Ecovillage Economies: Five Case Studies of European Intentional Communities

Ecovillages combine multiple levels of structures (i.e. economic, membership, governance) in order to recreate both a common and individual economic reality and to shift social and economic cultures away from that of the surrounding society. This paper will answer the key questions: 1) What are some of the prominent models for structuring ecovillages economically? 2) How do the structures and processes of institutionalisation relate to the concept of the solidarity economy? 3) What is the value in and challenges of a place-based intentional community for practices related to the solidarity economy? Research took place in five European ecovillages located in Spain, Slovenia, Ukraine, Germany and Denmark. Case ecovillages were selected from their ability to represent the diversity of ecovillages in terms of size, age, economic organisation and range of economic activities. On-site fieldwork was completed throughout 7 months between 2018 and 2019 and data was collected through a combination of semi-structured interviews and participant observations. In total, 73 interviews were carried out. Interviews covered three aspects of the ecovillages: 1) ecovillage members, 2) enterprises/organisations 3) the community. The subject is approached through two complementary lenses: the lived experiences and conceptual understandings of ecovillage inhabitants and the economic and socio-technical structure of the ecovillage. Attention is placed on the construction of interacting levels of institutionalisation; economic structure, membership structure, ownership structure and governance structure. The diversity of structures in the five cases indicates a broad range of economic models inhabited by ecovillages. The discussion investigates the different structures and their interdependencies and asks central questions such as to what extend the ecovillages ground solidarity in economic practices and what limits prominent economic structures in ecovillages. The paper also identifies legal and socio-economic barriers to integrating solidarity within the economy practices of the ecovillages.