VillageQuest Synergistic Community Sustainable Eco-Village The Learners in Virtual High conceive and design pre/post industrial urban sustainable village: · where the heart of the village is the heart of each person · essence centered community design · initiated by the intuition of youth whose vested interest is maintaining the integrity of nature · respect for the environment begins with self-respect · an environmental ecology emerging from an essential ecology The learners in Virtual High played a significant role in presenting the ideas for a sustainable living community to the city of Vancouver between 1994 and 1997. During this time the VillageQuest team presented to the annual BC Architects Connvention, to the City of Vancouver Planning Department, The Planning Commission and the Vancouver City Council. At the end of their lobbying efforts the City Council voted to set aside 47 acres of city owned land in the heart of Vancouver, known as South East False Creek for the development of a sustainable family based community. The following are ideas from their presentations ... VillageQuest Multimedia Overview (Excerpted from the transcript of our VillageQuest multi-media presentation) VillageQuest  1. problem - opportunity: industrial wasteland  2. growth - family and community  3. nature global cultures  4. the village features  5. economics and home  6. design  7. transportation  8. water systems  9. warmth energy  10 nourishment gardens  11. Kokopelli  12. 144 years - 7 generations In the past century this image has probably done more to change how we see ourselves than any other event. On Spaceship Earth we have the challenge and the opportunity to create our economy and global society in harmony with our environment. The City of Vancouver is commited to establishing a sustainable community in South East False Creek. This project can be Canada's showcase of sustainable development to the world. As East and West meet here on the Pacific Rim, there are unique circumstances for us to demonstrate optimum living based on essential sustainable technology. Sustainability is living innovation, a paradigm shift allowing us to do more with less, a technological advantage. Voluntary simplicity fosters a richness of self and community relations. This is our proposal, our VillageQuest to build an integrated sustainable community. A project for and by the children of the next millenium. 1. Problem - Opportunity: industrial wasteland 150 years ago, the False Creek area of Vancouver was the home of people who lived in harmony with its resources. Today much of this area is an industrial wasteland. Now, through the use of living technology, we have the opportunity to create a human scale community, one that is sustainable and regenerative. Production has brought us significant material wealth, yet has brought us a kind of poverty - personal and interpersonal. The production of houses, cars, roads and industry more determine the design of a city, than do the simple everyday living needs of a family. Unlimited development - one million unknown neighbours. 2. Growth - family and community Biology is a new metaphor for human systems. Growth according to inherent patterns sets a balance and establishes harmony. Ecological balance between living systems is a context for global cooperation. Pre-industrial villages were human scale lifestyles centered around family and children. Human relationships created a center for village. Children learn from modelling, they need meaningful relationships and contexts in which to develop. Learning needs to be re-integrated into the fabric of community, as it was before industrial society. Learning is part of everyday life. "Give me an education, give me a job, if not, give me welfare ..." We can no longer afford this industrial age consumer illusion. In an integrated learning community, the industrial model school has given way to a rediscovery of a learning model relevant to the Information Age. Learning is part of VillageQuest life, with every adult a care giver, with learning intrinsic in every work and living experience. 3. Natural global cultures "Small is beautiful." E.F. Schumacher outlined a model for our western economy based on Gandhi's philosophy of living from a sense of personal responsibility. Work is woven into the fabric of daily life in the village and is shared by people of all ages. For 99% of human existence, we have lived in villages of less than 500 people. This scale is vital for healthy relationships, healthy living. In Bali, people invest time and energy to carry and nurture children. Children do not cry in Bali, they do not need to. In Bali, individuals take personal responsibility to maintain the balance of the universe. In Bali, people CAN invest time and energy in their children because they do not have the financial pressures we have in the western world. The village owns the land, allowing control of development through village councils. They balance work with their commitment to nurture the children. 4. Village features  "The number of people in a community is determined by the number of people who know each other intimately ..." Satish Kumar (editor Resurgence magazine England) Studies worldwide continue to point to 500 people as an optimum group for self-management. The City of Vancouver owns 50 acres, in three distinct parcels of land slated for sustainable development. It is proposed that approximately 4,000 people could be housed on this site with a focus on family living. We propose that at least one community be limited to 500 people. The proposed density of 80 people per acre would be equivalent to 1,200 on 15 acres. This would create a residential community where sustainability would be limited to environmental sustainability. A truly sustainable integrated community for 500 people would include commercial, light industry and learning center. The proposed site for VillageQuest is on approximately 15 acres of land on the southeast corner of False Creek, in close proximity to Science World. Currently, there is a wonderful bicycle path all around False Creek, yet there is no natural ocean-land interface to nurture wildlife, no original habitat. A path curving around a natural ecosystem will establish a priority to live side by side with natural systems. The existing heritage building will become the community center, a gathering place for community events and visitors in a market and cafe.  5. Economics and home The average Canadian family of four earns $65,000 per year, yet is able to save less than $1,000 annually ... lifestyle sustainability allows this same family living in VillageQuest to save about 25% or $15,000 annually. eco-nomy - a branch of ecology - wealth is one's life energy exchanged and shared Choosing one's neighbours, building community, designing and building one's community, working cooperatively together, and having one's living, work and learning resources within walking distance are opportunities for fulfilment Deciding with one's neighbours through the process of consensus and being able to take responsibility for the decisions of life, are the rights of every individual and the wealth of a community. A home is a sacred place, a place to nurture the spirit of family. It is a safe place and a healthy house is an essential context for family well-being. A house built according to bio-regional principles, including design, manufacturing of materials, construction, maintenance and disassembly, consumes approximately 1/30 as much energy as a typical modern house. The Hokkaido, Japan, company KST (Kinoshiro Housing) is a model for creating housing in harmony with nature, people and bioregional conditions. A KST house uses 3 - 5 times as much wood as a conventionally built house but because it lasts 5 times longer and uses wood efficiently, lumber from thinning forests, bent lumber and used housing materials, it is ultimately more sustainable. Studies show that health is significantly enhanced when dwellings are constructed of wood rather than concrete or metal. * (* International Environmental Institute, Sapporo, Japan) Indoor air quality has steadily declined as developers attempt to improve air-tightness in houses rationalizing that air-tightness will decrease the need for heating and cooling. Several medical conditions including the increase of incidences of hyper-sensitivity to chemical substances are attributed to the wide-spread use of synthetics as building material. With careful design, natural materials can be used so the house can "breathe" and still be extremely energy-efficient. design sustainability community synergy 6. Design In our design, we look to biological metaphors -- curves, spirals, golden rectangles, and other significant natural patterns. We have visited buildings in Vancouver, discovering qualities that we find attractive. We are working with architects and researching the design of other sustainable communities. sustainability Sustainability describes the harmony that is achieved through respect and balance of all ecosystems. We strive to support the full evolution of human potential while also supporting the ecological balance that nature defines. We are researching efficient and sustainable energy sources: geothermal, solar, wind, methane, hydrogen, and tidal. community Our view of the village includes living, working, learning, and playing. It is inclusive of the spectrum of ages, races, interests and backgrounds. We must consider issues such as models of decision making and optimal structures of society. synergy Synergy is the vessel that contains the community as a whole, far more than the sum of its parts. Synergy is the underlying magic, the essential interconnectedness of community, sustainability and design. As we attempt to define the essence of synergy, we are finding threads that interweave all of human history. There is story-telling, ceremony, life philosophy and spiritual traditions. By the year 2000 the village will be built and will facilitate ongoing research and development into sustainable and regenerative community living. This village emerges from caring research and the mapping of living designs in nature. Individual space for contemplationwithin the context of nature nourishes each person for the gifts they share in community. Beauty evolves out of the subtle care created as community. 7. Transportation Many people spend 2 hours commuting each day. The frustration and time away from the family, as well as increasing green house gas pollution, are obvious deterrents to suburbanization. A village without cars ... pathways for people and electric delivery vehicles. VillageQuest creates sustainability through the sharing of resources. One van for every 5 to 10 families cuts a family's annual transportation budget from about $10,000 to $2,000. A village rental transportation business, run by the teenagers in the community, would provide transportation for everyone when needed at a much reduced cost. Parking alone adds between $15,000 to $20,000 to the price of housing. 8. Water system We live in a rainforest. The rainfall in False Creek is 1450 mm. or about 4 ft. annually. There is enough rainfall to capture village water from rooftops. Solar aquatics is a biological sewage treatment system. In four days, raw sewage is transformed by bacteria, plant and animal activity in a controlled swamp environment into clean water. Solar aquatic sewage purification methods cost 1/3 that of city-wide chemical treatment methods, with minimal environmental costs. Water flowing through the village provides a metaphor for life. Water provides an aesthetic quality visually, auditorially and texturally and is a context for contemplation and relaxation. 9. Warmth, energy VillageQuest can collect solar heat and excess heat generated from village activities and store the heat undergroup using heat exchanger technology. There is enough geothermal heat under a typical house lot to heat 10 houses. Geothermal energy is used by pumping heat stored in land mass into buildings. Since energy is used only to pump stored heat it is much more efficient. Heat can be stored in the earth or in bodies of water. Using geothermal energy is much more efficient to heat town houses and large buildings. Heating costs are reduced by 2/3. Another heat exchanger strategy is to store excess summer heat deep underground. It can be pumped up six months later for winter use. 10. Nourishment, gardens Nature provides a pathway to follow through one's life, a context for personal and community growth...patterns for balance and form ... nourishment. Today the average distance that food travels to reach consumers is 1500 miles. In the village, each rooftop will grow food in greenhouses and open terraces. Children experience the magic of life and growth when they tend their own garden. Children also experience their contribution to the economy of the family. An average 20 by 20 foot rooftop garden will yield 300 pounds of fruits and vegetables annually. This represents a significant proportion of a family of four's annual fruit and vegetable consumption. 11. Kokopelli Kokopelli sustained the quality of village corn in pre-Columbian villages by carrying seed and song between communities. 15 members of the Virtual High Learning Community are planning to make a Kokopelli Journey, travelling by bus to Mexico visiting sustainable communities along the way. Information gathered from these communities will be uploaded daily to the Internet. Present indigenous communities as well as ancient ruins sites will also be visited. The Anasazi lived in the U.S. Southwest in sustainable and ecological villages for thousands of years. Much can be learned about design and scale from anthropological findings. As part of the Kokopelli Journey, 4 Virtual High youth went to Findhorn, Scotland, to participate in an international conference on sustainable communities. VillageQuest is now part of an international network of organizations coordinated by Gaia Trust. The village, in the heart of Vancouver, will be an ongoing research center into social, environmental, economic and technological solutions for sustainability. Science World can use the village to provide the public with an "innovation museum" of modern sustainable technology. 12. 144 years - 7 generations VillageQuest is the creation of a possible and sustainable future for the next 7 generations and for the next 144 years ... A village is the womb for the family and is a community of people playing together. "Right now is when we're needed We can all do something The young the old together The more we get together The more we help this planet Earth." Evergreen, Everblue Raffi VillageQuest - a future for our children and ourselves, if we take responsibility to act now !  VillageQuest Presentation  © All Rights Reserved 1995 Wondertree  by members of Virtual High Learning Community  and the VillageQuest Resource Group  Presentation conceived and designed by Brent Cameron  Village Modelling by Paul Ohanessian and David Muncaster  Computer Animations by Travis Bernhardt and Greg Dean  Computer and image presentation by Jesse Blum  Research by David Muncaster, Katherine Muncaster, Ilana Cameron, Jesse Blum, Greg Dean and Sunder Green  Writing by Sunder Green and Katherine Muncaster  Advisors and Contributors  · Ecotek · Kim Rink ·  · Dandelion Geothermal · Marvin Breyfogle ·  · Development · Brian Hart ·  · Sustainable Systems · David Van Seters · · Ecology · Michael Maser ·  · Architecture · David Rousseau · ·Clouds of Change · Gordon Price (Alderman) ·  · Community Pathfinders · Arni Fullerton · · Design Process · Scot Hein ·  · Systems Theory · Kathleen Forsythe · ·David Vogt · Science World  · Corporate support · Aldyen Donnelly · West Coast Energy  - KST Hokkaido  - Co-Housing  · Thanks to Raffi for use of his lyrics   Evergreeen, Everblue ©1990 Homeland Publishing ·  and Linda Jane Schmid for her artwork  and thanks to our many friends Kokopelli Project (drawing Myra Hunter) The members of the Wondertree Community are currently and ongoingly travelling the world as ambassadors and researchers of sustainable community living. The following list of journeys have been taken:  1992 - Bali - the Cameron Family (Brent, Maureen and Ilana) to study and film the lifestyles in rural villages and to investigate the nurturing patterns of raising children in community  1994 - Findhorn Scotland - global EcoVillage Conference (Katherine Muncaster, Greg Dean, Jesse Blum and Ilana Cameron)  1995 - Istanbul Turkey UN Habitat II Conference (Greg Dean, Devon Girard, Ilana Cameron and Brent Cameron) (see the website created in Turkey)  1994 - Sunder Green travels through the SouthWest US and Mexico to some of the villages and ancient ruins where the Kokopelli tradition began.  1995 - Ilana Cameron travels through rural Ireland with her friend Bree.  1996 - David (Ka'an)Muncaster goes to India and Nepal with his girlfriend Janet to study life in villages.  1997-98 - Israel - Jesse Blum to study eco-kibbutz life in rural Israel.  1997-98 - Thailand and Australia - Greg Dean travelled to explore these countries.  1997 - Oct. Nov. and Dec. - Ilana Cameron trekked in Nepal around Mt. Kanchenjunga taking pictures and recording sounds.  1999-2000 - Ka'an Muncaster and Janet Bassingswaight lived near Katmandu for almost a year studying the culture, language and at the univeristy in Kathmandu.