Learning Sustainability in the Ecovillage: A Multiple Case Study of Learning Experience in Four North American Communities

This paper presents the findings of empirical research undertaken at four ecovillages in North America. The study is an investigation of the learning experience of participants (residents and visitors), which adds empirical evidence to understanding ‘learning sustainability’ as a transformative social process. Undertaken between October 2018 and February 2020, the study combines document analysis, participant-observation, and in-depth interviews with key informants, present and past residents, and present and past visitors who engaged with the community for specific sustainability learning opportunities. A qualitative approach was taken in order to understand the learning experience from the perspective of the learner. Cross-case analysis looks at: the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of learning through ecovillage participation; the impact of the learning environment and community interactions on learning; the transformative nature of the learning experience, and the transferability of learning outcomes ‘beyond the ecovillage gate’. This study is framed by broader questions for the potential of ecovillage participation to support a societal ‘learning our way in’ to ‘one planet living’.

The study reveals a high prevalence of informality in ecovillage-based learning, with a focus on immersion and learning-by-doing, and an important role played by informal mentorships. These experiences in ecovillages also create time and space for (un)learning of (exploitative) regenerative norms and practices around issues of ecological, social, economic, and cultural sustainability. Through ecovillage-based learning, participants confront the challenges and paradoxes of sustainable community development in unsustainable contexts, and over time, co-create regenerative/sustainable/resilient ways of living and relating.