Project Background:

The Village Design Institute was founded in December 2002 in the state of Washington as an educational non-profit corporation with the stated purpose of educating the public about ecologically, economically, and culturally sustainable communities—EcoVillages. VDI is researching, organizing, and disseminating a knowledge resource base informing and supporting the design and implementation of truly sustainable community models.

Past Projects and Accomplishments:

• A 5-day Ecovillage Design Course was held in July of 2003 at Pragtri Farm near Arlington, Washington under the auspices of VDI. The course was well-attended and covered topics such as Permaculture principles, methodologies of Ecological Design and Whole Systems Design, Appropriate Technology, Community-based Economics, Feng Shui and Sacred Geometry. Final presentations were made to the Pragri Farm owners and Evergreen Land Trust members.
  
  
• Chris Mare, Executive Director, attended a meeting of the Global Ecovillage Network in Findhorn, Scotland in May of 2004 and was appointed the Curriculum Coordinator for GEN’s new Ecovillage Designer Education initiative. On January 10, 2005, Draft 2 of this Curriculum was presented to UNESCO in Paris. The curriculum was well received and endorsement from the UN is expected as part of their “Decade of Education for Sustainable Development – 2005-2014.” This curriculum will be given its first test run in June of 2005 in Hungary at the ‘Training of the Trainers’ (sponsored by GEN). Another round of revisions will result in a Draft 3, suitable for publication.
  

Upcoming Events and Future Plans:

• An Ecovillage Design Course will be held July 27-31, 2005 at Bodhi Creek Farm in Whatcom County. The Course will be in the same format and will cover much of the same material as the Pragtri Farm Course.
  
  
• A second Course, focused on the neighborhood of Happy Valley in Bellingham, will address ways of remapping and retrofitting urban patterns to reflect more sustainable, village-scale systems. Potentially an ongoing series of Charrettes, one goal is to write a publishable paper intended to be delivered to the City Council and Planning Department delineating ways to redesign this neighborhood as a prototype for the rest of the city’s so-called Urban Villages.
  
  
• To fulfill its stated purpose, VDI will set up a world-class Design School within an ecovillage setting. The non-profit will be organized to be in a position to be granted land or purchase land for this purpose at some point in the future. The future may arrive sooner than expected as a suitable site is currently available.
  
  
• The entire project is guided by an organic philosophy of growth: We’ve planted a potent seed that is just beginning to germinate. New growth will come only at such time and in such season that it can be supported and nourished by existing structures.
  

VDI Members:

Christopher Mare M.A.* – Executive Director
Jessica Marden J.D., and Linda Kreitzman Ph.D. – Board Members
Mary Beth DeHamer B.A. – Corporate Secretary
Barbara Widhalm M.A*., Phil Hawes Ph.D., and Tyrone LaFay B.S.– Associate Faculty
Kelly Keane, B.A. – Ceremony and Play Consultant
David T. Mason Ph.D. – Outside Advisor

* Christopher and Barbara are currently working on their Ph.D.s