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Commenced:
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01/10/2005 |
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Submitted:
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07/02/2011 |
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Last updated:
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07/10/2015 |
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Location:
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2152 Fulford-Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island, BC, CA |
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Phone:
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+1 250.653.2024 |
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Website:
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http://www.EcoReality.org |
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Climate zone:
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Mediterranean |
We are developing an ecovillage in the South Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada. The ecovillage is working to be a model of co-operative, sustainable land habitation and land use and features public outreach and education as included goals.
EcoReality Co-op, located on Salt Spring Island, between Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, is an ecovillage, encompassing numerous business activities centered around sustainable food and energy production and associated services.
Our goal is to provide housing and “right livelihood” to our members, investors, students, and visitors on our 43 acre site and the adjoining 61 acre community farmland site.
This site is ideal for sustainable food and energy production. Two streams with water licenses complement 20 acres of cleared fields on Class 2 (second best) soils in the Agricultural Land Reserve. We are on the main road close to the most-used ferry terminal on the island, and are backed by thousands of acres of wild public parkland.
Our principals have an ideal combination of talents, with experience in Permaculture, organic farming, natural building, alternative energy systems, marketing, engineering, product development, business management, and finance. We have access to a much larger talent pool that we can call upon, both for advice, and to meet seasonal labour needs.
We are active in the greater agricultural and sustainability communities, holding board positions and memberships as well as informal association with numerous such organizations.
EcoReality Co-op has been operational since early 2006, and we have systems in place for project planning, harvest and production tracking, labour and asset use reporting, customer and contact management, and other common business systems.
We are organized around nine business units: Education, Agri-Tourism, Market Garden, Transplant Propagation, Dairy, Eggs, Fruiticulture, Energy, and Value-Added Products.
We typically have an educational event each month. Farm Steward Cleome Rowe is a life-long farmer and has degrees in Biology and Teaching. Jan Steinman has completed Permaculture Teacher Training with Jude Hobbs and Tom Ward of Cascadia Permaculture Institute. Jan has studied under David Holmgren, has conducted or instructed in four PDCs, and has signed over 90 Permaculture Design Certificates as lead instructor.
We are currently seeking additional investment partners, in order to begin construction of 13 units of shared-wall, "zero-mile" housing, using natural building techniques.
Note: The various badges displayed in people profiles are largely honesty-based self-proclamations by the individuals themselves. There are reporting functions users can use if they know of blatant misrepresentation (for both people and projects). Legitimacy, competency and reputation for all people and projects can be evidenced and/or developed through their providing regular updates on permaculture work they’re involved in, before/after photographs, etc. A spirit of objective nurturing of both people and projects through knowledge/encouragement/inspiration/resource sharing is the aim of the Worldwide Permaculture Network.
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MemberA member is a permaculturist who has never taken a PDC course. These cannot become PDC teachers. Members may be novice or highly experienced permaculturists or anywhere in between. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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Permaculture MatchmakerOne of these badges will show if you select your gender and the "I'm single, looking for a permaculture partner" option in your profile. |
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PDCPeople who claim to have taken a Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course somewhere in the world. |
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PDC VerifiedPeople who have entered an email address for the teacher of their PDC course, and have had their PDC status verified by that teacher. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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PRI PDCPeople who’ve taken a Permaculture Research Institute PDC somewhere in the world. |
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PDC TeacherPeople who claim to teach some version of PDC somewhere in the world. |
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PRI TeacherWith the exception of the ‘Member’ who has never taken a PDC, all of the above can apply to become a PRI PDC Teacher. PRI PDC Teachers are those who the PRI recognise, through a vetting board, as determined and competent to teach the full 72-hour course as developed by Permaculture founder Bill Mollison – covering all the topics of The Designers’ Manual as well as possible (i.e. not cherry picking only aspects the teacher feels most interested or competent in). Such teachers also commit to focussing on the design science, and not including subjective spiritual/metaphysical elements. The reason these items are not included in the PDC curriculum is because they are “belief” based. Permaculture Design education concerns itself with teaching good design based on strategies and techniques which are scientifically provable. PRI PDC Teachers may be given teaching and/or consultancy offerings as they become available as the network grows. |
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Aid WorkerThe individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to be involved in permaculture aid work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture aid worker experience. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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ConsultantThe individual with this badge is indicating they are, have, or would like to do paid permaculture design consultancy work. As such, the individual may or may not have permaculture consultancy experience. Watch their updates for evaluation. |
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Community ProjectCommunity projects are projects that help develop sustainable community interaction and increase localised resiliency. |
