Dear Ecovillage Friends,

July 2010

Time to Muster!
Join a Team

We are moving into a very exciting stage of the project to create a world class ecovillage near Sydney. Our preferred site at Narara is due to come back on the market very soon. The process has been delayed by the government gaining another consultant’s report and recommendation regarding the dam. In the meantime we have been busy, tweaking all the many aspects of such a project. It is now time to create some teams in order to work on the logistics required at this stage. These teams will be instrumental in preparing the offer, when this land hits the market again. Remember this is a special, niche project of around 120 homes, close to Sydney and the coast with a true and unique point of difference. We will be honoured to be custodians of this important and beautiful land and part of this dynamic, extra ordinary project.

The proposed teams to secure this site are as follows:

1. Legal and Finance team
   The Legal and Finance team will oversee the relevant structures and budget for the project, work on the political/approval processes and liaise with our still-to-be-chosen developer manager.
2. Community Development team
   The Community Development team will make sure that we have the relevant training and fun.
3. Marketing and Membership team
   The Marketing and Membership team will work on getting new people to contact us and the process following that contact.
4. Design team
   The Design team will coordinate and develop a preliminary, overall, schematic design for the village. Dave suggested this committee could run a competition so that some people could contribute in any way they wish.
5. Steering team
   The Steering team will be made up of representatives from each team and make sure we all work together so that the broad vision of the project is achieved.

We are seeking passionate, appropriately skilled people who would like to participate on one of these committees for a period of 6 months. This period should enable us to achieve our initial goal of securing this land. With guidance from the Steering committee, each team will work out how and when they could meet, set and work towards goals and time frames and be instrumental in setting up this stylish, leading-edge, world-class ecovillage at Narara. If this appeals to you, please email your interest, relevant passion and skills to Lyndall@scev.org by 6 August ’10.

Dave and I look forward to hearing from you.

Upcoming Events
Dynamic Governance
The experience of successful ecovillages around the world is that though the ‘what’ of the bricks and mortar, (grey water systems, passive solar design etc) is often a main focus, the sustainability of the development is dependent on the inclusive, smooth passage of the ‘how’. We need structures and methodology to ensure the full sustainability we seek - economical, environmental and social. It is for that reason that we now wish to reintroduce Dynamic Governance to our members and friends.

The very first book that influenced Lyndall to work with a group to develop an ecovillage was: “Creating a Life Together’ by Diana Leafe Christian. Diana works all over the world facilitating group projects like ours and last week she emailed me her excitement surrounding this method of governance: “What I like best is that the things that can go wrong when consensus is practiced poorly, (but which can be corrected when they get good advice and re-training), can't even happen with DG because it's ‘built in’ to the system to prevent these things. That its structure shapes how the group behaves in its own tendencies towards self-organizing. That its structure essentially forces groups to behave fairly and collaboratively. Wow!”

Learn to facilitate effective and efficient meetings that:

• nurture connection, equivalence and mutuality
• produce decisions everyone can live with
• leave participants feeling energised and excited

Dates:
Wednesday 18 August-at Kirribilli
Thursday 19 August – at Gosford

Full details at: http://www.scev.org/upcoming-events