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Sloan Lindemann Barnett is journalist and author of New York Times bestseller Green Goes with Everything: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet. Sloan is daughter of George Lindemann (chief of Southern Union, Founded Vision Cable in 1972, Formed cellphone company Metro Media. Education: BA/BS, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School)
The basic principle is to not take from the earth more than we can return. Modes of alternative culture, like permaculture are put into practice. --- The word ecovillage is born from the fusion of ecology and village. It is part of the wave patterns of micro-project company such as cohousing or intentional communities. The term is used interchangeably to refer to models eclectic communities, which often leads to confusion in distinguishing different types of micro-project company. Some basic elements are found in an ecovillage in the other three spheres (see chart on Sustainable Development): environmental, socio-economic, cultural-spiritual. Are integrated into various aspects such as permaculture, ecological building, green production, renewable energy, self-sufficient farming, collective decision making, process of conflict management, nonviolent communication, arts, and more. The difficulty of gathering the projects comes from the fact that none of the Ecovillage not work the same way. Some have a political role while others focus primarily on the quality of life and develop artistic creativity. The differences are huge between a rural alternative, consisting of a young population and passage, and a Société Civile Immobilière (SCI) created by several retired couples around ecological values. This is why many fans will be talking to an intentional community, rather than an ecovillage. Common to all these initiatives is a living community, solidarity and ecology. Experienced as laboratories for experimentation alternatives, ecovillage can host a garden production, green construction, a resource center, a reception area, or art workshops. The goal is to create together a lifestyle friendly and fair, with a minimal ecological footprint. It is the collective aspect that is the greatest difficulties. Decide, build, advance together is a challenge in a society where individualism premium. Behind a failed project is generally a human relations problem. But the community is also an asset: knowledge exchange, knowledge sharing, sharing of tools and machinery (vehicles or appliances for example) and most importantly, permanent pacing to deepen its approach. ---- The term ecovillage has emerged during the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 1992. Following the Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment in 1987 which produced the alarming finding of global warming, depletion of water, living species and increasing poverty in the world, leaders of 178 countries met in Rio to discuss the future of the planet. This was followed by the tedious Agenda 21 setting ambitious targets to achieve. Of these, Gaia Trust and Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) proposed "The Earth is our home" to financially support projects écohabitats as living examples of sustainable communities that can solve the multitude and variety of complex issues raised by the Brundtland Report. They could serve as reproducible experimental fields in urban and rural, throughout the world in various types of habitats, climates, cultures with a willingness and skills to develop a sustainable lifestyle have already been demonstrated. Probably because of their long experience in the communities of cohabitation (cohousing), the Danes were ready in 1993 to create the first association of sustainable communities. Thereafter, Gaia Trust and targeted écohabitats 20 projects around the world who could become ecovillage projects since they had already developed several facets of the overall concept of ecovillage by their culture and way of life different from those called modern societies. By 1994, the strategy becomes clearer GEN and a network is established with the objective exchange of ideas, technology, cultural and educational development in order to develop and demonstrate lifestyles that respect the environment and sustainable for future generations. At the International Conference of the United Nations Habitat II in Istanbul in 1996, GEN ecovillages presented as positive models of living the principles of sustainable development combining the use of advanced technology and spirituality satisfactory, while living harmoniously with nature. The 20 designated by Gaia Ecovillage Trust presented their achievements and the Gaia Trust and GEN 100 million requested to support the implementation of the program "The Earth is our home." Since that time, three regional networks have the wind in its sails. To date, we can count 243 members of the Global Network. Some members of the ecovillage, while others are associations such as the Ecovillage Network of the French that has 34 Ecovillage Ecovillage projects. In addition, one must take into account that are listed on the websites that members of associations and networks. It should also add that only very few projects ecovillage in France or the world describe themselves as ecovillage and were really eco-villages or intentional communities. ---- Practiced The ecovillage model tries to integrate as much as possible human habitation in the natural ecosystem, through the integration of sustainable communities based on sustainable development. The model is already applied in several countries and focuses on: Environment Maintain biodiversity To humans Provide a better quality of life based on meeting basic needs For the community An effective way to reduce youth area ---- Ecology is the wider the field of reflection which is the study of interactions and their consequences, between an individual (isolated and / or social group made up) and the biotic and abiotic environment that surrounds and which itself is part and the consequences being those on the environment, but also on the individual himself. This general (so-called "broad") made ecology a very wide area of ??reflection, as by biotic means the whole world living (animals, plants, micro-organisms, but may also include other individuals, society, etc..) and by abiotic means anything that is not alive (therefore also potentially objects, technology, knowledge, etc..). It is this sense, called "wide", found for example at the base of the reflection in political ecology. In his acceptance in the scientific field (which is most commonly used for historical reasons), the term "ecology" refers to the science that gives purpose to the relationship of living things (animals, plants, microorganisms, etc.). with their habitat and environment, and with other beings vivants1. Another definition is close to the scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of living organisms. Thus, science, ecology is often classified in the field of biology. This science studies two main sets: that of living things (biota) and the physical environment (habitat), the whole forming the ecosystem (coined by Tansley). The ecology studies the flows of energy and materials (webs) flowing in an ecosystem. The ecosystem is a biotic community and its environment abiotique2. In fact, despite a very frequent confusion, ecology should not be confused with environmentalism environmentalism or currents that are ideological or philosophical thoughts adopted face questioning on the environment or saving the planet --- Ecology comes from the Greek ο?κος "oikos" (home, area and, by extension, which surrounds and which one belongs, that is to say, the biosphere); λ?γος and "logos" (speech reasoned and argued, science, knowledge, knowledge). The term "ecology" was invented in 1866 by German biologist Ernst Haeckel, although the philosopher Henry David Thoreau is perhaps invented in 18524. The concept of ecology was introduced in France by geographers of the Annales School of Geography, including Paul Vidal de la Blache, who was close behind - especially after 1871 - the German works, including those of Friedrich Ratzel. The Annals were the site of a collaboration between geographers and botanists as Gaston Bonnier. More specifically, the term "ecology" seems to have been used for the first time in French to 18744. In his book General morphology of organisms, Haeckel designated as follows: "(...) The science of relationships of organisms with the surrounding world, that is to say, in a broad sense, the science of living conditions. " However, the orientation néolamarckienne taken in France at that time, the concept was developed in much Anglo-Saxon. ----- Different scientific disciplines of ecology In the field of science, ecology is one of the basic biological sciences that relate to all living beings. There are various levels of biological organization, that of molecular biology, cell biology, biology of organisms (both individual and organization), the study population, the study of communities, ecosystems and the biosphere . The field of scientific ecology combine the latter categories. Indeed, it is a holistic science which studies not only each element in its relations with other elements, but also the evolution of these reports that the changes experienced by the medium, animal and plant populations. These reports are described from the smallest to the highest level overall. Some of these sub-disciplines are: physiology, which studies the relationship between a physiological and environmental factors; As a biological science, ecology is strongly linked to other branches of biology, mainly, population genetics, physiology, ethology and Sciences Evolution2. It is also related to geology to study the abiotic environment, including soil science (the study of soils) and climate and the human and physical geography. The term "ecology" is often used incorrectly to refer to political ecology, environmentalism (or environmentalism) and social ecology. ---- Biosphere and Biodiversity Ecology is a science that studies the ecosystems at several levels: population (individuals of the same species), the biotic community (or community of species), ecotones and ecosystems of different habitats (marine, aquatic, terrestrial, etc. .) and the biosphere. Earth, an ecological perspective, includes multiple systems, the hydrosphere (or sphere of water), lithosphere (or sphere soil) and atmosphere (or sphere of air). The biosphere is part of these terrestrial systems, it is the living part of the planet, the portion which houses the biological life that is growing. This is a localized surface dimension, which descends to 11,000 feet deep and rising to 15 000 meters altitude above sea level The majority of living species live in area of ??-100 m to +100 m above sea level. Life was first developed in the hydrosphere, at shallow depths in the photic zone. Multicellular beings then appeared and were also colonized benthic zones. Terrestrial life developed later, after that has formed the ozone layer protecting living beings from UV rays. Terrestrial species are more to diversify the continents will crack, or otherwise meet. The biosphere contains great quantities of elements such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Other elements such as phosphorus, calcium, potassium is also essential to life. In ecosystems and the biosphere, there is a permanent recycling of all these elements, which alternate between the state mineral and organic state (biogeochemical cycles). The oceans are large tanks that store water exchange, thermal stability and climate, and the transport of chemical elements thanks to large oceanic currents. Similarly, the composition of soils is the result of the composition of the rock, the geological action and cumulative effects of living beings. To better understand the functioning of the biosphere, energy balance and the dysfunctions related to human activity, American scientists have achieved in greenhouses, a model of the biosphere, called Biosphere II. ---- Ecosystem The first principle of ecology is that every living being in continual relationship with everything that constitutes their environment. They say there's an ecosystem when it is sustainable interaction between organisms and environments. The ecosystem is analytically differentiated into two sets that interact: the biotic community, composed of all living beings The ecosystem concept is theoretical: it is multiscalar (multi-scale), that is to say, it can be applied to portions of varying size of the biosphere, a pond, a meadow, or a tree death. A smaller unit is called a microcosm. It may, for example, include species that have colonized a submerged rock. A mésoécosystème could be a forest, and a macro ecosystem a region and its watershed. The main questions to an ecologist at the study of ecosystems are: how was made possible the colonization of an arid land? Ecosystems are often classified by reference to the biotopes concerned. We speak of continental ecosystems (or terrestrial), such as forest ecosystems (forests), grassland ecosystems (grasslands, steppes, savannas), agro-ecosystems (agricultural systems); Another classification can be done with reference to the biota (eg, one speaks of forest ecosystem, ecosystem or human). ---- Homeostasis Biota, or living environment is typically characterized by a set of geological, geographical and climatological called abiotic environmental factors. In reality the soil is alive, and climate and different geographical settings écopaysagers are permanently living in the feedback. These are not stable nor independent compartments of ecosystems. This way of presenting the biotope is simplistic and purely theoretical, but it is accepted by reductionist science. Proponents of a more holistic ecosystem rather consider the ecosystem and biota as part of the biosphere, as a body is an element of an organization: In the classical approach, called abiotic components are: water, both indispensable to life, and sometimes living environment; Biota is a set of populations of living things, plants, animals, microorganisms. Each population is the result of procreation between individuals of the same species living together in one place and at any given time. When a population has an insufficient number of individuals, the species may disappear, either by sub-population, either by consanguinity. A population can be reduced for several reasons, for example, habitat loss (destruction of a forest) or by excessive predation (such as hunting of a species). Biota is characterized by biotic ecological factors, two types: intraspecific and interspecific relations. Intraspecific relations are those that develop between individuals of the same species, forming a population. These patterns of cooperation or competition, with division of territory, and sometimes organization in hierarchical society. Interspecific relationships, that is to say, those between different species, and many are described in terms of their beneficial effect, evil or neutral (eg, symbiosis (relation + +) or competition (relation -)) . The most important relationship is the relation of predation (to eat or be eaten), which leads to the essential concepts in ecology of food chain (for example, the grass consumed by the herbivore, itself consumed by a carnivore, he even eaten by a carnivore of larger size). The ecological niche that is shared by two species when they inhabit the same environment and have the same diet. The existing interactions between different living beings are accompanied by a permanent mixing of mineral and organic substances, absorbed by living beings for their growth, their maintenance and reproduction, and discarded as waste. Relearn these elements (particularly carbon, oxygen and nitrogen) and water are called biogeochemical cycles. They give the biosphere lasting stability (at least outside of human intervention and extreme geo-climatic events). This self-regulation, particularly due to the phenomenon of negative feedback, ensures the sustainability of ecosystems and is characterized by a high consistency rate of the various elements present in each medium. There is talk of homeostasis. The ecosystem also tends to evolve towards a theoretical state of perfect balance, contradicted by the vagaries of external or internal, the climax (for example a pond can become a bog). ---- Ecosystem productivity In an ecosystem, the connections between species are most often order food. There are three categories of agencies: producers (plants chlorophyll), which consume the mineral and organic produce: they are autotrophic; These relations form sequences, where everyone eats and is eaten by the previous one that follows, we talk about food chain (in theory) or food web. In a food web, we observe that when moving a food chain to another (network link), the number of living decreases. These concepts have also given rise to the term biomass (total mass of living matter in a given place), primary productivity (increasing the mass of plants during a given time) and secondary productivity (mass of living matter produced by consumers and decomposers in a given time). These two latest information is essential since it allows to estimate the number of living beings can be supported by an ecosystem, what is called the carrying capacity. Indeed, the observation of a food web that shows all the energy at the producer level is not completely transferred to the consumer level. Thus, an energy standpoint, is it more interesting for people to behave in primary consumer (of food grains and vegetables) than secondary consumers (from eating beef), and more than tertiary consumer (by eating carnivores). The productivity of ecosystems is sometimes estimated by comparing three sets and a set continental land: the whole forest (1 / 3 of land area) is a high biomass and high productivity. Total production forests corresponds to half of primary production. Human actions of the last century have led to significant reduction in forest area (deforestation) and increase agro-ecosystems (agricultural practice). In recent decades, increasing the area occupied by extreme ecosystems has been observed (desertification). |
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