I just heard about Rainbird
There are bound to be all kinds of manifestations of “new, green direction” social, economic, and residential projects.
Rainbird Village (https://www.rainbirdut.com) is being planned as a seed project (in Utah) for a network of intentional municipalities(!) inspired by Mondragon:
Permaculture-oriented, high-tech, residential-inclusive Mondragon.
Colleen is seeking deep pockets. There are cases where rich people (or scions) get inspired and commit their money to projects like this. I think Witchcliffe (https://www.ecovillage.net.au/) was a case of that phenomenon. Most of us in the movement are of modest means, but we shouldn’t disparage or discriminate against our filthy rich compadres.
Rainbird seems to identify more with the Mondragon-cooperative movement than the ecovillage movement. But synergy between the two movements makes a lot of sense, of course.
Personally, in terms of vision, I have more of a “go simpler” inclination than Rainbird appears to be. But we all have various models in mind. In terms of short-term do-ability and general immediate appeal to people of our current (middle class) reality, I look to the EcoVillage at Ithaca (https://EcovillageIthaca.org). In terms of more visionary ultimately-truly-sustainable lifeways I look to the Simplicity Institute (https://simplicityinstitute.org).
The Rainbird principals seem inclined toward the kind of high-tech, green-managerial complex jargon that sometimes makes me laugh: “The Cynefin Model: An action research and development hub working at the limits of applied complexity science where sparks become light, light becomes research, and research becomes practice. We believe in praxis and focus on building methods, tools, and capability that apply the wisdom from Complex Adaptive Systems theory and other scientific disciplines in social systems … developing management approaches that empower organizations to absorb uncertainty, detect weak signals to enable sense-making in complex systems, act on the rich data, create resilience and, ultimately, thrive in a complex world. Where traditional approaches have failed to deliver success, our techniques enable the emergence of insightful solutions from multiple perspectives and the discovery of untapped potential. Sense-making in order to act is our priority, from citizen participation to innovation, from shifting organizational cultures to adapting to unstable markets. Knowing how to lead and manage through complexity will reveal key strategic advantages.”
My preference is for the straightforward lingo of simplicity, regeneration, sustainability, and thriving.
Just: care for each other and care for the land.
