What is the Sustainable Community Project?

RETURN TO SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY HOMEPAGE

From the very outset the Hockerton Housing Project has been recognized as a possible model for sustainable living. The massive interest that it has attracted indicates that there is a desire from a significant proportion of the public to seek new ways of living that reduce their impact on the environment. In the last few years the project has attracted over 3,000 enquiries.

The Sustainable Community project builds on the Hockerton Housing Project’s current activities to provide a co-ordinated package of services to help people establish new sustainable communities. Many of the enquiries we receive are from individuals and groups looking to set up similar developments or communities. However setting up a sustainable community involves a different understanding of planning, legal and financial issues, as well as new building techniques and technologies. Living in a sustainable community involves many other attributes including new skills and ways of relating to others.

From the large number of such individuals/ groups that we have met, many have struggled to realize their goals, because this knowledge is difficult to access. Their feedback directly to us is that they are seeking this information, but finding it difficult to take the next steps. This project aims to assist such people to move forward by providing a toolkit of relevant services.

Proposed timetable and programme of work and where it will take place

Phase	Activity	Timing	Where it will take place
I – Research	Identify needs (technical & non-technical) of individuals/groups looking to live in a sustainable community via questionnaires and interviews	Q2 2000	HHP Some interviews may be done by visiting selected groups
	Identify what services are currently available in UK with other organisations to meet these needs and how they could integrate with HHP	Q2 2000	HHP Some interviews may be done by visiting organisations
II – Develop Partnerships	Identify and meet potential partners	Q3 2000	HHP and location of partners
	Agree partnership roles and define ways of working together	Q3 2000	Primarily HHP
	Set up mechanisms for effective interactions	Q4 2000	Primarily HHP
III – Prepare ‘Toolkit’ of HHP services	Guide – *The Sustainable Community* – A beginners guide	Q3-Q4 2000	HHP
	Website	Q3 2000	HHP
	Special site tours	Q3 2000	HHP
	Talk presentation	Q3 2000	HHP
	Workshops	Q4 2000	HHP (possibly off site)
	Interactive contact database	Q3 2000	HHP
IV – Implement ‘Toolkit’ of HHP services	Implement above	Q4 2000 – Q1 2002 (18mths)	All at HHP, apart from talks (wherever invited) and workshops (occasionally off site)