Creating an Urban Ecovillage - by Jim Schenk (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Creating an Urban Ecovillage, a Model for Revitalizing Our Cities is a "how-to" book that presents ideas of ways others can develop an ecovillage in their existing urban neighborhood. Each chapter presents a particular aspect of Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage and is concluded with a story that exemplifies how it is being carried out by an individual or family in the ecovillage. The urban ecovillage combines community and ecological sustainability in our cities. While it may not be the only way, the urban "retrofit" ecovillage is one very plausible way of achieving this.

Review Quotes

• Yay to my dear colleague Jim Schenk for putting to words so much of what I, too, have been living these past 30 years! Retrofitting urban neighborhoods into ecovillages is an incredibly challenging and rewarding life's work. I urge people, young and old, to enjoy the read, catch the inspiration, get together with a few friends, and decide on the next neighborhood to be retrofitted - maybe your own! Jim has shown that it can be done. Many of us in the process of doing it are here to help. Time is short. The changes must be rapid, and they must be deep. Lois Arkin, founder, the Los Angeles Ecovillage
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• This book is a monumental history of an effort inspired by the challenges articulated in the writing of cultural historian Thomas Berry. It is a testament of dedication, endurance, and tenacity, and a source book on how to create an urban eco-village like no other! Miriam Therese McGillis, cofounder of Genesis Farm, lectures and conducts workshops on Thomas Berry's New Cosmology worldwide
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• I have always admired Jim and Eileen Schenk for their commitment to Earth. Now I know their story, which is more than "their" story. It is the story of a remarkably ordinary neighborhood in Cincinnati that became an urban ecovillage. This neighborhood was houses, woods, community garden plots, creatures, and humans, too, of all ages, who truly have proven that another way of life is possible even in a large metropolis in America. This may be the way many others will live, if we are lucky, as the modern world we thought had unbounded possibilities passes away. Jim Schenk is a master storyteller, and a truly honest man who brings us into intimate connection with a dream come true, warts and all. Herman Greene, Founder & President, Center for Ecozoic Studies; Thomas Berry Scholar-in-Residence, Earth Law Center
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• Nothing is more important in these times than finding a way to live in balance with and in support of each other and our living world. In this book, Jim Schenk provides a wonderful roadmap for how we can build communities in urban settings that honor our deepest needs to live in right relationship with our fellow humans and the more-than-human world. A much-needed treasure at a critical time in the human journey." Libby Roderick, internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter, environmental activist, poet, teacher and lifelong Alaskan