Life cycles of ecovillages[Жизненные Циклы Экопоселений]

Ecovillages are forms of the ideological community that aims at providing a group of people with an environmentally friendly space for living together. Some kind of the contemporary estate is the most widespread type of ecovillages in Russia. The author considers the key factors affecting the development of such ecovillages and its main stages. The study confirmed the author’s assumption about the certain stages in the ecovillage development and about the factors of its success. In general, villagers have to follow several rules that ensure the successful group dynamics. First, to select members of the settlement very carefully, because this choice has an important impact not only on the economy (experienced settlers understand what resources a person lacks for the development of his estate) but also on communications. Second, to formalize the economic interaction as fast as possible: to ensure a clear process of voting for initiatives and to choose an initiative group responsible for fundraising. Third, to be ready for disappointments and departures of members whose expectations were not met. Fourth, at the first stages of the ecovillage development, to try to implement as many projects as possible in order to unite people and form mini-groups for the comfortable interaction of ecovillagers.