community

Eigg Heritage Trust – Reshaping Land Ownership in Scotland

How can people organise to gain control of the place in which they live? The Scottish Ilse of Eigg replaced its historic semi-feudal system of land ownership, in which residents were tenants of an absentee laird (a large landowner) with a new model community based ownership. Eigg is one of the Scottish Inner Hebrides. In 1997, the island was bought from its absentee landlord for £1.5m, raised from residents and thousands of non-residents. Many people in Scotland live on land [...]

Garry Peterson2016-11-07T10:38:23+00:00europe, social movement|Comments Off

Farm Hack: open source technology for small-scale resilient agriculture

How can small-scale farmers network to share ideas, innovations, and inventions to increase the resilience of sustainable agriculture and rural economies? Before the industrial revolution, low-input agriculture was the norm, but now, farmers must make a conscious choice if they want to avoid large scale mechanization. Many small-scale farmers in the US are discovering new means of food production and in the process, innovating tools and equipment. Innovations can range [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-08-02T14:00:42+00:00sustainable living, United States|Comments Off

Social change through “Social Ecology” in Montreal

By Théo Rouhette How can a citizen community use popular education and social action in order to transform society and its institutions toward an ecological, egalitarian and democratic future? Challenges such as climate change and global inequity can be so overwhelming, individuals may feel powerless to respond and create positive change. But what if there was a way to organize ourselves so that together we can make more of a difference than [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-07-12T17:34:34+00:00Education, social movement, sustainable living, Urban|Comments Off

mySidewalk: internet enabled democracy

How can the networking power of the internet be used to leverage more representative democracy? Imagine having a simple, direct way of informing city planners and local decision-makers of your views about traffic, schools, parks, libraries and other issues that affect your life. What if sharing your opinion on municipal planning was as simple as going online? mySidewalk offers online forums for community engagement. All photos from mySidewalk.com [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-05-11T14:00:30+00:00Technology, United States, urban ecology|Comments Off

Center for Ecoliteracy

Can changing what schools serve for lunch help to address deep challenges in the food and education systems, while inspiring ecological awareness in children? A child in the state of California's public education system will consume around 4,000 school meals between the time of entering kindergarten and leaving high school. With more than 6 million children attending California state schools, the simple question of what gets served for lunch, and [...]

Megan Lindow2016-04-20T21:06:41+00:00Food, Food system, health, Project information or update, United States|Comments Off

Santropol Roulant

How can an organization address urban food security and social inclusion while meeting the shifting needs and interests of a community? The word “roulant” in French means “rolling” which conjures an image of some kind of cycle or circle –something that gives back. Cycles and interconnections are often hidden from urban life, despite their omnipresence. Sometimes organizations can bring these cycles to life and build new connections within urban spaces. [...]

Anna Kusmer2016-04-14T15:50:01+00:00Food, Food system, Social Seeds|Comments Off

Mandated Multi-functionality

Can mandated multi-functionality, supported by government at multiple scales, address multiple Anthropocene challenges while building social capital? Mandated multi-functionality is a concept being studied and implemented by researchers and partners in British Columbia, Canada developed through the Solutions Agenda Research Project. The general concept is to re-think spaces and land-use in ways that better accommodates multiple functions, and ultimately mandate the implementation of multi-functionality in communities. This can include interior spaces that [...]

ciararh2015-12-18T09:46:45+00:00infrastructure, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds, sustainable living, transdisciplinary research, urban ecology|Comments Off

Heartwood Cohousing

Building a sense of community, stewardship and sharing through cohousing communities: can alternative ways of living and making decisions found within intentional communities scale up? How? Heartwood Cohousing is one of many cohousing communities throughout the world. There are about 150 in the USA alone. Heartwood's goal is to recreate an old-fashioned neighbourhood where neighbours cooperate to live more sustainably. Heartwood has 100 hectares of land, 25 irrigated, with an organic farm that [...]

ciararh2015-11-24T18:58:04+00:00Food, Integrated social-environmental, Social Seeds, sustainable living, United States|Comments Off

Intentional Community in Gaviotas, Colombia

Can a thriving community be created in a harsh, socially hostile environment, and can it last? What lessons can be learned from Gaviotas, Colombia? Gaviotas is an intentional community in eastern Columbia established by Paulo Lugari in the mid 60’s. The ecosystem consisted of “llanos”, savannas that seasonally flood. The intent of the community was to find ways to make the region more habitable. Through Colombian and UNDP grants in the 70’s [...]

ciararh2015-10-30T15:40:00+00:00Food, health, infrastructure, Integrated social-environmental, Project information or update, Skills Development, Social-Ecological Seeds, stop destructive action, sustainable living|Comments Off

CAMPFIRE

What type of wildlife conservation management is most effective and sustainable? CAMPFIRE (Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources), designed and managed entirely by Africans, was created in the mid 1980's. It encourages local communities to make their own decisions about wildlife management and control so that plants, animals and people - the whole ecosystem - all benefit. Campfire also helps to provide legal ways for such communities to raise money by using [...]

ciararh2015-09-25T09:16:00+00:00Food, Integrated social-environmental, Social-Ecological Seeds|Comments Off

Seeds are existing initiatives which hold potential to shape the future. They are likely not widespread nor well-known. They can be social initiatives, new technologies, economic tools, or social-ecological projects, or organisations, movements or new ways of acting that have that appear to be making a substantial contribution towards creating a future that is just, prosperous, and sustainable.

We gather seeds from diverse research disciplines, communities of practice, and individuals that have different world-views, values, and problems. This diversity means that not everyone will agree on the importance or value of every seed.