Editing Ecovillage (section)

==Definition==
Multiple sources define ecovillages as a subtype of intentional communities focusing on sustainability.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ergas |first1=Christina |title=A Model of Sustainable Living: Collective Identity in an Urban Ecovillage |journal=Organization & Environment |date=1 March 2010 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=32–54 |doi=10.1177/1086026609360324 |s2cid=144630214 |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1086026609360324 |access-date=10 November 2021 |language=en |issn=1086-0266}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kirby |first1=Andy |title=Redefining social and environmental relations at the ecovillage at Ithaca: A case study |journal=Journal of Environmental Psychology |date=1 September 2003 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=323–332 |doi=10.1016/S0272-4944(03)00025-2 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494403000252 |access-date=10 November 2021 |language=en |issn=0272-4944}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=Rachel |last2=Ormsby |first2=Alison |title=A Case Study Analysis of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, Missouri - ProQuest |journal=ProQuest |date=2016 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/50f8a6ff2dd8439536538a34e85eecca/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2043351 |access-date=10 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> More pronounced definitions are listed here:
{| class="sortable wikitable"
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! Source !! Year !! Definition
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| [[Robert Gilman]] || 1991 || "[[human-scale]] full-featured settlement in which human activities are harmlessly integrated into the natural world in a way that is supportive of healthy human development, and can be successfully continued into the indefinite future."<ref>Gilman, Robert (Summer, 1991). [http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC29/Gilman1.htm "The Eco-village Challenge"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041213201638/http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC29/Gilman1.htm |date=2004-12-13}}. ''In Context.'' Retrieved on: 2008-04-09.</ref>
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| Diana Michelle Fischetti || 2008 || "intentional community whose members strive to live in a socially and environmentally sustainable manner, to practice voluntary simplicity, and to cultivate meaning, life satisfaction, and fulfillment."<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Fischetti |first1=Diana Michelle |title=Building Resistance from Home: EcoVillage at Ithaca as a Model of Sustainable Living |date=September 2008 |url=https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/8014 |access-date=10 November 2021 |publisher=University of Oregon|type=Thesis}}</ref>
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| Kosha Anja Joubert, Executive Director of the GEN || 2016 ||"intentional or traditional communities, consciously designed through participatory process to regenerate their social and natural environments.  The  social,  ecological,  economic,  and  cultural  aspects  are  integrated  into  a  holistic sustainable  development  model  that  is  adapted  to  local  contexts.  Ecovillages  are  rural  or  urban settlements with vibrant social structures, vastly diverse, yet united in their actions towards low impact, high quality lifestyles."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Joubert |first1=Kosha Anja |title=Overcoming Apartheid – the Global Ecovillage Network - ProQuest |journal=ProQuest |date=2016 |pages=10–12 |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/ca9a42a7cbf43267db3834b69c007d6b/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=48912 |access-date=10 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> 
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| GEN || 2018 || "intentional,  traditional  or  urban  community  that  is  consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes in all 5 dimensions of sustainability  (social, culture, ecology, economy and whole systems design) to regenerate their social and natural environments"<ref>{{cite web |title=About GEN - The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) bridges countries, cultures, and communities! |url=https://ecovillage.org/about/about-gen/ |website=Global Ecovillage Network |access-date=10 November 2021 |language=en |date=13 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Singh |first1=Bijay |last2=Keitsch |first2=Martina M. |last3=Shrestha |first3=Mahesh |title=Scaling up sustainability: Concepts and practices of the ecovillage approach |journal=Sustainable Development |date=2019 |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=237–244 |doi=10.1002/sd.1882 |hdl=11250/2626781 |s2cid=159366736 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/sd.1882 |access-date=10 November 2021 |language=en |issn=1099-1719|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
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|GEN
|2024
|"''An ecovillage is an intentional, traditional or urban community that is consciously designed through locally owned, participatory processes in all'' four dimensions of sustainability ''(social, culture, ecology and economy) to regenerate their social and natural environments."''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Concepts |url=https://ecovillage.org/about/about-gen/concepts/ |access-date=2024-05-15 |website=Global Ecovillage Network |language=en-US}}</ref>
|}

In Joubert's view, ecovillages are seen as an ongoing process, rather than a particular outcome. They often start off with a focus on one of the four dimensions of sustainability, e.g. ecology, but evolve into holistic models for restoration. In this view, aiming for sustainability is not enough; it is vital to restore and regenerate the fabric of life and across all four dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental, economic and cultural.

Ecovillages have developed in recent years as technology has improved, so they have more sophisticated structures as noted by Baydoun, M. 2013.

Generally, the ecovillage concept is not tied to specific sectarian (religious, political, corporate) organizations or belief systems not directly related to environmentalism, such as monasteries, cults, or communes.