Ecovillage Projects in Vietnam

By Diana Leafe Christian / (March, 2011)

At Tan Van Chu Ecovillage, Vietnam. Professor Toshio Ogata, Director of Global Environment Project in Asia (GEPA) from Chuo University in Tokyo, is at far left, in blue.

Since the early 1990s the government of Vietnam has set up small ecovillage projects in that country’s poorer, ecologically vulnerable rural areas — barren coastal sandy areas along the Central Coast, and three different habitats (coastal dunes, wetland areas, and mountainous areas) — in the floodplains of the North Delta. The projects are developed and managed by Vietnam’s Institute of Ecological Economy, and its Institute for Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment — both programs of the country’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE).

The Institutes developed and teach two permaculture-like strategies for ecological restoration and economic development in rural areas: an integrated garden/fishpond/livestock (VAC) plan for coastal dunes and floodplain areas, and an integrated garden/forest/fishpond/forest (VACR) plan for mountain areas. Government funding for these projects was sometimes supplemented by grants from other countries, including Sweden and France.

What is an Ecovillage?

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Daniel Greenberg

Ecovillages are green communities on the cutting edge of sustainable human development. But what exactly is an ecovillage? Defining the term is challenging because, like “sustainability”, ”ecovillage” is used in many contexts with different meanings.

Robert Gilman offered an early and enduring definition in 1991 when he wrote

“an ecovillage is a human-scale, full-featured settlement in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development, with multiple centers of initiative, and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future.”

This is clearly a tall order. In fact, using a strict interpretation of this definition, one could argue that that there are no ecovillages on the planet today. So regardless of what definition we use, ecovillages are better thought of as communities striving towards these ideals rather than actualized utopias.

At Living Routes, we view ecovillages as living laboratories – “beta test centers” – for a more equitable, just and sustainable future. They are creating lifestyles that are both “high quality” with equitable access to resources and power and “low impact” with minimal ecological footprints. We therefore define ecovillages as “communities striving to live well and lightly together.”

Environmental and Social Responsibility

Using this simple definition, it becomes clear there are two directions towards the ecovillage model. Ecovillages within developed, resource-rich countries are typically intentionally created with members exploring how to bring their ecological impacts below local and global carrying capacities while maintaining high quality lifestyles. These ecovillages are also deeply examining the economic and political systems that put them on “top” and are often engaged in social equity and justice work in their neighboring communities, their nations, and the world.

Ecovillages within resource-poor, “two-thirds world” countries are generally indigenous, traditional communities working to elevate themselves above an “Equity Baseline” while maintaining their small footprints. They want access to adequate wealth and resources and the ability to affect political and social change. These communities also tend to have strong social bonds and are striving to honor, preserve and share their local cultures and stories, which often hold deep wisdom for how we can thrive in a post-carrying capacity world.

Both intentional and traditional directions are valid and necessary in our quest to create viable models of sustainable, human-scale communities. In this way, ecovillages are helping demarcate the “livable zone” in which all humans must enter if we are to survive as a species. Being optimistic then, perhaps we could say all human settlements are nascent or developing ecovillages.