EcoVillages

Crystal Waters Eco Village has established its reputation as an important centre for Permaculture here in South East Queensland with its history going back over 32 years. Robin Clayfield and Crystal Waters Community Cooperative will host a Permaculture Design Course (PDC) from 8th to 22nd August, 2021 with many Crystal Waters and other local Permaculture teachers, facilitators and guest presenters. Bruce Gibson is the Organiser of the overall logistics, website, bookings and admin for this annual course which is a fund raiser for the Community Cooperative and its village enhancing facilities. The 2021 Course will be the first one where Robin has organized the program, presenters and kitchen goodness, having been a Special Guest in past Co Op Courses led by Max Lindegger and Bruce. Max wanted to start his own courses again and Robin, having presented over 30 PDC some years ago, put her hand up to carry on …

‘Kuttamullamee’, the 1acre Lot that Robin cares for at Crystal Waters Permaculture EcoVillage, is becoming a Permaculture and creative Social Permaculture wonderland after she, Rob and several volunteers and WWOOFers have put in many hours since COVID began to plan for and work towards creating a biodiverse garden system, water security, fire safety, food security, gully regeneration, earthworks consolidation plus social and recreational spaces. It’s a building site, a deconstruction zone (having pulled down four structures), earthworks mitigation site, roadwork project as well as a once again lush and productive vegie, herb, flower, orchard and fibre garden. When the COVID lockdowns began Robin felt that the most important thing she could be doing is gardening, after a few years away and a time of coming ‘home’ again and building… Clearing the bamboo, weeds, dead trees, weed trees was a huge job. Now the new and retrofitted gardens are at a …

Robin and many others at Crystal Waters EcoVillage in South East Queensland support resident Michael Ney who has begun producing a world class magazine. Eco Village Voice is an online community featuring a quarterly magazine including videos, podcasts and webinars. Eco Village Voice provides educational articles on many aspects of ecovillage living, as well as encouraging communication between other ecovillages to help each other and for the sake of our planet‘s wellbeing. We aim to celebrate regenerative and permaculture ethics – care for land, care for people and fair share.  Here’s the website for more information. Members have full access to our magazine in PDF downloads, as well as web pages with all the articles AND a web flip page viewer. Also includes podcasts and webinars plus our video channel. Valid for 1 year access. $5 USD per month x 10 paid upfront. = $50 USD annually. Two months free …

A new online magazine, Eco Village Voice, presents special events and the first is the Eco Village Film Festival in Maleny, QLD. This film festival celebrates the rise of sustainable communities aka “ecovillages” who are using appropriate technology to combat the effects of climate change, and are focus more on care for the planet than consumerism and are promoting a healthy lifestyle for the future of humanity. Separate website – https://www.ecovillagefilmfestival.com Eco Village Voice is essentially an online magazine – global quarterly, local monthly. Our monthly ecovillage supplements, with Crystal Waters Ecovillage being the first, is a way for ecovillage residents to network and publicise their activities. It also integrates an independent social media platform for anyone interested in ecovillages and permaculture, or regeneration and sustainability, and more! See: https://www.ecovillagevoice.com

The wonderfully creative and clever Robina McCurdy from Aotearoa NZ will be visiting Australia in late May early June and we’re very fortunate that she’ll be up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland so she and Robin can collaborate on a day workshop called ‘Growing Community’. It will build on the material from Robin’s workshop at ‘The Planting’ and take participants deep into the realms of what it takes to foster healthy, vibrant, successful communities – intentional ones and also neighbourhoods, community groups, families, work cultures and any sub-cultural and cultural gathering and collectives that meet and gather over time. Photo by Robyn Rosenfeldt of Robin Clayfield doing her signature process ‘Group Handshake’ Robina can also ‘do this type of workshop with her eyes closed’ and it’s been both hers and Robins life work to support and facilitate group and community well-being and success. They will both have their eyes …

A new documentary celebrating the past, present and future of Crystal Waters is just being released. It is possibly the most extensive exploration of an ecovillage in a documentary yet produced… I’d love to hear of other examples. In 2018, Crystal Waters, a world-first permaculture settlement and wildlife sanctuary, is now 30 years old – located near Maleny, South East Queensland. Given a UN Habitat Award in 1996, Crystal Waters is known worldwide for its permaculture related educational courses. Community members run monthly markets, bakery and cafes, bamboo and timber plantations, a fire brigade, cinema, even a cemetery. A visitor park offers cabins, caravan sites and tent sites. Over 100 dwellings and community buildings showcase diverse building methods – rammed earth, mud brick, straw bale and pole construction. The flow of the program entwines history and present views in a colourful and engaging manner. It may not answer all your …