Is Riverside an Eco-Village?
Is Riverside Community an 'Eco-Village'?
Lately we have been receiving visitors and inquiries from people who assume Riverside Community to be an Eco-Village.
Are we though?!
While we share many of the same values, our community was originally founded by a small group of Christian Pacifists who, in the face of the 2nd World War, were eager to practice ways of living that were based on cooperation, equality, sustainability and the repudiation of war.
Despite the loss of the original religious focus, our community continues to be based on these concepts.
With our emphasis on communal ownership of property and equality, you may want to liken us to a 'Kibbutz'?
But don't forget our peace focus here... In our opinion, sustainability and caring TOGETHER for our (natural) environment go hand in hand with social justice and, hence, peace. Striving for sustainability is therefore a meaningful work in progress for us.
Does our emphasis on sustainable living mean we are an eco-village?
When you walk around Riverside Community, you will not (yet) find innovative, off the grid housing, glitzy state of the art devices for waste management, or obvious evidences of think tanks promoting bio-diversity, climate change reversal etc.
Perhaps we are not an eco-village - perhaps that is also why wouldn't define ourselves in such terms.
Going for a walk around Riverside Community and talking to some of our members, however, may give you an idea of how the caring for and the sharing of (natural) resources build a path towards a more humane, sustainable and peaceful space for future generations.
What then is Riverside Community?
Not a kibbutz, not an eco-village but rather a community of people who see cooperation, sustainability and peace as inextricably linked to one another - and their expression in everyday life as the only way to create - excuse the cliche expression - 'a better world'.
If you want to know more: https://www.riverside.org.nz/what-we-do
