who go to work in Krasnodar, someone works for themselves as a “jack of all trades”, someone breeds bees and sells honey, someone sells eco-products.. Someone solves the issue on the spot, and someone in advance.
AnswerMarina 11/16/2016
Many people, having lived in a rhythm that exceeds the norm for the human body, having worked extremely intensively in business, come to this decision. They retire from business. Sometimes for a while, sometimes forever. A logical result of an overly hectic life. I don't think this is the right decision. It would be better to slow down in time.
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
Marina, this cannot be a wrong decision, since the end result does not matter. Whether we stay here or go back in search of our place, this experience has already changed us and will change us even more, the experience itself is important. I’ve been experimenting with the rhythm of life for many years, the motivation is completely different, it’s not a matter of fuss, which I haven’t had at all for 2 years, since everything was built exactly so that there was a minimum of stress. I have not retired from business, my business is always with me: in St. Petersburg, in Spain, on the island of Koh Samui or in a settlement.
AnswerNatalya 11/16/2016
Admin 11/16/2016
Lyudmila 11/16/2016
Good afternoon, Mikhail! You did the right thing, what a wonderful choice! My family and I have been living on a farm in the Rostov region for 8 years and we don’t regret it at all. We lived for many years in the capital cities of Tashkent, and then in Moscow, New York. At first it was difficult to get used to the silence, but now when you wake up to the singing of birds, it is such a pleasure. We bought a house, installed gas, all the conditions in the house, a bathhouse, 30 acres of land, and the city is 7 km away, our beauty is indescribable.
AND EVERYTHING WILL BE EXCELLENT FOR YOU, I AM SURE OF THIS! GOOD LUCK TO YOU! Over time, you will appreciate LIVING OUTSIDE THE CITY even more!
Admin 11/16/2016
Maria 11/16/2016
Very happy about you!
I also dream of living in a settlement, after I was at the festival in Vedrussia in 2015!
In 2014 I tried to open an online store with your “your start” program... Just as I opened it, I closed it... My husband told me to take care of the child)
Since then I have been reading your articles and news with pleasure!
Admin 11/16/2016
Irina 11/16/2016
Mikhail, thank you for sharing your experience - it is very interesting and relevant for me. If it’s not difficult, please tell us more about your electricity supply system. Last year we bought a plot and built a house, but they only promised electricity. Experts calculated that the generator would cost 30,000 rubles. per month. Therefore, your experience is very interesting. I will be very grateful if you answer.
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
Irina, experts believed that the generator would work around the clock, but it needs to work through the charging-batteries-inverter system, then it’s a different matter. If you heat your house with electricity from a generator, then of course this won’t work, but the light, computers, and pump will last for the whole day, after 2-3 hours of running the generator to charge. The washing machine and water heating are the main serious consumers. To heat 100 liters of water in a boiler, you will need 2-3 hours of generator operation. When the washing machine is running, the generator will also need to be turned on at this time. The generator consumes up to 1 liter of gasoline per hour, you can make a calculation. 19 liters of gasoline is enough for us for a week, but a generator is still a temporary option for us.
AnswerYaroslav 11/16/2016
Yes, Mikhail! For some reason everything throws you out of the frying pan and into the fire. Now, I just don’t understand how your settlement differs from my dacha in the south of the Moscow region. Judging by the pictures, it's the same. And when your child grows up, you will need to study in a good school. And you will have to look again for a new place for your reality. Although this is not a problem for you. You are easy going. But there will be a good dacha in a settlement with clean air.
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
What’s different is that there are dozens of families around you who live the same lifestyle as you. There are no cigarettes, garbage, alcohol, or the smell of barbecue. In any other place around us there will be people who live with completely different interests. I’m not writing about how I went to live outside the city, but how I went to live in a SETTLEMENT - these are different things.
AnswerEvgeniya 11/16/2016
Good afternoon.
I'm glad for you that you found a great place to live. I myself have been in this ZKR movement since 2001 and am one of the founders of this movement here in the Nizhny Novgorod region. During this time, I saw enough of different people inside him. Yes, I agree that there are big advantages and no less big disadvantages for living in such settlements. Considerable friction arises within the settlement, between its neighbors (in some cases it even comes to the courts). It so happened that we organized an almost standard settlement for today with an area of 170 hectares. But due to the distance from big cities and due to the fact that today supply exceeds demand, we have a rather small number of people. The constantly increasing cost of renting land was already difficult to bear. Last year’s epic about fines for misuse of land came to a head. As a result, we abandoned the field, but not the idea. And I'm very happy about it. It so happened that almost the entire initiative group settled in a village very close to this field. We decided to go through the development and restoration of this village. Now everyone is, as it were, for himself - all issues are resolved in accordance with the law, everyone is responsible to the state for their actions. But at the same time, we are all like-minded people, i.e. in the main issues of life we provide each other with mutual assistance. If we need some common things to do, we get together and do them together. With this approach, we don’t have such acute conflicts within like-minded people as in other settlements, and I’m very happy about that. The village is dying - there are only 3 houses left for local residents, and we have built friendly neighborly relations with them. Yes, their level of development is extremely low. But you need to be able to accept all kinds of people and try not to side with the conflict with local residents.
The settlement of Zdravoye, it seems to me, is quite large, at least that’s the impression I got. I don’t think your children have any questions about communicating with their peers. And I don’t see a big problem in the adaptation of children from settlements to the city. There are the same people in the city who have different views on life. It’s no wonder that groups with different interests will form in the city—there are many of them. I think that a child from a settlement will easily find exactly the group that suits him. Provided, of course, that he is open to communication. There are also city children who cannot settle in life. I think that the issue of children’s adaptation to life depends, first of all, not on where he grew up, but on how he perceives life, how he treats people, on the ability to build his relationships with society, the ability to show himself as a person who commands respect.
I was surprised at Elena’s statement: “And according to the age limit, we are not suitable for living in an eco-village.” Are there really any age limits in your settlement? - this is very strange for me.
Admin 11/16/2016
Tatiana 11/16/2016
Good day, Evgenia. I myself am from the Nizhny Novgorod region and am interested in country life. The villages were unattractive for me, because... There’s drunkenness and a purposeless existence (everyone has moved away more or less with a purpose), but I’m very interested in your village. I think it is very important to have like-minded people. Please tell me what kind of village this is and in what area... Does your village have gas, electricity and other “benefits” of civilization?
AnswerTatiana 11/16/2016
Admin 11/16/2016
If the sun is shining, then the energy from solar panels is even abundant, the problem is that batteries cost money, and the main problem is how to store this energy. Batteries do not last long, and when there is no sun, there is no energy. In the summer - no problem, but in the winter... I chose a generator because in the coming months there will be electricity and it will remain just in case, the need for batteries, a generator and other things will disappear.
AnswerTatiana 11/16/2016
Mikhail, I understand you very much! My husband and I also moved 15 years ago, no, not to an eco-village, but simply to a village. However, here too many of the advantages you described are presented in full. I especially like that our house is on the edge and behind it there are continuous fields and space. Now, when I come to our former city apartment, where my daughter now lives with her family, I feel so keenly the crowding and the presence of a huge number of people in the neighboring compartments that there is a real feeling of squeezing walls. And, of course, waking up in the morning in the village to the singing of birds is such a charge of cheerfulness every day!
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
The tightness of the walls and even the whole CITY can be felt if you live in open space, nature and have a penchant for country life. It’s cramped in traffic jams, between buildings where you can’t see the sky, in staircases and elevators... There is such a thing, but not everyone feels it, not everyone needs it. For some people it’s great to live in the city and that’s good
AnswerAlexander Grigorievich 16.11.2016
Mikhail, good afternoon! I have known you for a long time from the first Startups, and now I see your attempts to build or arrange your life. All these settlements are breeding grounds for rural life. There used to be family estates. There was a landowner and peasants. They lived not because they loved living there, there was hopelessness and slave labor. You won’t create or build anything there. Children will not live in this wilderness, and the peasants have long been gone there. And the earth, like any woman, loves care and respect and really doesn’t like nudity, pay attention, as soon as the “Body of the Earth” opens, she tries to cover herself in any way (weed), she doesn’t like asphalt, you see how difficult it is to break through it . But not many people know and ask themselves why, as soon as the harvest begins, it rains. Here's a question for dialogue. I'm happy for you.
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
Alexander 11/16/2016
Mikhail, your newsletter (your letters) is the most interesting thing that comes to me by mail. And about the settlement - it’s absolutely a plague! I read them in one sitting, like some kind of adventure book. You have only one minus about the newsletter - you write very rarely :) I would like to receive such letters much more often (1-2 times a week). Although, of course, I understand that you have enough trouble right now. In general, I wish you with all my heart that the idea of an eco-village will meet all your hopes, that all your dreams will come true. Thank you very much)
AnswerAdmin 11/16/2016
Alexander, thank you for your kind words addressed to me. Lately I haven’t been able to write often; I don’t want to write in the “it will do” format or just to write something, so the process of writing letters and articles is not a quick task)))
AnswerElena 11/16/2016
Evgenia! This is just my personal opinion regarding the age limit. The fact is that, as it seems to me, there are more young people, young families in the settlement. They are more promising, they have more strength to build the Family Nest.
We are already at retirement age. Of course, I think that we could also be useful in such a settlement. But building only for yourself is a question. Our children don’t even think about this topic; they are all adults. The decision about where to live should come from themselves. We will build up in our old age and then what?
Young children will grow up in this atmosphere, they will have something to compare with, they will make their choice, but it will be part of their life.
That’s why I wrote that it’s too late for us.
AnswerNatalya 11/16/2016
Hello, Mikhail! Very interesting article!!! I support Evgenia in her thoughts about the possibilities of a child’s adaptation to the city if he decides to leave. My husband and I grew up and studied in a “dying” village in the Rostov region (now only pensioners remain there, the school, hospital and even all administrative points are closed and moved to a larger settlement). We are also familiar with the experience of “giving up a house because there is no one to sell it to.” The experience is traumatic, but quite survivable. Not only my husband and I, but also dozens of our fellow villagers moved to cities and lead ordinary lives (with varying levels of success and development), the level of adaptation to which depends not on the place of birth and growing up, but on the values and traditions in the family in which we grew up . There is only one significant difference between us and the natives of the city - we know another life - on earth, we know the pros and cons) Good luck to you, Mikhail!!! I wish that difficulties are resolved, and that the new experience is rich and joyful.
AnswerLove 11/16/2016
Ekaterina 11/16/2016
Hello, Mikhail. On the topic of work, a question arose: we have our own ceramic workshop in St. Petersburg. Such a workshop can be created wherever there is clay, electricity or gas. Well, and the premises, of course. The question concerns the possibility of building such a workshop in an ecovillage. After all, if you can only build residential buildings, then, apparently, they are unlikely to allow you to build a workshop, since this is already an industrial building, albeit a small one?
AnswerAdmin 11/17/2016
Ekaterina 11/17/2016
Admin 11/17/2016
Elena 11/16/2016
Mikhail, the construction of houses is allowed not only on lands with the type of permitted use of individual housing construction, but also for personal subsidiary plots. True, the size of a land plot for private household plots should not exceed half a hectare. I think that you need to study the Land Code and contact the land committee of the district administration in the city of Krasnodar. If you have more than a hectare of land, then the plot must be divided into two land plots. One of which will remain for agricultural purposes. For the second plot, you can change the type of permitted use to private plots. But there is one thing. Land for private household plots can be field or household. If the plot is in a field, then you cannot build, but if it is a personal plot, then it must be located within the boundaries of a populated area. Multifunctional centers have now been created to facilitate paperwork. They really make life easier in many cases, but in difficult situations I would contact the land committee of the district administration directly. At least for a consultation. And before going to the administration, I would talk to neighbors who are already registering in their houses and study their experience.
I wish you good luck and be sure to write about how you live in the settlement. It is very interesting.
Marie 11/16/2016
Thanks for your articles! We live just outside the city on our own plot of 12 acres, we have been moving towards our goal for a long time, we have been living in our house for a year now, there is nature all around, a lot of fresh air, a lot of housework to do. But there are also problems, for example, all sports sections, clubs for children and adults are located in the city. There is a school and a kindergarten in the village, the problem of the kindergarten does not worry me, but when the child reaches school age, most likely he will also have to be taken to the city. Even if it is a school different from the general education program, there is a 100% guarantee that you will only be able to find one in the city. There are no children in the neighborhood, the child has no one to go out with, no one to invite over or go on his own. These are the moments. It’s difficult to decide to move, because we built the house for ourselves, and we quite like the area and nature. But the infrastructure suffers, after all. It is somehow easier for adults to decide on silence and solitude, but it is difficult to decide for a child and he will still have to face the real world, and not a separate settlement. I am monitoring the topic of settlements, and recently I came across this site http://derevnyamira.ru/ it looks like they will be closely developing the infrastructure, but there are requirements for settlers not to drink or smoke, and there are no restrictions on the type of food. Although there is also a bias towards eco-products. For me, the only negative is the big difference in climate. Now we live in the Rostov region, and this Village of Peace is near Novosibirsk)))
Mikhail, thank you very much for not being lazy to write articles when you find yourself in pristine conditions. I wish you and your family a pleasant experience and a joyful life in the settlement!
AnswerTatyana 11/16/2016
~ATTENTION!: FROM JANUARY 01, 2017, OWNERS MAY LOSE THEIR LAND!~
On December 1, 2015, the Federal Law of the Russian Federation of July 13, 2015 No. 251-FZ came into force. Land owners must register with the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Estate (USRP) before January 1, 2017. Then the plots that were not included in the Unified State Register will become municipal and can be sold. Currently, from 70 to 80% of owners in Russia are not registered in the Unified State Register.
According to the new law, if five years have passed since the land was registered for cadastral registration and it has not been included in the Unified State Register, then it is removed from cadastral registration.
After this, the land becomes municipal ownership. First of all, ordinary summer residents may suffer. Many of them received plots 20-50 years ago, and they were not registered.
In addition, according to Law 251, if the summer resident is not in the Unified State Register and has not been registered in the cadastral register for the last 5 years, then the plot is recognized as ownerless and is again transferred to the municipal authorities. The summer resident remains unaware that he has lost his land. He won’t even be invited to court, because the claim will say: the land is ownerless. If there is a house on the site where a person lives, then he will have to move out or buy the land from the new owner.
And from 2018, those registered with the Unified State Register will also need to do land surveying (shown graphically on the public cadastral map). Otherwise, summer residents will not be able to manage their land plot: sell it, donate it, pass it on by inheritance.
Thus, friends, from January 1, 2017, if your land plots are not registered in the cadastral register, then you will lose your land plot without knowing it.
Hurry up, because the New Year is just around the corner!
Admin 11/17/2016
Ivan 11/17/2016
Admin 11/17/2016
Oksana 11/17/2016
Mikhail, I read the article with interest and tried to try on your experience. In my opinion, such changes are possible while children are small or not at all. With teenagers everything is much more complicated.
For example, we are now planning to move to another apartment and we have to take into account the opinion of each family member, including our 14-year-old daughter.
For my husband and I, perhaps, society is not so important, but for her.....
The issue of education will also be quite relevant for parents of schoolchildren. Of course, now you can study outside of school, but not every parent is ready for this.
To summarize, I don’t see much difference between living outside the city on your own plot (even if it’s not 1 hectare) and living in an eco-village.
Admin 11/17/2016
Stanislav 11/17/2016
From the beginning of the “chapter”... “The question of how to get out of this game remains open even now.” There is always only one way out of any game - it’s just quitting the game. Who else should know more consciously than Mikhail Gavrilov that all life is a set of games. Games of the Lord. What else can He do when everything is done and everything is working? Play. Sometimes to participate, sometimes just to observe. There are interesting stories when the game is played according to the rules, and everyone knows their place and plays their role. Although... any game is interesting, except destructive ones. I, too, have long been disgusted by the pathetic “hurray” for family estates, we, yes we, we are ours, we are the new world, etc. A hundred years ago, when this was just beginning here in Kurgan, I was at one meeting where they “divided and distributed” the land of the collective farm share. I saw and heard little worthy and reasonable there. Or rather, that’s exactly what I didn’t encounter. Pack and bark. Several years later I visited “that” land. The picture is depressing. Abandoned land. So, regarding fanaticism, you, Mikhail, are certainly right.
After several years of my life with my wife “in the field”, one day I arrived in the city by train, and stepped out onto the platform... almost AT THE SAME TIME... stepping onto the platform, I felt a huge, wild FATIGUE. I was born, studied, lived in the city, worked, read, visited friends and went hiking. At one time, I went to China every month for two and a half years, wandered around the country, seemingly adapting to the diversity of life, and then suddenly...
I felt wild urban depression, meaninglessness, unnecessary unreasonable fuss. Due to my cowardice, continuing to work as I worked when I was in the city, I have to come to the city “to earn money.” And in the evenings I drink. Because. Even those people who are the same in the city are not the same.
I want to live at home. Two daughters now. Same question. The eldest in all directions: dancing, drawing, singing, cooking, knitting, etc., etc. What will she get here “in the field”? Who will teach her? So he takes everything from life, but receives little. Dad is at work, mom Yanka is little, she “has no time for me.” Although, of course, her mother studies with her, and reads, and taught her how to knit, and showed her how to embroider... Despite the fact that she also does laundry. It draws water from the pump and washes it away. You need eight buckets to wash. I’m remembering now, and I don’t remember something about how we lived when we didn’t have a speaker here? Three years ago? And the nearest well is ten kilometers away? Is the water in the wells salty? The lake is true fresh, but not clean at all. Cows, geese, ducks, of course, contribute to the cycle of substances in nature, but somehow I don’t want to drink water after this cycle. I remember in winter they melted snow and drank it, it was... And there was no car then. How did we live?.. I remember as soon as we arrived here, electricity was not connected to the house, and we lived for two months without it. We cooked on bricks, sat by candlelight, talked, I played the guitar, composed something, romance... One huge plus covered everything - MY HOME.
Eleven years have passed since then. This is where we made our money. Don't go visit and no one comes. Children NEED communication, but there is none. I cannot harm the earth with its wild, unbridled weedy plant capacity. I ate all the beauties of Old Slavonic folk wisdom, maybe not enough, but enough to understand that there are only two directions of development: breadth and upward. The cross, by the way, is a symbol of this. Hands - abilities - earthly - to the sides and nailed. Feet down - to the ground - and also - with nails. One head is free.
We, Mikhail, do not have such a problem as leaving the game. We have reached the point where it is no longer possible. The people here are also different, and their qualities are different, to put it mildly.
The wife talks to her mother for an hour. At first I was outraged by this, until I realized that SHE SIMPLY HAD NO OTHER COMMUNICATION. To talk to a husband, it is absolutely necessary that the husband be a husband and understand that a wife is a woman, and a woman is a completely different type of living being, and differs from you by far from gender characteristics. This is how we lived for many years. My wife was looking for complicity, and I offered her “solutions to her problems.” Thank God, Khakimov, Torsunov, Serebryakov, Narushevich, Satya Das met... So, through common efforts we are slowly finding a family. I encouraged her to attend your training. I saw the training banner, went to the website, read the articles of the author, Mikhail Gavrilov, saw that he and I had common values, asked my wife “will you go”, she looked, smiled, said “I don’t know”, I felt something come to life in her , got excited, went into the office, paid for the course, said “go.” She went. The first days I was nervous, I didn’t have enough time, my daughter was small, there was a lot to do around the house, she called, asked for advice, this and that, then she became quiet. Has changed. Changed myself. The changes are wonderful. Thank you, Mikhail.
As for living or not living on your own land, it’s like Omar Khayyam:
To live your life wisely, you need to know a lot,
Remember two true rules to start with:
It's better to starve than to eat anything,
And it’s better to be alone than with just anyone.
I think a good travel companion cuts the journey in half.
I thought about this today, that when you sing, time stretches.
I thought that time, after all, is the energy of the Lord, and when He likes the way you sing, He just takes it and stops it, well, to prolong the pleasure.
And when your neighbors are so nice, you live every minute consciously. And awareness is a state that is completely timeless. This is generally one of the qualities of God.
Often we ask ourselves questions that do not arise in our minds, but which should IN IDEA arise in our minds. Who even said that children MUST receive some kind of SUPER education? Who said that the abilities inherent in a child need to be DEVELOPED, and what does it mean to develop: remake, adjust, frame, narrow? Templates. Often. Many questions. A certain awareness is coming, thank God...
I signed up for something, I’ll go to bed... Thank you, Mikhail, for your open smile.
Become alive - you will live until death.
Goodbye. All the best to you and your loved ones.
Fair wind.
We are located near the city of Novosibirsk, outside the village of Baryshevo, in a beautiful picturesque place on a field with a slight southern slope. More than ten years ago, the field was cultivated as arable land, then it was abandoned and used several times for mowing. Now the field is a pleasant mixture of herbs, slightly overgrown with young trees (birch, pine). Nearby there is a sanatorium and health camp and several gardening societies with a developed network of roads. The planned size of the settlement will be from one hundred families.
The distance to the Inya River is 500m, and in the forests around the field there are natural springs with very tasty water.
More detailed information is available on the website of the settlement of Atrika, Novosibirsk region, where the design part and photo gallery are also available.
Settlement
Dobrye Polyanka
Our settlement "Dobrye Polyanka" was created as an alternative to the urban lifestyle. Here the Slavs set up their family estates, inspired by the ideas presented in the series of books by V. Maigret “Anastasia”. We all have different worldviews, but we are united by the desire to live with our families on earth, provide ourselves with healthy foods, and in the future create and develop a common business.
A secondary school is located 9.5 km away (Nagorye village), and a school bus runs.
The settlement is surrounded by forest, rich in both flora and fauna. There are many animals in the forest, including hares, foxes, wild boars, and moose. There are also a lot of mushrooms and berries. Two rivers flow near the settlement: Kubr and Nerl.
Our lands are agricultural lands on which flax and potatoes were grown 15 years ago. Currently, the lands are overgrown with self-seeding - pine, birch, aspen, willow and other pioneer trees, as well as various grasses.
Commonwealth of Family Estates
Location
- 56.861557°, 38.308303°
Natural
Welcome to Boris and Elena, 40 and 32 years old, living in St. Petersburg. Having been married for seven years, we cannot have a child for no apparent reason. Being very skeptical about medicine, we try to solve this problem using “natural methods”. We want to change the climate, switch to a raw food diet, go to Sochi and establish a settlement of family estates there.
According to statistics, in St. Petersburg, every fifth couple has difficulties similar to ours. Among more than half a million couples, we want to find several like-minded couples with similar views on their decision. These could be married couples from other, but large cities (this is important from the point of view of the economic model). Among other things, the economy requires future participants to be or have the desire to become raw foodists.
Settlement of family estates
village Otvazhnaya, Krasnodar region
The village is located in the most picturesque places of the Krasnodar Territory, in the foothill zone of the northern slope of the Main Caucasus Range. In general, the territory is very rugged and sharply intersected by gently sloping beams and hollows. In good sunny weather, snow-white mountain peaks touching the azure sky are clearly visible. The village of Brave is rich in its forests and fields.
Spring is the most beautiful time of the year in our area. Fruit trees begin to bloom abundantly and the warm spring air is filled with a wonderful aroma. In the distance, endless meadows are green, on which dandelions bloom like a huge yellow blanket. The trees are covered with greenery, and everything around becomes emerald green. Far in the forest there is a rock from under which clear spring water flows out - this is where the Okard River originates. This is one of the most beautiful places in St. Brave. Few of the villagers know the exact route to the source of the river.
Commonwealth of Family Estates
Ecovillage in the subtropics of Sochi
We invite good, kind, sensible neighbors to the vacant lots nearby.
Plots can be purchased as your own (!)
The warm climate of Sochi without snowy winters and sub-zero temperatures.
A unique beautiful place in the low mountains. Borders with a national park.
A few kilometers away is a beautiful waterfall.
Requirements for neighbors: a healthy lifestyle, not consuming alcohol, cigarettes or drugs at all, preferably vegetarians, not fanatically inclined towards any teachings, no breeding of livestock, chickens, pigs on the site, respect for other neighbors, maintaining order in noisy areas work.
We will welcome like-minded people for communication and friendship.
A small dacha partnership. There are plots starting from 5 acres. Price from 300,000 per plot. There are no hectares. A hectare in Sochi can only be purchased for rent. Or for tens of millions.
7 km from the sea.
30 km from the center of Sochi
There is a small river and a spring on the river.
Third sanitary zone.
Ecovillage
Zvezdnoe
Village of Family Estates
Zvezdnoe
The village of Family Estates was founded with the goal of uniting like-minded people who care and think about the well-being of the Earth and the health of future generations.
We want to improve the area and turn everything around into a blooming garden. This is the first village in which we will not drive cars (As it turned out, the gravel road greatly spoils life in the village, it is dust, the whole view is spoiled, it is noise, it is very difficult for children to walk on such a road, and also the annual repair work is draining huge sums from the wallets of residents, instead of roads there are paths and a dirt road suitable for throwing construction materials and emergency transport access in dry times)
Village of Family Estates
Location
Smolenskaya
Kudykina Gora
“Kudykina Gora” is an eco-cluster created to delight its guests with environmentally friendly products and create new jobs in the region. Operating peasant farm.
We use only natural food. You will not find antibiotics or hormonal drugs in meat and poultry from Kudykina Gora.
We have not forgotten about the most valuable gift of nature - honey. Not every farm can boast of its own apiary, but we have it!
It is here that you can feel the long-forgotten taste of truly high-quality products - the true taste of health, the taste of life.
We are looking for like-minded people! We will provide land and housing for people ready to work on the land.
- 56.239583°, 30.136584°
Davydovo
Good day, friends!
I invite the family to create their own Family Estate on the basis of the village “Davydovo”, Ryazan region, Pronsky district, village “Davydovo”.
The area of the plot provided for 1 family is 1 hectare.
Currently, 5 plots (5 hectares) are being developed. 3 families permanently reside (winter).
Description of the land:
1. According to the Pension Fund of Russia, the land is not (and has never been) a Chernobyl zone!
2. Vacant plots are leased from the administration of the Pronsky district.
Purchase of land on preferential terms. (Subject to connected electricity
and a built registered house) Produced according to the law of the Russian Federation by the administration of the Pronsky district.
3. Construction right – yes
4. Provo registration – yes
5. Davydovo village project
Water:
1. There are water veins, you can dig wells and drill wells. The water is very tasty.
2. 50 meters from the village border there is a Cascade of ponds.
3. There are many springs nearby.
4. A kilometer from the village is the Pronya River (Fig. 1)
Settlement of family estates
Korsakovka
Our settlement is located on the very edge of the active village of Alferovka, recognized as the best village in the Voronezh region in 2017! The village has about 500 residential buildings, in the center there is a store, a post office, a new medical post building, a secondary school, a kindergarten, a recreation center, a park with a playground, and a church. The village has an excellent beach with fine white sand. The Khoper River, considered one of the cleanest rivers in Europe. The river is deep and navigable in the past. An excellent place for relaxation and fishing. On the other side of the river is the Khopersky Nature Reserve. The places are very picturesque! Excellent climate with hot summers and snowy winters.
There are no statutes or special rules in our settlement; we live in good neighborhood with the local population.
Good neighborhood
Ogonyok
The settlement “Ogonyok” is a newborn mini-village of family estates, organized in 2019 in the Kaluga region, Dzerzhinsky district, near the village of Kartsovo (2 km) six kilometers from the city of Kondrovo.
Territory of the settlement:
12.9 hectares, of which:
- 11 hectares are allocated for family estates measuring 1 hectare; in total - only 11 plots for family estates. Of these, 5 plots already have owners, and 6 are waiting for them.
- 1.9 hectares - a public area in the center of the settlement, including a fire pit, a small pond and a sacred grove.
Settlement land- a site of a former field, surrounded on two sides by forest, and on the other two by birch copses and meadows. It is meadows, it is important that there is no industrial farming in the area, therefore, the fields are not sown with GMO plants, which means that you can grow healthy vegetables and fruits, as well as keep bees.
Village of Family Estates
Vedunitsa
Good afternoon We invite you to our new settlement.
The settlement is still being organized. Located near the village of Fedotkovo. The village is residential, with a school and a shop, a sawmill. There are farms from whom you can buy milk and honey, until you get your own)) Our field is surrounded on all sides by forest with gifts of nature and wild animals))) Nearby is the cleanest river Ugra, there is a sandy beach. Spring. District center Temkino (everything is there) - 16 km. Electric trains and trains run from it. The nearest large cities are Vyazma and Gagarin.
Plots of 50 hundred and about 1-2 hectares. LAND OF SETTLED AREAS, i.e. You can immediately build and register, provide electricity and a home telephone.
The entrance is year-round.
The cost is 6 thousand rubles per hundred square meters, but if the area is more than 1 hectare, the price can be reduced.
We bought land for ourselves, we wanted to engage in farming, but this requires a lot of effort. Therefore, we decided to sell to good people :))) To be good, friendly neighbors.
We lead a healthy lifestyle. We love animals and do not harm them.
Ancestral settlement
Family estates "Cradle"
Family estates "Cradle" are based on the ideas and images presented in the books of the "Ringing Cedars of Russia" series by Vladimir Megre.
The cradle is located in a picturesque valley, rich in springs, next to a forest, on the site of the abandoned village of Malaya Bekshanka at that time.
Year of foundation – 2010. Beginning of construction – 2011. Beginning of permanent life and wintering – 2011.
As of January 2019 We have registered a lease of 56 hectares of land, on which there are plots with the category of land of a settlement (permitted type of use “for personal farming”) and agricultural land (permitted type of use “for gardening”).
There are free areas.
In 2016, on the initiative of the head of the administration of our district, Kochetkov S.V., a new embankment crushed stone road was built from the village of Novaya Bekshanka to Kolybeli.
Our children go to school in the neighboring village of Novaya Bekshanka, 3 km away. We are regularly transported by a school bus.
Commonwealth of Family Estates
The last few years have become a serious test for the Russian economy. The result is increased unemployment, unaffordable loans for the purchase of housing. For many Russians today, owning their own home is a dream come true. However, there are still oases on the map of the country that have bypassed all these problems. These are eco-villages whose residents provide themselves with everything they need - housing, work, food. How has the crisis affected the development of eco-villages in Russia and neighboring countries?
In 2009, there were about 70 ecovillages in Russia. At the beginning of 2010, there were already about 80 such communities in our country1. In Belarus, Moldova, Latvia, and Kazakhstan, the movement is not so developed; there are no more than five such settlements in each of the listed countries.
“The number of eco-villages has increased over the past two years. However, their fullness is low, says eco-sociologist and FSC consultant Ivan Kulyasov. - I observed the same picture in the European Union and the USA - most eco-villages there are filled only on guest days or during seminars, conferences and festivals.
For most of the year, the territory and infrastructure are managed by a small “directorate” of the settlement’s founders and several volunteers temporarily living there. According to the eco-settlers themselves, there is no “free” land left in Russia. Therefore, I assume that the “growth limit” is approaching for the second wave of Russian ecovillages. The movement for family estates as part of the movement for the creation of eco-villages has not become widespread, rural areas continue to empty.”
The founder and resident of the Smogilevka ecovillage (Belarus), Andrey Pertsev, agrees with these conclusions. When Andrey founded Smogilevka, he believed that there would be many people who wanted to live in it. But, alas, he lives there alone all year round. “What about the “Anastasievsky” 2 settlements? then the general trend is the fading interest of townspeople and the settlers themselves, the outflow of residents from them. There are no people willing to live in eco-villages, and all the abandoned plots of land have been plowed up and sowed with potatoes,” says the founder of Smogilevka.
Reasoning about the impossibility of obtaining land plots for eco-villages is confirmed by residents of the settlement “Kovcheg” (Kaluga region). “The land is empty and overgrown with forest, over huge, unimaginable areas. Everyone who has traveled through central Russia can see this. However, it is impossible to get it for any business, even if it is three times useful and a priority for the country and the government.
And at the same time, small pieces of these vast areas of land are sold at absolutely astronomical prices,” notes Fyodor Lazutin (Kovcheg settlement) in one of his publications on the official website of the settlement.
Settlers of “Nevo-Ekovil” (Novgorod region) speak about the problem of the small number of settlements: “What bothers people psychologically is that a beautiful idea attracts a considerable number of “party people” or people who poorly balance their strengths and ideas about life in such settlements with objective reality."
Valery Kapustin, a resident of one of the large eco-villages “Grishino” (Leningrad region), notes that the process of development of such settlements is going on, but not as quickly as their creators would like: “Eco-villages have not gained mass popularity, this is still a rather small movement.”
Slightly more optimistic assessments of the process of creating eco-villages are given by those who are still planning to found them or who work in related fields, for example, developing the ideas of green development - the construction of energy-efficient buildings from environmentally friendly materials. They believe that every cloud has a silver lining: the economic crisis has given impetus to the growth in the number of such settlements.
“I believe that the crisis has pushed some people to live in ecological settlements and to engage in green construction. The cost of housing is growing every year, and many understand that the only way to get a house is to build it yourself or to order, but from inexpensive materials,” says architect Sergei Erofeev (“Sergei Erofeev Architectural Studio”). The founder of the St. Petersburg club “White Lotus”, designer Svetlana Lal, also speaks about the new emerging wave of eco-settlers.
“Russia always follows its own, special path. This also applies to the development of eco-villages. I got involved in the environmental movement in the early 1990s. Now, together with like-minded people, I am at the stage of creating an initiative group to found my own settlement. The first wave was in the 90s of the last century, in the post-perestroika period. At that time I had a desire to leave Russia altogether,” says Svetlana. - A little later, another wave began to emerge in the environmental movement, when people began to understand that cities and megacities do not give them the opportunity for development.
Many people simply moved to live in the village. They left the urban environment, trying to change something in their worldview. Many young people believe that cities do not have clean air, natural products, or drinkable water. They are simply afraid for the future generation; many do not even want to give birth to children in a modern metropolis. So most of the new wave of future eco-settlers are young families.”
Here is what ecosociologist Ivan Kulyasov says about different types of eco-settlers: “The first group is settled eco-settlers. They have houses and farms, they spend the winter, make decisions about the rules of life in the settlements and about accepting new residents, and manage the territory of the eco-settlement and the natural lands surrounding it. These people are interested in sustainable environmental management, including sustainable integrated multi-purpose forest management. They have a negative attitude towards clear-cutting because it deprives them and their children of the forest. Uninhabited areas in ecovillages can be a resource for their descendants. They are thorough and successful in everything. Each eco-village has already formed a core of such people.”
Another category of settlers are the so-called mobile ones; They like not so much the status of the owner of their land, but communication and teamwork. “Such people have difficulty rebuilding housing on their plots and rarely use it. They need an ecovillage to identify with like-minded people and communicate with them, the expert adds. “They are always ready to help sedentary eco-settlers.
Feeding the hope that the ecovillage will be of greater use to their children, they are engaged in educating the younger generation, involving them in working on the land of ecovillages and participating in the holidays that take place there.” The third category of eco-settlers are those temporarily residing as guests (volunteers/volunteers) or seminarians/ecotourists (receiving services from eco-settlers for a fee). “Among them there are more and more foreigners, participants in global networks of environmentalists, anti-globalists, anarchists and participants in many different ideological and religious movements,” notes Mr. Kulyasov.
“Problems of unsustainability of ecovillages mainly arise due to the fact that people have little knowledge about how to live on the land,” says Svetlana Lal. - In fact, there is a large layer of knowledge about how to build housing and cultivate land correctly and most efficiently. Today it is possible to carry out farming without high energy costs, an example of this is the world-famous permaculture of Sepp Holzer.”
So, as the interlocutors note, one of the main problems of the eco-settlers movement is the instability of ecological settlements. As a rule, at the initial stage, all like-minded people want to live there, only a few people get to the point of building a house, and only a few remain to spend the winter and live permanently in the settlements.
Sustainability issues
Instability arises for various reasons - due to conflict situations within the settlement due to disagreements with neighbors, legal problems when it has not been possible for years to transfer land from one category to another. And because of environmental problems - illegal logging, forest fires, which sometimes come close to the eco-village and threaten their existence.
Forest is truly the main factor in the sustainable development of any eco-village. Today, the forest has become a movable property and is no longer considered as a single ecosystem. Neither the Ministry of Emergency Situations nor various specialized committees and departments have been able to solve the problem of effective fight against forest fires and prevention for many years now.
Initiative eco-settlers are taking the solution to this problem locally into their own hands. When extinguishing large-scale forest fires, it is primarily important to have the means to fight the fire, as well as the ability of eco-settlers to act correctly in the event of a fire. There are also examples of such successful organizations. A fire brigade was initially created in the “Kovcheg” settlement, whose members underwent multi-day WWF training in extinguishing forest fires. And in 2008, they managed to stop illegal logging near their settlement. They learned from their own experience that one misfortune leads to another.
Residents of the “Ark” talk about how they had to extinguish a large forest fire in the Kaluga region in the summer of 2010. The cause of a large forest fire (10-12 hectares), which damaged the forest and young growth near the eco-village, was violations committed back in 2004 during logging.
“The weak point was the cutting down,” the residents of the “Ark” are sure. - Firstly, a lot of piles of branches were left at the felling site (i.e., normal cleaning of the area was not carried out). Secondly, quite a few trees were felled or withered at the edge of the clearing. The fact is that cutting down changes the humidity regime in the forest, on the border with the rest of the forest. In addition, many trees in the thick of the forest stretch upward as they grow, so they do not have such a strong root system as trees standing at the edge. As a result, within 4-5 years after clear cutting in a 20-meter strip at the border of the clearing, trees either dry out en masse or fall over from the wind and dry out. It was precisely this area of forest with dried trees that caught fire. And already from the felling the fire went into the forest.”
Despite the fact that eco-settlers and residents of neighboring villages actually saved the forest from a large-scale fire on their own, they received no help or support from the forestry department. The reason is simple - after all, foresters need to carry out a plan to combat fires, report to the authorities on the work they have independently carried out, and the activity of the local population spoils all the statistics.
It is no secret that almost any eco-village, to one degree or another, faces problems of soil depletion and erosion, clear and illegal logging, and forest fires. And yet, despite the existing difficulties, ecovillages are developing. Experts see their future in the formation of large network and public organizations - in such communities it is easier to defend their rights, make decisions regarding forest management, protect territories from fires, and give legal status to settlements.
Is ecotourism the future?
In his research, ecosociologist Ivan Kulyasov talks about two new directions in the Russian ecovillage movement. The expert notes that domestic ecovillages are forming public and network organizations, joining international networks of ecovillages that have finally received UN recognition. There is another way - the development of ecotourism in Russia. “The implementation of the international project “Ecovillages for sustainable development of rural areas (2010-2012)” has begun, supported by the EU Baltic regional program “Promoting Innovation in the Baltic Region” and the Swedish International Cooperation and Development Agency (SIDA).
The project participants are scientific institutes and networks of eco-villages in Lithuania, Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Poland and Russia, says Ivan Kulyasov. “The goal of the project is to identify and summarize the best practices of eco-villages in the field of eco-technologies (green construction, agriculture, recycling, alternative energy), creation and functioning of the community.” The ecosociologist also notes that among the main objectives of the project is a description of the identified practices using a uniform methodology for all participating countries and the creation of an international reference book on best practices in ecovillages.
To attract the attention of the general public and political figures to the movement and achievements of ecovillages in greening lifestyles; present ecovillages as one of the models of sustainable development of rural areas. As a result, in addition to creating a directory, a tourist route through eco-villages and eco-objects of the Baltic region should be developed.
A stranger among his own
Residents of Nevo-Ekovil note that they have to fight the already established public opinion about eco-villages - to explain that “our settlement is not a sect, not a “get-together” or a collective farm.”
“An ecovillage is an alternative to life in a metropolis, and therefore is doomed, like any alternative, for the time being to be suspected of rebellion against the existing order,” sums up ecosociologist Ivan Kulyasov. - Even European countries took about 50 years to understand the idea of greening. However, in Europe, ideas about caring for the environment have not taken the form of ecovillages - green municipalities remain exceptions. These ideas took the form of so-called “green markets” for services, goods and products.”
Indeed, in Western countries, the idea of creating a green economy - industries that create and increase the natural capital of the earth or reduce environmental threats and risks - is now under close attention.
And ecological settlements themselves throughout the world remain only an alternative to urban life and a club of interests, but not the basis for the development of a green economy.
In Russia, the movement of ecological settlements is too small to influence the restoration of agriculture and the revival of abandoned villages. And the mass relocation of young people to eco-villages, which those who are planning to create settlements today hope for, most likely will not happen.
Oksana KUROCHKINA
It might be useful to read:
- How to get on an excursion to Antarctica?;
- Czech Republic Troy Castle. Troja Castle in Prague. Ancient winery and museum;
- Böcklin and his “island of the dead” A cultural phenomenon of its time;
- Air tickets to Crimea Air tickets to Crimea will become cheaper;
- What you can and cannot take with you;
- Open left menu Heviz How to get from Budapest to Lake Heviz;
- Cable car in Nha Trang (Vinpearl) The longest cable car in the world Vietnam;
- Kamenets-Podolsk fortress - a historical monument of Ukraine Life outside the walls of the Kamenets-Podolsk fortress;