KEVP MEETING NOTES

Monday September 8, 1997
Foundation for Global Sustainability

present: Alan Barges, Richard Austin, Karen Lacey, Rebekah Woods, Danny de Vries, Mary Rogge, Cara Crisler, Amid Doshi, Dagmar van Tol, Christine van Tol

After a potluck dinner and introductions, the following topics were discussed:

1. Maps

¥ Rebekah Woods brought a detailed map of Vestal neighborhood.
¥ Amid mentioned he is involved in a brownfields research, from which he could obtain information and maps of Knoxville.
¥ The need for a general KEVP map that could be stationed at the FGS meeting place was again expressed. The map could serve as an indicator of possible Ecovillage sites.

2. Update Vestal Co-housing Project

Rebekah Woods, architect, is enthusiastic about a potential co-housing project in Vestal. She has urged the group to look at a site that had been previously considered for development by Habitat for Humanity, but was abandoned due to neighborhood opposition to HabitatÕs typical development patterns. Nevertheless, there seems to be community support and grant money for neighborhood improvement. According to Rebekah, residents are willing to make a down payment to get a project such as KEVP initiated. The site costs $100,000 for 20 acres.

Rebekah showed on the Vestal map several undeveloped areas surrounding the targeted 20 acre site. Furthermore, the site is bordered by a 50 acre undeveloped forested area, which due to a cliff will be hard to develop in the near future. The possibility of extending the current bike path (initiated by local residents) to the 20 acre site was also mentioned. A decision was made to contact the Vestal Neighborhood people and schedule a time to meet with them and visit the site. If not for using the site, it would still be good to make contact with the community.

3. Outreach

As mentioned in earlier meetings, outreach and education about the Ecovillage concept is necessary. Not only because the concept is relatively new, but also to find allies in the environmental and political community of Knoxville.
¥ Gene has received a Global Ecovillage Network slide show that can be used for this purpose.
¥ Rebekah made a flyer that can be spread around and posted (Food Co-op, Neighborhood Associations, Ijams, TN Green, Metropulse, etc.).
¥ Further possibilities are Community Television programming and continuing work on the website. Dr.
Kersavage, UT professor Architecture, will be approached for slides by Rebekah and Danny.
4. Potential Allies

¥ Several UT related allies were mentioned at the meeting, such as UT Dept. of Architecture, Urban Studies, Planning, Landscape Design, etc.
¥ Dr. Kersavage (Arch.), Dwight Quinn (Arch.) and Annette Anderson (Urban Studies) have already been formally approached with a letter. No further contact has been successful so far.
¥ Mary Rogge (UT Social Work), proposed to approach Madeline Rogero, Knox County Commissioner and Director of the UT Community Partnership Center.
¥ Karen Lacey, FGS intern, volunteered to act as a central person for this subject.
5. Venus Project Presentation

Richard Austin presented 1) History and context of Ecovillages and 2) The Venus Project. The presentation was informative and gave rise to an interesting discussion about the meaning of having a vision. The following short introduction concerning the Venus Project is taken from the website (http://www.nas.com/venus/intro.shtml):

Futurist, inventor, industrial designer and human-factors engineer Jacque Fresco and his associate, Roxanne Meadows, have been working diligently for many years to create comprehensive plans for solving social ills. Using their own resources and ingenuity, they have devised a bold new approach that calls for no less than the total redesign of our culture. The Venus Project is a veritable blueprint for the genesis of a new world civilization Ñ one based on human values and environmental reclamation.

The plans for The Venus Project offer society a broader spectrum of choices based on the scientific possibilities inherent in current technology and direct that knowledge toward a new era of peace and sustainability for all. Through the implementation of a resource-based economy, and a multitude of innovative and environmentally friendly technologies directly applied to the social system, The Venus Project proposals will dramatically reduce crime, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and many other pressing problems that are common throughout the world today.

7. Action points

1. get maps (Cara, Mary, Melinda)
2. work on dummy book (Gene)
3. keep on involving more people (everyone)
4. set up contact tree (Danny)
5. set up presentation material (?)
6. update website (Danny)
7. make handout with general information about the plan (Rebekah & Danny)
8. make bibliography (Gene/Richard)
9. keep on educating each other about the concept (everyone)
10. start making list of allies (Karen)
8. Mext meeting

¥ Next meeting will be September 22 in the FGS conference room. A potluck will be held at 6:30 p.m., after which the meeting starts at 7:30. Please call Danny for directions (524-4771).
¥ Decided was to hold a meeting every second and fourth Monday of each month, starting in October. Presentations related to the Ecovillage concept are welcomed and encouraged.

If you receive this message and are not already subscribed, please subscribe to the Knoxville Intentional Communities Forum (KICF) listserver which you can access and join by going to http://user.icx.net/~richarda/kicf/kicf.html and following the links to the discussion group.

Finally, check out our website for more information on the Ecovillage Project and other topics listed under the Sustainable Living Program of FGS: www.korrnet.org/slp.html